Review Finds No Answers to Mystery of Havana Syndrome

[Karl]

It still sounds like people haven't realised/publicly discussed
putting biosignals lifelogging devices on diplomats to keep them safe
and discern the problem, but when all other options are eliminated ...
I don't really trust these mainstream channels given links to medical
reports on this have been taken down after the fact (see earlier
cypherpunks forward from me on this topic, which linked to archive.org
[ping me if i never actually forwarded this]).

Julian E. Barnes and Adam Goldman
Fri, December 3, 2021, 2:53 PM·7 min read
In this article:

William J. Burns
American diplomat
William Burns, center, the Central Intelligence Agency director,
testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Oct. 27, 2021. (Al Drago/The
New York Times)
William Burns, center, the Central Intelligence Agency director,
testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Oct. 27, 2021. (Al Drago/The
New York Times)
WASHINGTON — For months, the CIA and government scientists have been
working to find a cause of the chronic ailments reported by
intelligence officers and diplomats — but the health incidents, known
as the Havana syndrome, remain as mysterious now as they were a year
ago.

Intelligence officials have not found any hard evidence that points to
a cause. There are no intelligence intercepts implicating an
adversarial spy service. No one has detected microwaves, other
readings of energy pulses or any other weapons that could be to blame.

Some officials say they remain convinced Russia is involved. And CIA
Director William Burns delivered a warning during his trip to Moscow
last month: If Russia was found to be responsible, there would be
consequences.

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The trouble developing evidence shows the difficulty of the problem,
and suggests that absent a big breakthrough — evidence of someone
using a device or an informant telling the CIA about what is afoot —
getting answers will be a slow, frustrating and potentially
contentious process, especially for those who have been afflicted.

Some outside experts have raised the possibility that the symptoms —
chronic headache, vertigo, nausea and others — are a kind of
psychosomatic reaction to stress, a so-called “functional illness” — a
suggestion rejected by victims and many government officials.

Some scientists believe sensory discomfort — such as the strange
sounds, heat or pressure associated with Havana syndrome cases,
coupled with anxiety — can trigger real symptoms and sickness.

There have now been 750 official reports of possible anomalous health
incidents, according to people briefed on the cases, but about
three-quarters are no longer being investigated as likely cases of
Havana syndrome. Some reports lacked the required sensory experience,
such as heat, pressure or sound, before the symptoms’ onset, and
others were found to have separate environmental or medical
explanations. Of those cases, it is possible some may turn out to be
psychosomatic, according to people briefed on the intelligence.

But of the approximately 200 cases of mysterious incidents still under
active examination, the Biden administration does not think they were
caused by functional illness or other psychosomatic reactions. In
those cases, a U.S. official said, multiple explanations remain
possible, including directed energy, sonic devices or other medical
explanations.

Directed energy, such as microwaves, remains one of the theories,
perhaps the leading theory, according to American officials. But, so
far, the CIA has been unable to collect hard evidence to show that any
of the people suffering from symptoms of Havana syndrome have been hit
with some sort of energy pulse.

Across the government, agencies are searching for clues they may have
missed that could help unravel the mystery, according to officials
familiar with the efforts. The examination, including the FBI,
National Security Agency and CIA, involves reviewing forensic
evidence, including surveillance tapes from American embassies. The
government is also putting measures in place to detect any directed
energy aimed at American diplomats and spies abroad.

One official said the work showed that the various agencies were
determined to get to the bottom of what is happening. But, the
official cautioned, the work could take time. The government needed to
find “the right answer,” not “the easy answer, said the official, who
spoke on the condition of anonymity because much of the government’s
work to determine a cause of the incidents is classified.

U.S. officials have repeatedly said that the symptoms people are
suffering from are real and that the CIA, the Biden administration and
Congress have taken steps to improve access to medical care and
improve compensation for victims who can no longer work.

“What I know, having talked to dozens and dozens of my colleagues who
have been victimized, is that real harm is being done to real people,”
Burns told a congressional hearing last month.

