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Okay I'm skeptical.
On the one side some 'bad other' could be using an undefined device to attack only American people, only in foreign lands, and for uncertain reasons. That narrative conveniently fuels paranoia and makes for good reading. Alternative explanations exist, based on well established medicine, which I think need air time, link below. Now, I'm all for exciting stories but this one keeps being resurrected without evidence I'd find compelling (namely lesions on MRI, quantifiable deficits in function, or signs and symptoms that prove neural damage). Indeed all the features of this particular syndrome appear better explained by functional, rather than structural, disease. Of course the possiblility of acoustic or electromagnetic weapons being used exists until proven otherwise, but in light of what is known, it seems unlikely to me. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/aug/14/cuban-acoustic... Declaration of interests: I've worked with Prof. Stone. |
«In a mid-western university town of over 50,000 population, a strange case of "gas poisoning" occurred on a Wednesday morning early in March, 1972. Approximately thirty-five female workers at the University's data processing center were exposed to a mysterious gas "from an unknown source" that caused dizziness, vomiting, nausea, and fainting among a number of the employees. So severe were the symptoms that 10 of the workers were taken to the University's Medical Center for emergency treatment; all of the employees at the Data Center were evacuated.
The Center was temporarily closed allowing for a group of environmental specialists to examine the building. During the remainder of that day and into the night, samples of the air obtained from the building were tested. Extensive blood and urine tests of affected workers were conducted in order to locate traces of the noxious "gas." Although traces of the substance could not 'be found, several workers again became ill upon returning to work Thursday morning. The Data Center was closed and evacuated for the second time. Additional environmental ;and physiological tests were conducted; still no physical reason for the episode could be located.
When the Center resumed operation on Friday a group of specialists from the University met with the workers to explain that they thought an "atmospheric inversion" was the cause of their symptoms. This explanation was calculated to reduce the high level of anxiety that had surrounded the activities of the two previous days; the explanation seemed to meet its objective. The incident was "closed" as far as both the workers and the scientists were concerned despite the fact that traditional biomedical explanations had failed to explain the events.»
See more at https://sci-hub.tw/10.2307/2136925