UM Doctors Release Findings On 'Sonic Attacks' On US Diplomats Living In Cuba
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) - A team of doctors at the University of Miami released a report into the mysterious sonic attacks on diplomats living in Cuba.
The UM team examined 25 diplomats and relatives within four days to two months after they were exposed to strong sounds or pressure on their bodies.
The study revealed some of the victims heard the noise over several nights and that others inadvertently increased their exposure because the noise followed them.
Dr. Michael Hoffer with the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine received a phone call in February 2017 from the State Department.
"I never got this phone call not even when I was in the military and the call was this the state department we have a problem," said Hoffer.
The problem he says was about an individual living in Havana, Cuba who heard noises, had pain in the ear, dizziness, and confusion.
He later discovered that individual was not alone. More than two dozen people had the same symptoms and were seen by a team of U.M. doctors in Miami within four days to two months after they were exposed to the strong sounds.
"What we found is objective evidence of balance disorders that affect the gravity organs and unique cognitive dysfunctions," said Hoffer.
"They all ringing their ears, dizziness when they saw me. They just didn't feel right."
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The U.S. Government has branded the incidents as health attacks possibly sonic attacks, however, they have yet to uncover what really happened.
As for Cuba, it has denied any responsibility. But one thing is for sure, doctors say the individuals were exposed to something, but where the noise came from remains a mystery.
"The fact that these individuals felt and heard something is confirmed as what and who caused it and what reason we don't know we are still studying it but don't know," said Hoffer.
Aside from their findings, doctors were not able to discuss how the patients are doing now and the effects they will have in the future.
"Concussions do look like many different things, but in our experience of thousands of concussion patients this group is different. They have a unique pattern of balance dysfunction and a unique pattern of cognitive dysfunction," said Hoffer.
In late 2016, multiple US Embassy personnel in Cuba began reporting sharp ear pain, headaches, ringing in the ears, vertigo, disorientation, attention issues and signs consistent with mild traumatic brain injury or concussion.