this post was submitted on 01 Apr 2024
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A lead U.S. military investigator examining reports of what has become known as Havana Syndrome told 60 Minutes he believes U.S. officials are being attacked by Russia and that the official threshold to prove it was set impossibly high.

Greg Edgreen, a now-retired Army lieutenant colonel who ran the Pentagon investigation into what officials refer to as "anomalous health incidents," said the bar for proof was set so high because the country doesn't want to face some very hard truths, like the existence of possible failures to protect Americans.

"Unfortunately I can't get into specifics, based on the classification," Edgreen said. "But I can tell you at a very early stage, I started to focus on Moscow."

A 2023 government report deemed it "very unlikely" that a foreign adversary was behind the mysterious brain injuries suffered by U.S. national security officials, yet more than 100 Americans have symptoms scientists say could be caused by a beam of microwaves or acoustic ultrasound. Victims are frustrated that the government publicly doubts an adversary is targeting Americans. The ongoing, five-year 60 Minutes investigation has now uncovered new evidence pointing toward Russia.

Here is the transcript of the March 31, 2024 60 Minutes episode. It's well worth reading.

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[–] Thrillhouse@lemmy.world 26 points 7 months ago

I believe it 100%.

I wonder if US/allies also have this technology and have also used it extrajudicially and don’t want to answer those questions.

[–] SkybreakerEngineer@lemmy.world 10 points 7 months ago (3 children)

Except the Pentagon investigation has never come up with any proof that there were any attacks at all. There were multiple studies looking at everything from statistics to evidence of damage in supposedly affected individuals to trying to replicate the effects, and not a single one has come up with anything.

Some diplomats got tinnitus, and they are blaming sci-fi weapons.

[–] SpruceBringsteen@lemmy.world 20 points 7 months ago

They're the Pentagon. What realistic expectation is there for them to be truely candid on a topic like this?

[–] neatchee@lemmy.world 8 points 7 months ago (1 children)

This has big "we investigated ourselves and found ourselves innocent of any wrongdoing" vibes. There are a million reasons why the pentagon wouldn't be honest about this sort of thing, from PR concerns about failing to defend the country, to doing it themselves and not wanting to risk exposing themselves

I'm not saying it's true. I'm just saying I'd like someone other than a government agency to do the investigating

[–] girlfreddy@lemmy.ca 9 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

The 60 Minutes episode had a couple of people with their own theories, ie: if the problem is not acknowledged then Washington doesn't have to deal with it. And that makes sense.

[–] SkybreakerEngineer@lemmy.world 1 points 7 months ago

Theories, not evidence

[–] AWistfulNihilist@lemmy.world 8 points 7 months ago

Yeah, it's honestly silly. They've been throwing darts at the wall on this forever. Whatever BS propoganda shit has been blamed going back to the actual office in Havana. Russians, Chinese, UFOs, whatever is currently popular.

Then when they actually put an actual considerable amount of time and money into it, it's just nothing. It was always nothing, it's a stupid distraction.

[–] foggy@lemmy.world 5 points 7 months ago (1 children)

You know what stops ultrasonic LRAD air waves from reaching you and inflicting pain? Benn Jordan knows.

[–] FartsWithAnAccent@fedia.io 2 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Mattresses will work last I read. Probably anything thick enough would work though

[–] foggy@lemmy.world 5 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Stuff like foam doesn't do a good job. In the video Benn discovers that shiny poster board works best. Recording studio audio foam didn't do anything.

[–] FartsWithAnAccent@fedia.io 3 points 7 months ago

Huh, last I heard people had successfully used old mattresses to block LRAD devices but I think they were using the older style with internal coils rather than a solid foam mattress. The shiny poster board sounds a lot easier to use though.