The CIA has said the strange and mysterious ailment known as Havana Syndrome is not the product of a sustained global campaign by a hostil...
The CIA has said the strange and mysterious ailment known as Havana Syndrome is not the product of a sustained global campaign by a hostile power aimed at hundreds of U.S. diplomats and spies, but can't explain where it has come from.
There have been 1,000 cases involving possible symptoms of the mystery illness around the world. It takes its name from the fact US diplomats working in the embassy in Havana, Cuba, first experienced it in 2016.
Symptoms include headaches, tinnitus, memory loss and nausea.
There were fears it was the result of an attack against the US by a foreign government.
The CIA set up a task force to investigate the incidents and on Wednesday, the task force made the assessment that not all of the cases were caused by a hostile power.
However 12 cases originating in the embassy in 2016 remain unexplained, they said.
Many were caused by 'anomalous health' contributors, it said. The task force also didn't rule out that at least some of the cases may have been an attack.
'This finding does not -- it does not -- call into question the fact that our officers are reporting real experiences and are suffering real symptoms, nor does it explain every report,' a senior CIA official told CNN.
The agency said it will continue to investigate the cases that cannot yet be explained.
Symptoms of Havana Syndrome include loud noise, ear pain, intense head pressure or vibration, dizziness, visual problems, and cognitive difficulties
The syndrome first surfaced at the US embassy in Havana, when government employees suddenly found themselves afflicted with the mysterious malady
For several years, it had widely been accepted that the symptoms of a brain injury were being caused by Russia or some other foreign power that was deliberately targeting Americans around the world.
The aim, it was believed, was in order to cause them harm or to collect intelligence.
That theory has now been deemed to be completely unfounded according to sources speaking to NBC News.
Those who have experienced Havana Syndrome have expressed disappointment that the agency appears to have now dismissed the claims.
Some have also suggested the CIA's findings may not be the end of the matter on the subject given that it did not coordinate with other intelligence agencies including the Defense Department.
There are still calls for more research to take place into what may have happened despite the ruling out of hundreds of cases.
'Even two dozen cases is a lot of cases if Americans were attacked,' one person who was briefed on the findings said.
Symptoms of Havana Syndrome include loud noise, ear pain, intense head pressure or vibration, dizziness, visual problems, and cognitive difficulties, and many still continue to experience these or other health problems, according to a 2020 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report.
The report assessed the symptoms to be 'consistent with the effects of directed, pulsed radio frequency (RF) energy.'
Some have reported hearing a loud noise before the sudden onset of symptoms.
But it's unclear if victims sustain any neurological damage or any long-term damage and it's unclear what might have caused that damage.
U.S. intelligence officials once points the blame at Russia in what they believed to have been deliberate attacks on diplomats and CIA officers working abroad.
But in the three years since that time, spy agencies have not found enough evidence that would pinpoint the cause or culprits behind the incidents.
The 2020 report details how observed brain injuries were consistent with the effects of directed microwave energy, which the report also said that Russia had long been studying.
Russia has consistently denied any involvement.
It leaves scientists and government officials puzzled about certain about who might have been behind the attacks which started in late 2016.
It's know known if the symptoms could have been caused inadvertently by surveillance equipment - or if the incidents were caused by a mysterious sonic weapon.
Some doubt its existence, however, and call it 'mass hysteria.'
The leading theory behind the cause of the suddenly surfaced syndrome starts with a device that scientists say Russia could have invented during the Cold War, which was later used to spy on US embassies by collecting data from laptops and cell phones.
However, experts now theorize that a hostile country - like Russia or China - may have turned this microwave technology into a weapon.
Both countries deny any involvement in any of the incidents relating to the mysterious syndrome and U.S. officials now say they cannot say for sure that the attacks were intentional attacks or the result of human activity.
At least one of the three American serving at the consulate in Geneva (pictured) believed to be inflicted had to be medevacked from Switzerland to the U.S. for treatment in a 2021 incident
In private, the CIA Director William Burns had described the various as 'attacks' yet he together with the director of national intelligence, Avril Haines, have endorsed the latest reports findings.
There are likely to be more reports on Havana syndrome in the coming months.
The White House National Security Council has put together a task force that is examining Havana Syndrome and it it is expected to report shortly.
The Defense Department, FBI and the State Department are also working on their own investigations as to the origins of the syndrome.
In the latest incidents, three US diplomats in Geneva and one in Paris were afflicted with the suspected syndrome.
Last summer, four officials serving at U.S. diplomatic missions in Geneva and Paris also came down with ailments linked to 'Havana Syndrome.
A similar incident occurred in Paris, where senior embassy officials informed diplomats and encouraged others to report any unusual symptoms (U.S. Embassy in Paris pictured)
Of the three American officials serving at the consulate in Geneva, at least one had to be medevacked from Switzerland to the U.S. for treatment, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Staff were later informed about the incident by the mission's leadership during a town hall meeting.
This was followed by a similar incident in Paris, where senior embassy officials informed diplomats via email about a suspected case, encouraging others to report any unusual symptoms.
In response to the new reported incidents U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the entire federal government is working to get to the bottom of the illness.
'To date, we don't know exactly what's happened and we don't know exactly who is responsible,' Blinken said last month.
'I've heard them. I've listened to them. You can't help but be struck by how these incidents disrupted their lives and their well-being. We're doing everything we can to care for them.'
The sonic weapon the could cause Havana syndrome is said to be a smaller version of this 1990s Soviet microwave generator, which is kept at the University of New Mexico
The incidents in Geneva and Paris took place where the U.S and Russia held security talks in early December over Moscow's troop buildup near the Ukraine border.
Blinken said the United States has raised the illnesses with the Russians but still cannot make a determination about who was responsible.
The Secretary of State added he has met with State Department employees around the world who described the illnesses and how these incidents disrupted their lives.
'There is no doubt in my mind that people have been directly and powerfully affected,' he said.
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