U.S. Military Obtained And Has Been Testing Device Linked To Mysterious 'Havana Syndrome' On Animals: Report

For years, reports of individuals connected to the U.S. government suffering from severe and often unexplained brain injuries surfaced every few months. Victims described debilitating ear pain, muscle cramps and even bone deterioration, but many said they were never given a clear explanation for what caused their symptoms.

A new investigation by CBS's 60 Minutes noted that the injuries may be linked to a previously unknown weapon that the U.S. military later obtained overseas and has quietly tested on animals at a U.S. military base, according to details of a classified U.S. intelligence mission obtained by the outlet.

According to the report, diplomats, spies and military officers have reported similar injuries since at least 2016, but many cases were ignored or dismissed by the government, which argued the symptoms were psychosomatic or the result of environmental or atmospheric conditions.

"The very first incident occurred in August of 2020. And what it felt like was that-- someone punched me in the throat, and my left ear was clogged. And I started to get sharp shooting pains going down my left arm," Chris, a former lieutenant colonel in the Air Force, told the news program, adding that he was struck by this unseen force five times in five months.

The same type of weapon has been allegedly obtained by the U.S. government, according to three independent sources from different agencies who described a classified mission involving Homeland Security agents. In 2024, agents purchased a previously unknown miniaturized microwave weapon from a complex Russian criminal network.

Dr. David Relman, a Stanford University professor who was asked by the government to lead two scientific investigations into Havana Syndrome, also known as anomalous health incidents, says the effects of a microwave weapon can range from loss of consciousness and seizures to memory lapses, difficulty concentrating, headaches, intense pressure, pain, disorientation and balance problems, many of the symptoms victims of Havana Syndrome have reported for years.

According to 60 Minutes, the Pentagon spent more than $15 million to acquire the device. Sources say that while the weapon has not been directly tied to a specific anomalous health incident, it contains pulsed microwave technology capable of producing symptoms similar to those reported in Havana Syndrome cases.

Some within the CIA believed that any microwave weapon capable of producing those effects would likely need to be the size of a truck, which would make it difficult to explain the hundreds of reported cases.

But sources who spoke to 60 Minutes said the microwave weapon obtained in 2024 is man-portable, concealable and requires relatively little power. The device does not resemble a firearm, instead, it operates silently and does not produce heat the way a household microwave oven would. According to sources, it can be programmed for different scenarios and operated remotely. The beam can reach several hundred feet and is capable of penetrating windows and drywall.

Sources say the key to the device is not the hardware, but the software. Its programming shapes a unique electromagnetic wave that rises and falls abruptly while pulsing rapidly.

"What the Russians spoke about was the importance of the energy being pulsed in order to have biological effects on humans. When you produce pulses like this, you can actually stimulate electrically active tissue like brain tissue and the heart, for that matter, mimicking what the brain normally does, but now you're driving it with your pulses from the outside," Dr. Relman said in an interview with CBS News.

According to sources, the still-classified weapon has been tested for more than a year at a U.S. military laboratory and has been used on rats and sheep, which reportedly showed injuries consistent with those observed in humans.

Sources interviewed by the outlet, including victims and former government officials, say the mystery surrounding the injuries amounts to a government cover-up. A former CIA officer who worked on the agency's investigation into anomalous health incidents said the probe ended in 2022 and that it appeared to him his superiors wanted to steer the conclusion toward environmental or atmospheric explanations rather than the possibility that a foreign adversary was using a weapon against Americans.

"I left because I saw the personal impact of this issue," he said. "And for me, it became a moral issue because they kept saying 'Our people are our highest priority.' But when it came down to it, that wasn't the case from what I saw. And it was something that tore me up emotionally."

Sources told CBS News the classified mission to obtain the microwave weapon points to a troubling possibility. They say there may be many of these devices in circulation, and if undercover agents were able to purchase one from criminal networks, it could mean Russia has lost control of a stealth weapon that could end up in the hands of anyone, anywhere.