What Is Havana Syndrome? Mysterious Illness Linked to Covert Russian Tech

What Is Havana Syndrome? Mysterious Illness Linked to Covert Russian Tech
(Photo : Wikimedia Commons/Galina Kurdina, David Smith, Saroja B. Angadi)

There are rumors that Havana syndrome, a mysterious illness that plagued U.S. diplomats and spies, originated from Russian tech or sonic attacks. An FBI counterintelligence shared her experience, which reignited the speculations.

Havana Syndrome Stories

Havana syndrome is a mysterious and unsettling health episode that could be linked to Russian intelligence Unit 29155, which is purportedly charged with "subversion, sabotage and assassination" programs against the West.

More striking symptoms have surfaced in the years following the alleged use of covert, directed-energy weapons against U.S. officials. These symptoms include migraines, nausea, memory loss, hearing loss, poor balance, and dizziness.

An FBI counterintelligence agent assigned to monitor Russian operatives domestically said she might have had a run-in with the hidden weapon. She compared the attack to "a dentist drilling on steroids."

She said that after the incident, she had memory problems, difficulty multitasking, chest aches, and that the supposed energy weapon had once rendered her unconscious.

U.S. government employee affected, the CIA's former deputy chief of operations in Europe and Eurasia, Marc Polymeropoulos also opened up about his Havana syndrome experience to German magazine Der Spiegel. According to him, he didn't feel well and initially mistook his symptoms for "food poisoning" six years prior.

However, as the excruciating "attack" reappeared a few days later, Polymeropoulos concluded that there had to be another cause.

The former deputy chief of the CIA told a German magazine that, at times, his vision became so poor that he was unable to drive a car and that it felt like "a vice on my skull." Unfortunately, he felt that those suffering from the unexplainable illness were portrayed "as people who had fallen victim to mass hysteria."

Retired Army Lieutenant Colonel Greg Edgreen, who led the Pentagon investigation into the Havana syndrome incidents, spoke with 60 Minutes. According to him, he was "confident" that Russia was behind the attacks. However, admitting the use of sonic weapons would bring up security questions.

He added that the burden of proof would be under former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden. The administration has to address it, but he admitted it wouldn't be easy because the public would have to face "some very hard truths," including questions on whether the country is secure, if there was an attack, or if it was an act of war.

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Havana Syndrome Symptoms

The condition began when U.S. diplomats and Americans serving in other countries experienced debilitating symptoms in 2016. Chronic symptoms could last for weeks, months or longer and include headache, impaired concentration, memory loss, insomnia, depression and impaired balance.

Meanwhile, acute symptoms, which tend to occur suddenly, include hearing loud sounds like chirping, clicking or screeching; pain in one or both ears; tinnitus; hearing loss; intense pressure or vibration in the head; visual disturbances; difficulty with memory or concentration; nausea; and unsteady gait (loss of balance, vertigo or dizziness).

In March, a government study of 80 self-reported victims of Havana Syndrome showed no signs of brain injury despite identifying "real symptoms." The researchers called the condition "quite profound" and "disabling."

Dr. James Giordano, a Georgetown neurologist who conducted early research into the syndrome for the Pentagon's Special Operations Command, said it should not be taken as "mass hysteria." He also said that the study created a "false conclusion that nothing happened to these people's brains."

He believed that those individuals were exposed to some form of electromagnetic or acoustic stimulus and that the nature of their damage was "functional rather than structural."