Energy weapon or mass hysteria?

Ars Technica reports on the escalation of the bizarre illness afflicting American diplomatic personnel, which are looking more and more like an attack with an exotic energy weapon — which has chilling implications. It’s a fascinating and disturbing story, but what fascinated me most here was the unusually sharp polarization in the comments about the cause. Legit phenomenon? Or mass hysteria? Ars readers do not agree about this, and it’s unusual too see this generally smart audience so split over anything (other than Apple, obviously, that perennial neckbeard flashpoint)..

I am on Team Legit — there’s an actual illness happening here (independently of whether it’s an attack). I don’t think mass hysteria makes a lick of sense, because it’s a social phenomenon. These incidents are just too widely separated in space and time, affecting people who didn’t even know there was a story. I think the mass hysteria hypothesis is motivated by healthy but poorly executed skepticism.