Washington (AP) — The Biden administration faces new pressure to solve the mysteries that have plagued its predecessors. Are enemies using microwave or radio weapons to attack the brains of US diplomats, spies, and military personnel?

The number of reports of possible attacks has skyrocketed, with lawmakers from both parties and suspected affected lawmakers seeking replies. But scientists and government officials are still uncertain about who was behind the attack, whether the symptomatology could have been inadvertently caused by surveillance equipment, or whether the incident was actually an attack. I have not.

Whatever the official review concludes can have enormous consequences. Confirming that US adversaries are conducting damaging attacks on US personnel will unleash the demands of a strong US response.

For now, the administration takes the issue seriously, actively investigates it, and ensures that affected people receive adequate medical care.

The problem is called “Havana Syndrome” because the first case affected staff at the US Embassy in Cuba in 2016. At least 130 cases are currently under investigation across the government, up from dozens last year, according to US defense officials who are not allowed to discuss details publicly. The National Security Council is leading the investigation.

People who appear to be affected have reported headaches, dizziness, and symptoms consistent with concussion, and some require months of treatment. Some people report that they hear a loud noise before sudden symptoms appear.

Of particular concern are the exposure of at least two possible incidents in the Washington area, including one near the White House in November, officials reporting dizziness.

More possible new cases were first reported by The New York Times. CNN first reported the incident near the White House and reported additional incidents in November.

Defenders of the affected people have accused the US government of not taking the matter seriously or providing the necessary medical care and benefits.

Mark Zaid, a Washington lawyer on behalf of several affected people, said: Zaid shows that there is information about unidentified “hostile nations” that may have microwave weapons “to weaken, intimidate, or kill enemies,” dating back to the late 1990s. I got the document.

Chris Miller, acting Secretary of Defense during the last few months of the Trump administration, created a Pentagon team to investigate suspicious attacks. It was after meeting a soldier at the end of last year who explained that he had a terrible headache after hearing a “scream” while serving in a country where Miller could not be identified.

“He was well trained, very well trained and previously involved in combat,” Miller told The Associated Press. “This is an American and a member of the Pentagon. At that point, it cannot be ignored.”

Defense and intelligence officials have publicly promised to seek answers and better care for people with symptoms. Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Campbell said the cause of the incident was “a field of active investigation.” Some have influenced the suspicious Russian involvement, but authorities have not identified the suspicious country.

CIA Secretary William Burns said before Congress that the investigation was “very high priority to ensure that my colleagues take good care of them and underlie the cause and responsibility of these cases. It ’s expensive. ”

Burns receives daily updates on surveys of employees who reported this year’s cases. He met with those reporting injuries as the other best CIA personnel do. Agencies have been working to reduce the waiting time for employees to receive outpatient treatment at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

The CIA has also replaced its chief medical officer with a doctor who appears to be more sympathetic to possible cases.

“We have been treated very badly in the past,” said Mark Polymeroplos, a 26-year CIA veteran who was diagnosed with traumatic brain injury after his 2017 visit to Russia. “Now they are not only believing in us, but also deploying people who support our health care.”

One important analysis identified “directional pulsed radio frequency energy” as the most plausible cause. The report, released in December by the National Academy of Sciences, states that radio frequency attacks can alter brain function without causing “overall structural damage.” However, the panel was unable to make a definitive discovery of how US personnel were attacked.

And a declassified 2018 State Department report cited “lack of senior leaders, ineffective communication, and systematic turmoil” in responding to the Havana case. According to reports, the cause of the injury was “currently unknown.” This document was published by the George Washington University National Security Archives.

The report also said the CIA eventually closed Havana base, a potential enemy victory.

Dr. James Giordano, a professor of neurology at Georgetown University, consulted with the State Department about the Havana case and was briefed on recent cases in the United States and abroad. Giordano pointed out evidence of some neurological injuries when reviewing the records of affected people in Havana, suggesting that they may have been hit by radio waves.

He identified two possible causes. Devices that were intentionally used to target potential victims, or directed-energy waves that were used to monitor what could have unintentionally harmed the targeted people. It is a tool. One of the November attacks outside the White House had “substantial similarities” to the Havana case, Giordano said, and he was allowed to be more specific by the government. He added that he did not.

“It is very difficult, if not impossible, to forge or misrepresent certain findings into an objective clinical evaluation,” said Giordano. “That is, sometimes you can’t or can’t move your nerves.”

Other scientists remain skeptical. Dr. Robert Barro of the University of California, Los Angeles says that scanning the brain of a healthy person sometimes displays ministrokes, and possible weapons are either too large or require too much power to deploy undetected. Insisted on.

According to Barrow, the increasing number of cases considered directed-energy attacks is actually associated with “mass psychogenic illness,” and people who learn others with symptoms feel sick themselves. start.

“Many people have heard about it, and that’s how it spreads,” Barrow said.

Members of both parties are urging the Biden administration to take this seriously. The bill, introduced in both the House of Representatives and the Senate on Wednesday, will step up payments for disability allowances for traumatic brain injury suffered in the case.

Adam Schiff, Democratic Party of California, who chairs the House Intelligence Committee, said: In the statement. Devin Nunes, a top Republican member of the Commission, said those reporting symptoms were “apparently attacked.”

Former CIA officer Polymeropoulos said he believes the United States will ultimately identify the person responsible for what is behind the case.

“Actual intelligence will take us to the truth about this,” he said. “If it turns out that a particular enemy has done this, an unpleasant decision will be made about what to do.”