>>> I THINK ABOUT ALL THE TIMES
AND WAR ZONES WHERE I’VE BEEN
SHOT AT OR ROCKETED.
THIS WAS BY FAR, THOUGH, THE
SCARIEST NIGHT OF MY LIFE.
I WAS FALLING OVER IN MY ROOM.
I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO VOMIT.
I WAS INCREDIBLY NAUSEOUS.
I HAD THIS INCREDIBLE RINGING IN
MY EARS.
AND I KNEW SOMETHING WAS REALLY
WRONG WITH ME.
>> THAT IS RETIRED CIA
OPERATIVE, MARC POLYMEROPOULOS
DESCRIBING THE NIGHT HE GOT SICK
IN A RUSSIAN HOTEL ROOM.
AMERICAN DIPLOMATS AND SPIES
POSTED IN CUBA, RUSSIA, AND
CHINA HAVE REPORTED THE SAME
MYSTERIOUS SYMPTOMS, DIZZINESS,
FATIGUE, HEARING LOSS AND MEMORY
LOSS AND THE ILLNESS FORCED SOME
INTO EARLY RETIREMENT.
NOW A REPORT COMPILED WITH EDD B
NATIONAL ACADEMIES OF SIPSCIENCE
OBTAINED BY NBC NEWS, VALIDATES
WHAT SOME AMERICAN OFFICIALS
HAVE LONG BELIEVED, THAT THE
SYMPTOMS SUFFERED WERE LIKELY
THE CAUSE OF DIRECTED AND PULSED
MICROWAVE ENERGY.
JOINING ME NOW IS NBC NEWS CHIEF
FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT
AND THE HOST OF "AN DEGREE JA MITCH
MITCHF "AN DEGREE JA
MITCHF "AN DEGREE JA MITCH
ANDREA MITCHELL REPORTS."
>> HI, KATY.
>> THERE WAS A BIG TAKE-OUT IN
"THE NEW YORK TIMES" YEARS ABOUT
WHAT WAS HAPPENING IN CUBA.
WHY DID IT TAKE SO LONG TO GET
THIS REPORT?
>> WELL, FIRST OF ALL, THEY ONLY
STARTED ABOUT A YEAR AGO AT THE
NATIONAL ACADEMIES OF SCIENCES
WITH A REALLY TOP-LEVEL GROUP OF
SCIENTISTS, ENGINEERS, ALL
LOOKING AT THIS AND, IN FACT,
YOU KNOW, FOR THREE YEARS WE’VE
BEEN COVERING THIS STORY BUT
THERE ARE SO MANY DIFFERENCES IN
THE WAY PEOPLE REACTED TO
WHATEVER IS CAUSING IT.
AND THERE WERE THEORIES THAT IT
WAS MASS HYSTERIA WHICH REALLY
UPSET A LOT OF THE STATE
DEPARTMENT PEOPLE AND IT ALSO,
YOU KNOW, THEN POPPED UP IN
CHINA WITH OTHER PEOPLE WITH
CONSULATES THERE.
AND NOW, IN FACT, UNRELATED TO
THIS STUDY, LAST 18 MONTHS,
ALONE, THERE HAVE BEEN SEVERAL
CASES OF CIA OFFICERS, ACCORDING
TO A SOURCE WITH DIRECT
KNOWLEDGE OF THIS, THAT HAVE
POPPED UP IN EUROPE, ELSEWHERE
IN EUROPE, AND IN EAST ASIA.
SO, YOU KNOW, THERE ARE MORE
CASES OF THIS OCCURRING, AND IT
TOOK A LONG TIME FOR PEOPLE TO
BELIEVE THAT IT WAS HAPPENING.
THEIR SYMPTOMS WERE VERY
DIFFERENT.
