A newly declassified report says "Havana syndrome," a set of unexplained medical symptoms first experienced by U.S. State Department personnel stationed in Cuba in 2016, might be caused by an "electromagnetic energy" weapon, contradicting U.S. officials who have said it's "very unlikely" the strange cluster of ailments were caused by a foreign country, whether by accident or on purpose, reports Salon.
"Electromagnetic energy, particularly pulsed signals in the radio frequency range, plausibly explains the core characteristics, although information gaps exist," a report prepared for the director of national intelligence by the Intelligence Community Experts Panel on Anomalous Health Incidents, states. "There are several plausible pathways involving forms of electromagnetic energy, each with its own requirements, limitations, and unknowns. For all the pathways, sources exist that could generate the required stimuli, are concealable, and have moderate power requirements."
The 153-page document was declassified after nonprofit organization James Madison Project sued to obtain further information on "Anomalous Health Incidents" or AHIs, the official term used to designate the syndrome.
"The U.S. government is covering up evidence as to what AHIs are," James Madison Project attorney Mark Zaid told Salon. "This report differs from the summary released earlier this month and previous statements from the intelligence community. It is becoming apparent that these events were perpetrated either by foreign actors, or it is an experiment gone horribly wrong."
The Washington Post last month reported that five U.S. intelligence agencies concluded it's "very unlikely" an enemy or foreign adversary wielding a secret weapon was behind the mysterious reports of Havana syndrome.
Zaid said the agency needs to explain "why and how this happened. Was it inadvertently done, as some in the government are now trying to sell us, or was it done on purpose? How was it done and how are we responding to the threat?"
Some 1,000 American officials claim to have suffered from "Havana syndrome," with symptoms ranging from hearing and memory loss, severe headaches, light sensitivity and nausea.