Jonathan Landay

WASHINGTON (Reuters] – According to a U.S. intelligence leader’s report, some of the 1000 U.S. diplomats or intelligence officers who have succumbed to a mysterious disease called Havana Syndrome, electromagnetic energy pulses could have targeted them.

Experts from both the U.S. and abroad said that pulse electromagnetic energy could explain some symptoms, including vertigo, of some people who have been suffering from the same ailments as those first described by U.S. diplomats to the Cuban capital.

Avril Haynes, Director of National Intelligence and David Cohen, CIA Deputy director convened this panel of experts.

One subset of victims suffered from a combination of symptoms which “cannot readily be explained by medical conditions or known environment”. Unclassified executive summaries of the report did not include information about these individuals.

There have been reports of cases in Russia, China and Tajikistan.

These findings are based on a 2020 National Academy of Sciences Study and follow a Jan. 20, interim CIA Report that found that Russia, or any other foreign adversary, was not likely to be behind the majority of so-called “anomalous” health events.

However, the CIA reported that about two-thirds of those 1,000 cases were still unsolved.

Although the Wednesday report did not address responsibility, it was released. The report will fuel frustration in current and former U.S. officials, who are still unable to provide a solid explanation for their chronic ailments.

We didn’t look at the attribution of it to foreign actors or adversaries. Reporters were told by a U.S intelligence officer familiar with the report that they stuck to the causal mechanism.

According to interviews with doctors and victims, the panel determined that symptoms are “true and compelling”.

The panel concluded that pulsed electromagnetic energy may be responsible. However, there were information gaps. There are many possible ways this energy could have been created, each with its own limitations, requirements and unknowns.

The report stated that such sources “are concealed and have low power requirements.” Non-standard antennas or techniques could allow signals to be propagated through air and materials with very low losses.

The report stated that individuals who were accidentally exposed to electromagnetic energy signal – such as radio waves and microwaves – reported sensations similar to those reported by Havana Syndrome victims.

It is possible that ultrasound could be used to explain the symptoms. However, it must not be done if the victim is in close proximity to the beam.

It stated that Havana Syndrome’s core symptoms cannot be explained by just psychosocial factors, which can include stress, work pressure, and depression.

This report provided recommendations for understanding, preventing, and managing the conditions, as well as collecting and coordination of incident and medical data in the U.S. government.