Unable To Link 'Havana Syndrome' To Foreign Adversaries, Says US Intelligence Agencies

The so-called "Havana syndrome," which includes hundreds of cases of brain injury and other illnesses reported by American servicemen around the world, could not be linked by the U.S. intelligence agencies to any foreign foe.

The conclusions made public by U.S. intelligence officials on Wednesday disproved widespread speculations that suggested Russia, or another nation may have been behind a global attempt to harass or attack Americans using some kind of directed energy.

Officials claim that there is greater proof that other nations were not involved.

In certain cases, the U.S. found among rival nations confusion about the claims and suspicions that the "Havana syndrome" was an American plot, New York Post reported.

Under the conditions of anonymity imposed by the US Director of National Intelligence, two officials familiar with the assessment briefed journalists on Wednesday.

In 96 nations, investigators looked at over 1,500 cases. In some instances, personnel who were part of the investigation were on the ground in places while new reports of possible Havana syndrome cases came in.

Seven US agencies participated in a multi-year investigation.

Havana syndrome is an alleged set of medical symptoms with unknown causes experienced mostly abroad by U.S. government officials and military personnel.

The symptoms range in severity from pain and ringing in the ears to cognitive difficulties and were first reported in 2016 by U.S. and Canadian embassy staff in Havana, Cuba.

In other locations, such as China, New Delhi, India, Europe, and Washington, D.C., more individuals, including U.S. intelligence and military professionals and their families, have started to report having these symptoms since 2017.

It is yet unknown what the ailment is and whether it is real.

The U.S. Department of State, Department of Defense, and other federal entities have referred to the events as "Anomalous Health Incidents" (AHI), while Central Intelligence Agency director William J. Burns has publicly called them attacks.

While there is no expert consensus on the syndrome's cause, an expert committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine concluded in December 2020 that microwave energy (specifically, directed pulsed RF energy) "appears to be the most plausible mechanism in explaining these cases among those that the committee considered", but that "each possible cause remains speculative".

Other potential causes that have been proposed have included ultrasound, pesticides, or mass psychogenic illness.

Prior to March 2023, U.S. intelligence services had not reached a consensus on, or a formal determination of, the cause of Havana syndrome, though U.S. intelligence and government officials expressed suspicions to the press that Russian military intelligence is responsible.