THAT’S SOMETHING THAT THE HEAD
OF THE TASK FORCE, NATIONAL
ACADEMIES OF SCIENCES TASK
FORCE, DR. RELMAN, DAVID RELMAN
EXPLAINED TO ME, HE SAID WITH
THIS THEORY THAT IT IS MOST
LIKELY, NOT PROVED, BUT MOST
LIKELY, THIS MICROWAVE ENERGY,
WHICH THE RUSSIANS, BY THE WAY,
WERE THE FIRST TO BEGIN
RESEARCHING AND HAD WEAPONIZED
IN THE PAST, AND ALL THE
LITERATURE IS WRITTEN IN
RUSSIAN, IN CYRILLIC, THAT, IN
FACT, THIS REACTS DIFFERENTLY IN
INDIVIDUALS BECAUSE
ANATOMICALLY, WE’RE ALL
DIFFERENT.
OUR SKULLS ARE DIFFERENT
THICKNESS, DIFFERENT SHAPES, SO
THE WAY A MICROWAVE PULSE WEAPON
WOULD HIT YOU, OR HIT ME, WOULD
RESULT IN VERY DIFFERENT
SYMPTOMS.
I COULD HAVE --
>> YEAH.
>> -- HEARING LOSS, YOU COULD
HAVE VISUAL LOSS, YOU COULD HAVE
MIGRAINES, I COULD NOT, ONE OF
US COULD HAVE VERTIGO, ALL OF US
COULD HAVE VERTIGO.
EVERYONE WAS VERY DISTINCTLY
DIFFERENT IN THEIR SYMPTOMS.
THAT MADE PEOPLE SAY, THIS CAN’T
BE ONE THING.
THEY THOUGHT IT COULD BE
CHEMICAL
CHEMICALS, TOXICS.
THERE WAS A CRICKET THEORY.
ALL KINDS OF CRAZY THEORIES.
THIS IS WHAT THEY HAVE GONE
THROUGH AND THEY HAVEN’T, AS I
SAID
SAID, STUDIED THE MOST RECENT
CASES.
THEY HAVEN’T STUDYIED MARC’S CAS
SPECIFICALLY.
HE’S THE FIRST AURSCIA OFFICER T
FORCED TO RETIRE BECAUSE HE
COULDN’T COPE WITH IT.
>> WE’RE RUNNING OUT OF TIME.
>> YEARS OF THIS PAIN AND DO HIS
JOB.
>> ANYWAY, I JUST WANT TO --
>> MARC COMPLAINED ABOUT NOT
BEING ABLE TO GET THE SUPPORT HE
NEEDS.
I’M SORRY, ANDREA --
>> EXACTLY.
>> ONE QUICK QUESTION, WHAT’S
THE GOVERNMENT DOING ABOUT THIS?
>> WELL, THAT’S ONE OF THE
ISSUES.
THE STATE DEPARTMENT WOULDN’T
EVEN LET THIS REPORT GO TO
CONGRESS UNTIL JEANNE SHAHEEN, A
NUMBER OF REPUBLICANS AS WELL
AND DEMOCRATS COMPLAINED.
THEY ONLY GOT IT THURSDAY,
THURSDAY OR FRIDAY.
WE THEN GOT IT AS WELL.
AND, LOOK, THEY FINALLY THIN LYL
RELEASED IT.
THE ACADEMIES RELEASED IT.
THEY WANTED IT RELEASED ALL
ALONG.
FOUR MONTHS HAVE GONE BY WITHOUT
ANYONE DOING ANYTHING THAT WE
KNOW OF.
THE STATE DEPARTMENT SAYS THIS
IS POSSIBLE A SORT BUT NOT
PROBABLY, NOT CONCLUSIVELY.
SO THEY’RE STILL DOWNPLAYING IT.
>> WELL, WE’LL SEE IF THAT
CHANGES WITH THE BIDEN
ADMINISTRATION.
AND NEW LEADERSHIP AT THE STATE
DEPARTMENT.
ANDREA MITCHELL, THANKS SO MUCH
FOR STAYING WITH US, AND THANKS
FOR BRINGING US THIS REPORTING.
>> YOU BET.
>> THIS IS A STORY THAT’S BEEN