[thatjoeoverthr]

Where’s the part where they send a device to detect microwaves or sonic waves, and find them? How come it doesn’t occur to journalists to ask this? As per the article, they found the signal in Moscow, and there weren’t even symptoms to prompt them to do so. Another commenter mentioned “triangulation”. It’s less than that. There is no reported observation of a signal of any kind. History Channel “ghost hunters” are more serious than this.

[tgflynn]

There's this:

> Prof Golomb says high levels of radiation were recorded by family members of personnel in Guangzhou using commercially available equipment. "The needle went off the top of the available readings." But she says the State Department told its own employees that the measurements they had taken off their own back were classified.

But that's the only mention of physical measurements in the entire long article. It should be relatively easy to equip a large number of potential targets with a handheld device capable of measuring and recording peak RF levels and that would at least allow the government to know whether or not it is on the right track. It does seem strange that this hasn't been done already and the whole thing remains just as mysterious now as when the public first heard about it.

[ethbr0]

I'd imagine part of it is institutional. The State Department is not what I'd consider a bastion of technically-adept people.

This is the org which, from all accounts, can't even run email or basic IT reliably.

[thatjoeoverthr]

You’re right, I missed that. Uff.

“Off the top of the available readings” isn’t very helpful either, though; it may be the case that the upper limit of that experiment is far from an important level of radiation. A description of a “needle” is good visual persuasion but what does it mean really?

No mention of a followup. Why no followup?

[ajsnigrutin]

Yep, detecing microwaves is easy, and the equipment cheap and available to everyone (relatively cheap, compared to other stuff embassys buy). Depending on the frequency, it should be detectable even with $10 rtl-sdr sticks with direct sampling. I'm fairly sure that most electrical engineering students could find out if their dorm rooms were targeted by microwaves, so why not the embassy of one of the richest and most powerfull countries in the world?

[akyu]

They do detect them.

[jjoonathan]

So what do they find when they send people to the originating location?

[tyingq]

Unoccupied waters where a ship might have once been?

[thatjoeoverthr]

Mystery solved..?

[akyu]

You're assuming that they would get an answer if they asked those questions. I highly doubt that.

[thatjoeoverthr]

You’re assuming I’m assuming that ;)

It’s quite routine for journalists to ask questions, receive no answer or receive a refusal to answer, and note that the exchange occurred.

On this topic, one finds big long articles with fun, colorful cartoons but not a single use of the word “detect”.

[boomboomsubban]

Then the US government is also at fault for knowingly putting their employees in dangerous positions without their knowledge.

That's potentially worse, as it basically would mean the US is using the same techniques on god knows who else. The entire thing could have been friendly fire in that case.