In a report last year, the National Academy of Sciences concluded that
a microwave weapon — a form of pulsed directed energy — was the most
likely cause. Recent studies have indicated that directed energy or
microwaves could cause brain injuries and symptoms like those of
Havana syndrome.

Others briefed on the intelligence said the lack of evidence is
baffling, since the kinds of directed energy known to cause injury
ought to be detectable. The absence of proof could mean an adversarial
power is using a technology that is unknown, and undetectable, to the
United States.

It could also mean that the theory that directed energy is being used is wrong.

Some officials inside the government are convinced Russia is
responsible for at least some of the incidents, and has deliberately
targeted U.S. military personnel and CIA operatives. In his trip last
month to Moscow, Burns told Russian officials that any sort of
operation that caused severe brain injuries for U.S. personnel was out
of bounds for Russia’s spy services, and that there would be
consequences if Russia is shown to be responsible, according to people
briefed on the conversations. The Washington Post earlier reported
Burns’ warning to Russian officials.

It was the second time that senior American officials have raised the
issue with their Russian counterparts, who have consistently denied
involvement. President Joe Biden raised the issue with Russian
President Vladimir Putin in their Geneva summit this year.

U.S. intelligence agencies have also not been able to intercept any
communications about rival foreign services using a device on U.S.
diplomats or spies. Getting an informant that could shed light on what
foreign intelligence agencies or intercepting communications of rival
spies is a top priority for intelligence agencies, according to people
briefed on the inquiry.

What is more, medical personnel working with the intelligence agencies
have also not been able to develop a concrete diagnosis or any kind of
test that can determine who has been a victim and who has other kinds
of medical ailments.

Individual victims have said their doctors have found blood markers
consistent with concussions and brain scans showing injury or nerve
damage. But investigators looking at the broad group of victims who
have reported symptoms have not been able to find a pattern, such as a
diagnostic test result the victims have in common.

Mark Lenzi, a State Department official who was injured in Guangzhou,
China, said cognitive tests in many people with Havana syndrome show
similar deficits, particularly in exercises involving 3D-shape
rotations. Such tests are given to fighter pilots, and both the Air
Force and Navy tested Lenzi earlier in his career, results that can be
compared to more recent evaluations.

The government, Lenzi said, has readings that show the presence of
dangerous levels of microwave energy in China. In an unclassified
workers’ compensation report he filed with the Labor Department, Lenzi
recounted how his neighbor in China used a commercial detector to
record high levels of microwave energy in the apartment next to his.

But follow-up tests by the government used a classified device widely
known not to be as reliable at detecting directed energy, said Lenzi,
whose work involves countering foreign eavesdropping including by
using directed energy. When the government says directed energy is a
theory but there is no evidence, “That is simply not true,” Lenzi said

“They have readings, especially in Guangzhou,” he said.

To lead the effort to find a cause of the incidents, and improve the
medical care for those hurt by them, the CIA has formed the Global
Health Incident Cell, a group that has been reviewing all of the
reports.

A senior U.S. official said the intelligence agencies “want a
breakthrough because we want to know the thing or things that is
producing harm.” Finding an answer, whatever it is, could not only
help the government stop what is causing them, but also help doctors
treat the ailments.

Some former government officials say the episodes stretch back
decades. Listening devices used by the Russian government in the 1990s
and aimed at CIA officers working in the U.S. Embassy are believed by
some to have caused nausea and other symptoms.

But the most recent spate of incidents began in late 2016 in Cuba,
where 40 CIA officers and diplomats said they heard strange noises,
then reported headaches and nausea in episodes through May 2018. Those
exposed the longest have reported chronic disabilities.

Since then, American diplomats have been injured in Guangzhou and
other cities in China. More than two dozen American officials have
reported symptoms in Vienna. There have been other reports around the
world involving military officers, CIA personnel and diplomats.

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