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The U.S. authorities quietly acquired a tool in late 2024 that officers consider could also be linked to the debilitating situation referred to as “Havana Syndrome,” which greater than 1,500 American officers have reported experiencing since 2016, in response to a number of sources briefed on the matter who spoke with CBS Information.
The system was bought clandestinely within the ultimate weeks of the Biden administration by the Division of Homeland Safety’s Homeland Safety Investigations division, utilizing Pentagon funding that exceeded eight figures, in response to two individuals aware of the matter. The system is transportable, backpack-sized, and accommodates elements of Russian origin, the 2 individuals mentioned.
Three of the individuals mentioned the Pentagon has been testing the system, which emits pulsed, radio-frequency vitality, for greater than a 12 months, however didn’t supply particulars on the character of the assessments. They mentioned the division’s investigators consider it could be able to reproducing the consequences described by victims of “Havana Syndrome,” a time period derived from the circumstances first reported by U.S. diplomats and intelligence officers in Havana, Cuba, in 2016. U.S. officers briefed a few of their findings to congressional oversight committees final 12 months.
Particulars concerning the U.S. acquisition of the system have been reported by unbiased journalist Sasha Ingber and CNN.
The Pentagon and DHS didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark. The CIA declined to remark.
Victims have reported a spectrum of neurological signs, together with extreme complications and head stress, vertigo, nausea, and ringing or popping sensations within the ears. Many have described listening to an intensely high-pitched, painful sound that appeared to subside after they moved to a different location. For some, the consequences have been so extreme that they have been finally pressured to go away their jobs. Stories of circumstances have emerged from each populated continent, spanning dozens of nations, and involving diplomats, intelligence officers, and army personnel.
Some Havana Syndrome victims have spent greater than a decade attempting to attract consideration to their circumstances, typically faulting their authorities employers for failing to offer significant assist or entry to specialised medical care. Within the absence of official recognition, some resorted to paying out of pocket for costly diagnoses and coverings, and have described a way of isolation and marginalization as their situation went unacknowledged.
An preliminary U.S. intelligence evaluation accomplished in 2023 concluded it was “most unlikely” {that a} international adversary was accountable for the diseases, which the Biden administration formally labeled “Anomalous Well being Incidents,” or AHIs. That conclusion was reaffirmed in an up to date overview launched in January 2025, which discovered that many of the intelligence group continued to view international involvement as extremely inconceivable. Two businesses, nonetheless, revised their positions, saying there was a “roughly even likelihood” {that a} international adversary had developed a tool able to harming American officers and their households, whereas stopping in need of linking such a tool on to the reported AHIs.
The Workplace of the Director of Nationwide Intelligence has been conducting a overview of the intelligence group’s earlier investigations of the incidents. Three individuals aware of the overview instructed CBS Information it’s largely full, however mentioned it has not but been briefed to lawmakers or ready for public launch.
An ODNI spokesperson mentioned Director of Nationwide Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard “stays dedicated to sharing findings from her investigation into Anomalous Well being Incidents with the American individuals.”
“Nonetheless, we’re not going to hurry to place out incomplete info,” the spokesperson mentioned, noting a workforce was persevering with “relentless” work on finishing the evaluation.
Former senior CIA intelligence officer Marc Polymeropoulos, who has spoken publicly of the signs he suffered after being struck in Moscow in 2017, criticized the businesses for what he mentioned have been disingenuous prior inquiries.
“The CIA at all times claimed that none of this know-how even existed, {that a} system did not exist, and so they based mostly their [assessments] on this,” he mentioned, “so their total analytic assumptions are actually blown up.”
“A brand new, full analytic overview is now warranted, and the DNI should name for one,” he mentioned.
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