[Anaraxes]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

completely novel never proved concepts like brain damage ray guns.

The concept of the Frey effect has been demonstrated. Wikipedia's references below, including Frey's paper that got the effect named after him, along with other papers describing effects going to back to WW II. (Originally noticed in people working near radar transponders, so that date isn't surprising.)

Anyone that's used a microwave oven can hardly doubt the general possibility of "brain damage" from microwaves. The Frey effect isn't permanent brain damage, though.

Whether or not any such thing was actually used in this case is an open question. "Was used" is a more specific question than "is possible", and demands more evidence.

But the basic physiological effect isn't some bizarre conspiracy theory based on wild SF handwaving. The US military was trying it out back in 2003, but dumped their version because they were looking for a temporary incapacitating weapon, and that version at least did seem as though it would lead to actual brain damage by the time the targets would be hearing things. (But then, this set of reports does mention permanent damage, so that's not contradictory.)

Of course, someone interested in a weapon might not care whether or not it's temporary, and if it's intended for harassment or covert use or terrorism or <insert motive here>, the device wouldn't necessarily have to meet all the requirements for a operational, fielded army weapon. It could also be a prototype, or an experiment -- even an experiment destined for ultimate failure to meet its goals, like that 2003 one from the US.

There's game-plausible room for the idea in a lot of settings from WW II (or Weird War II) onward, not necessarily involving vast networks of Illuminati and cabals of covens, but just the ordinary scheming you find in most thrillers.

Originally Posted by Wikipedia reference section

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