Still perplexed by the covert acoustic attacks on U.S. diplomats in Havana, Cuba, U.S. intelligence is investigating Soviet-based technology used during the Cold War, Politico reported.
"We're trying to talk to guys as far back as the 1960s," one intelligence official told Politico.
The United States has not blamed Cuba for the attacks that injured 24 Americans in Cuba, but has considered it in part responsible for the safety of diplomats in their country. Cuban Minister of Foreign Affairs Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla has maintained "the Cuban government has no responsibility whatsoever in these incidents."
"It's baffled the entire community," an intelligence official told Politico.
Two intelligence officials were "confident that the attacks were conducted with an 'energy directed' or 'acoustic' device, possibly similar to one used by Soviet intelligence in Havana more than four decades ago, but remain unsure of its exact nature," Politico reported.
The sound reported used to harm American diplomats is not always audible to the human ear and have been rumored to have been used "periodically in Cold War spy history," according to Politico.
"As far back as the 1970s Moscow Signal incident, medical professionals suspected the use of such mysterious weapons could lead to brain damage, blood disorders and hearing impairments in exposed personnel — symptoms nearly identical to what targeted U.S. officials are experiencing now," Politico wrote.