Havana Syndrome Still Mysterious, Still Source Unknown

"There are several plausible pathways involving various forms of pulsed electromagnetic energy, each with its own requirements, limitations, and unknowns."

"For all the pathways, sources exist that could generate the required stimulus, are concealable, and have moderate power requirements..."

"Using nonstandard [REDACTED], antennas and techniques, the signals could be propagated with low loss through air for tens to hundreds of meters, and with some loss, through most building materials."

The required energy can be generated by ultrasonic arrays that are [REDACTED], portable, and produce a tight beam. Ultrasound is used to open the blood-brain barrier in medical procedures, and acoustic stimulation of the aforementioned anatomical areas could produce symptoms consistent with AHIs." "Studies of 'ultrasound sickness' and related audio- vestibular symptoms have reached mixed conclusions, but the panel was presented with [REDACTED] independent, first-hand accounts in which researchers were exposed to high-power ultrasound beams and subsequently experienced some of the core characteristics."

"Moving forward, the work of the IC [Intelligence Community] Experts Panel will help sharpen the work of the IC and broader US Government as we focus on possible causes. We will stay at it, with continued rigor, for however long it takes. The US Government remains committed to providing access to care for those who need it, and we will continue to share as much information as possible with our workforce and the American public as our efforts continue. Nothing is more important than the well being and safety of our colleagues."

"[I]t is not possible to conclude at this time that the events reviewed by JASON are the result of intentional attacks that cause physical harm." the State report says. "However, it is not possible, either, to rule out mechanisms that do not cause any physical harm but which might constitute harassment and lead to health conditions and functional disorders, for example through unpleasant sounds or pressure sensations."

Executive Summary,  Panel of intelligence community analysts

Picture of the US embassy in Havana, taken on September 29, 2017, after the United States announced it was withdrawing more than half its personnel in response to mysterious "health attacks" targeting its diplomatic staff.

The U.S. State Department has been attempting to unravel the mystery surrounding the strange not-yet-identifiable malady that has struck U.S. diplomats abroad, initially in Cuba in 2016, but confoundingly continuing to this day in various other world capitals where American diplomatic missions are established. Coincidentally, the very same sinister symptoms affecting the human nervous system and people's brains were experienced as well by Canadian diplomats stationed in Havana.

To the present, an estimated one thousand American diplomats and intelligence officers have been struck by the illness popularly identified as 'Havana Syndrome'. All indications appear to point to directed radio frequency being responsible for the sudden onset of the malady. "Pulse electromagnetic energy, particularly in the radio frequency range, plausibly explains", ear pain, vertigo and additional allied symptoms some people suffering from the ailments have been struck with.

A panel of experts was convened for the express purpose of examining all possible evidence to reach a definitive conclusion as to the source of the mysterious pulsed energy and, if at all possible, what agency might possibly be directing it in a deliberate attack symbolically targeting Americans -- and just incidentally Canadians -- representing their governments on the international stage. Attacks that continue to this day.

The panel's findings were to be delivered to the U.S. Director of National Intelligence and the
C.I.A. deputy director. The report concluded that the combination of symptoms "cannot be easily explained by known environment [sic] or medical conditions" reflecting the condition of a subset of victims of the syndrome, the number of whom was not disclosed in the unclassified summary of the report.

A 2020 National Academy of Sciences study concluded with similar findings. As well an interim January 20 CIA report concluding it to be unlikely that Russia or another foreign adversary could have orchestrated the "anomalous health incidents" left a gap in possible further, future study of the phenomenon, even as the CIA report noted roughly two dozen of the thousand cases remained unexplained in origin.

The latest report made no mention of having examined possible responsibility for the attacks, even as its conclusions are likely to fuel frustration from among current and former U.S. officials lacking a clear explanation for existing chronic afflictions that emerged as a result of the mysterious and sinister attacks. The panel was the first of several expert groups to gain extensive access "to intelligence reporting and patient data", over the course of their nine-month investigation.

A few of the panel findings were that the symptoms "are genuine and compelling" given medical reports and interviews with both physicians and victims. The panel stated "information gaps exist" even while it concluded that "pulsed electron-magnetic energy" could be the cause. Leaving open the possibility that the energy could have been generated "each with its own requirements, limitations and unknowns". And, stated the report, such sources exist that "are concealable and have moderate power requirements".

"Sensations" similar to symptoms reported by Havana Syndrome victims were reported, including radio waves, microwaves and X-rays, by individuals accidentally exposed to electromagnetic energy signals. The panel, however, ruled out "ionizing radiation, chemical and biological agents, infrasound, audible sound, ultrasound propagated over large distances, and bulk heating from electromagnetic energy." 

The US embassy in Paris, where a number of American diplomats reportedly fell sick in January  Chesnot

Directed High Energy Microwave Mystery

"At this time, we do not know the cause of these incidents, which are both limited in nature and the vast majority of which have been reported overseas."

