It looks like “Havana syndrome” — a mysterious sickness felt by U.S. personnel, who have reported painful physical symptoms — isn’t the work of some foreign nation, the Central Intelligence Agency said this week.
- Symptoms often include “ear-popping, vertigo, pounding headaches and nausea” as well as an odd “piercing directional noise,” according to CNN.
The news: The CIA said Thursday that a foreign country probably isn’t orchestrating a massive sickness against U..S personnel, The Washington Post reports.
- “We assess it is unlikely that a foreign actor, including Russia, is conducting a sustained, worldwide campaign harming U.S. personnel with a weapon or mechanism,” a CIA official told The Washington Post.
Why this matters: For years, officials have linked “Havana syndrome” to foreign countries, suggesting that Russia may be to blame for the mysterious illness.
Yes, but: The official said that there’s still a possibility “that a foreign power could be responsible for cases that cannot be attributed to medical conditions or other factors,” according to The Washington Post.
Flashback: Back in early 2021, federal officials said they were investing at least two “mysterious, invisible attacks” where an invisible force made people sick, as I reported for the Deseret News.
- The “investigators still haven’t completely ruled out the possibility that the symptoms are caused by some kind of naturally occurring phenomenon rather than a weapon,” CNN reported at the time.
- Reports of these symptoms have floated out before then. For example, one White House official said she suffered odd physical symptoms while walking her dog, according to GQ magazine.
- More recently, Vice President Kamala Harris delayed a trip to Hanoi, Vietnam, after a “report of a recent possible anomalous health incident,” according to CNN. This was linked to “Havana syndrome,” too.