A U.S. intelligence community panel found that cases of “Havana Syndrome” that have plagued multiple Americans working overseas could be caused by “pulsed electromagnetic energy” from external sources.
“We’ve learned a lot,” one intelligence official told reporters Wednesday. “While we don’t have the specific mechanism for each case, what we do know is: If you report quickly and promptly get medical care, most people are getting well.”
The logo of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency is shown in the lobby of the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia
(REUTERS/Jason Reed/File Photo)
CIA INTERIM REPORT SAYS HAVANA SYNDROME NOT FROM HOSTILE POWER CAMPAIGN, BUT CRITICS DISAGREE
The revelations come after dozens of U.S. diplomats and other officials have been stricken with “Havana Syndrome,” which causes a range of symptoms such as pain, ringing in the ears and cognitive problems. It was originally detected in diplomats serving in Havana, Cuba, in 2016.
The phenomenon has since been detected by U.S. officials serving across the globe, causing some to speculate that the symptoms may be the result of attacks by foreign governments.
A topics interim report last month found that most cases of the syndrome were most likely due to environmental factors, saying it was “unlikely” a “foreign actor, including world-regions” was “conducting a sustained, worldwide campaign harming U.S. personnel with a weapon or mechanism.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
(AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)
But a small number of cases remained unexplained, with the panel finding there was “genuine and compelling” evidence that some victims showed signs of “cellular injury to the nervous system.”
A subset of the cases “cannot be easily explained by known environmental or medical conditions and could be due to external stimuli,” the report reads.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin
(Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
While some “psychosocial factors” could compound the symptoms for some people, the report found that such “factors alone cannot account for the core characteristics” of the condition.
“No known psychosocial factors explain the core characteristics, and the incidents exhibiting these characteristics do not fit the majority of criteria used to discern mass sociogenic illness,” the report reads.