"We also do not know whether they constitute an attack of some kind by a foreign actor, but these are areas of active inquiry."

US Administration official

 

"We are bringing to bear the full resources of the U.S. government to make available first-class medical care to those affected and to get to the bottom of these incidents, including to determine the cause and who is responsible."

US President Joe Biden 

"At this time we do not know the cause of specific incidents."

"These are areas of active inquiry. There is nothing that the Department takes more seriously than the safety, health and welfare of our personnel serving around the globe in defense of our values and freedoms."

Army Lt. Col. Thomas Campbell, Defense Department spokesman

 

"We simply couldn’t get the intelligence community and others to focus and really admit there was a problem."

"It was extremely frustrating, I must say. I hope now it’s not too late."

Former US Administration national security adviser, John Bolton

William Burns, director of the Central Intelligence Agency.  Getty Images

 It is a vexing mystery; could there be some strange new weapon in the hands of America's enemies? If so they appear to regard Canada in the same vein. Neither country enjoys good relations with either Russia or China and for similar reasons. American diplomats and intelligence officers abroad have been targeted by what is called Havana Syndrome because the strange affliction surfaced there first, in 2016, when both American and Canadian diplomats began complaining of some mysterious high-powered sound affecting their senses and their brains, leaving some with lasting brain injuries.

The syndrome is ongoing, it continues to mystify and to target victims. The source is as yet unknowable, and the weapon itself remains unknown. A report produced by the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine had the impression through some observed brain injuries that they were consistent with effects generated by directed microwave energy. And, noted the report, Russia has been studying the science for some time.

 

Then there is the impression of a team of medical and scientific experts studying the symptoms of up to forty State Department and other government employees, concluding in admitting the absolutely puzzling unfamiliarity of the syndrome since in their experience nothing comparable had been documented previously in medical literature. And there are those who believe the source could be psychosomatic; induced by stress. 

 

For those who have been physically affected there is nothing imaginary about the symptoms and the feeling first experienced when something began to go dreadfully awry with their senses and perceptions leaving them with headaches, inability to concentrate, loss of memory, impacted sense of balance, among other symptoms of a vicious intrusion into their suddenly-unhealthy brains.

 

Recently CIA Director William Burns, in a visit to Moscow early in the month raised the issue with the leaders of Russia's Federal Security Service, the FSB, and the country's Foreign Intelligence Service, the SVB. Informing them frankly that whoever was causing American personnel and their family members to suffer severe brain damage and allied physical ailments debilitating to their normal state of health would have transgressed the bounds of international interactions.

 

This targeting of individuals for whatever purpose and leaving them seriously injured, unable to get on with their day-to-day lives, incapable of resuming their professions, would be demonstrating unacceptable behaviour at variance with any "professional intelligence service".  He carefully avoided leaving the impression that Russia was being faulted as the source of the troubling phenomenon that the U.S. officially names "anomalous health incidents" (AHIs).

 

 

Moscow, of course, denies that it could be involved in any such skulduggery. But Mr. Burns' discussion of the troubling events revealed that the U.S. government remains unable to determine cause, much less source. The unusual and varied symptoms range from headaches and vision problems to dizziness and brain injuries. Canada responded by cutting its staff in Havana, but a year ago ramped staff numbers back up, reflecting their stated belief there had been no new cases since 2018.

Which led to nine diplomats who served in Havana publicly disputing the government's allegations. On their experience since March of 2020, 25 Canadian diplomats were evaluated for potential brain injury. And Canadian diplomats are anything but satisfied with the way their government and their Global Affairs department have handled the situation; some having gone to the U.S. for tests and evaluations and medical help on their own, when none was proffered in Canada.

The driving primary purpose of the American senior intelligence executive's trip to Moscow was for the purpose of placing the Kremlin on notice that Washington was aware and concerned over Russia's troop buildup on Ukraine's border. The message was that the U.S. was not prepared to tolerate a military attack on Ukraine. His personal appearance as head of the CIA was to impress on Moscow the seriousness with which the U.S. views the matter.

The CIA Director minced no words in describing the incidents, naming them as "attacks", though he went light on the suspicion of many in the U.S. administration that the attacks are suspected to be the work of Russian operatives. Still other officials attribute them to a psychogenic illness hitting individuals operating in high-stress environments. 

Two months earlier an intelligence officer accompanying Director Burns to India reported symptoms of Havana Syndrome, requiring medical attention. The incident was interpreted by some as a message to the CIA leader that those of his stature are themselves not exempt from being targeted, wherever they happen to be. With over 200 health incidents having been reported around the globe in the pasu five years on every continent save Antarctica, no clear pattern explicating the attacks has surfaced.

 

"There is no doubt that the victims who have suffered brain injuries must be provided with adequate care and compensation."

"Further, it is critical that our government determine who is behind these attacks and that we respond."

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., co-chair, Senate intelligence panel