The report came under heavy criticism and was the subject of a rebuttal in The Daily Beast, which pointed out that the shifting patterns in cell phone data were easily explained by observable road construction. The rebuttal also noted that the report relied on extremely small sample numbers (some as small as seven cell phones for an institute with hundreds of employees). Intelligence and health specialists interviewed by NBC were broadly skeptical of the report, the outlet reported, as were Congressional staffers quoted by The Daily Beast.
