havana syndrome thread

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Palladium: May 8, 2012; Very Good
✔️✔️✔️✔️

Dustcat posted:

makes sense

If a fake tree falls in an imaginary forest, does it still make a russian sound

# ? Sep 19, 2022 02:34

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? May 22, 2024 17:34

Dustcat: Jan 26, 2019

Palladium posted:

If a fake tree falls in an imaginary forest, does it still make a russian sound

so many different s sounds i can't even keep track of them

# ? Sep 19, 2022 02:35

Smythe: Oct 12, 2003

ArmZ posted:

you Havana laugh mate???

only thing im "having" is a nervous breakdown due to targetted attacks!!

# ? Sep 19, 2022 07:03

Smythe: Oct 12, 2003

Smythe posted:

i have to do my homework here

i ended up drinking some terrible cocktails with my neighbors today so i didnt do this until like 830 pm but its done now. for those wondering...

# ? Sep 19, 2022 07:04

a.p. dent: Oct 24, 2005

forgot i made this thread. thanks for bringing it back Smythe. good job doing the homework.

# ? Sep 19, 2022 19:16

Weka: May 5, 2019; That child totally had it coming. Nobody should be able to be out at dusk except cars.

Has anybody considered that instead of microwaves, it could be what I like to call "mega-waves"? The evidence is pretty compelling I think.
1) Larger waves penetrate better than puny "micro" waves
2) They have been known to be associated with significant mental impairment in the case of AM radio.

# ? Sep 19, 2022 22:30

Smythe: Oct 12, 2003

the ticking is gone today. they are building apartments or something across the street during the week I think it�s related. stay tuned

# ? Sep 24, 2022 19:21

palindrome: Feb 3, 2020

The cessation of ticking could mean device calibration is now complete. Stay vigilant.

# ? Sep 25, 2022 01:55

Smythe: Oct 12, 2003

i figured out the ticking. it was actually acoustics. theres construction dudes acorss the street and while i was sitting in my chair i could hear the nail gun twice with a perceptible delay, once from the left and once from the right. intrigued, i look out the window & was able to see the guy moving around up there so i watchhim and notice that if he moves a couple feet in either direction i can hear either the tool once from the left, twice from both sides but with lag, or only from the right when it bounces off an apartment building on the other side of my unit. pretty crazy. i can hear it very clearly from the bounce. kinda reminds of those cool dishes they had at astrocamp where you could whisper into it and hear it clear as day on the other dish really far away just via acoustics. makes u respect that kind of engineering in big concert venues and such

# ? Oct 17, 2022 17:52

christmas boots: Oct 15, 2012; To these sing-alongs 🎤of siren 🧜🏻‍♀️songs
To oohs😮 to ahhs😱 to 👏big👏applause👏
With all of my 😡anger I scream🤬 and shout📢
🇺🇸America🦅, I love you 🥰but you're freaking 💦me 😳out; Biscuit Hider

cuz I�m Havana good time Havana good time im a shooting star leaping through the sky like a tiger

# ? Oct 17, 2022 21:29

Weka: May 5, 2019; That child totally had it coming. Nobody should be able to be out at dusk except cars.

Smythe posted:

i figured out the ticking. it was actually acoustics. theres construction dudes acorss the street and while i was sitting in my chair i could hear the nail gun twice with a perceptible delay, once from the left and once from the right. intrigued, i look out the window & was able to see the guy moving around up there so i watchhim and notice that if he moves a couple feet in either direction i can hear either the tool once from the left, twice from both sides but with lag, or only from the right when it bounces off an apartment building on the other side of my unit. pretty crazy. i can hear it very clearly from the bounce. kinda reminds of those cool dishes they had at astrocamp where you could whisper into it and hear it clear as day on the other dish really far away just via acoustics. makes u respect that kind of engineering in big concert venues and such

Thanks for the update. Have you considered that the Russian government may have built that apartment building it's bouncing off and that the construction worker may be a Cuban brain assassin?

# ? Oct 18, 2022 12:43

blatman: May 10, 2009; 14 inc dont mez

does anyone else think its a mighty big "coincidence" that if u say havana enough times the word loses all meaning

# ? Oct 18, 2022 12:50

Weka: May 5, 2019; That child totally had it coming. Nobody should be able to be out at dusk except cars.

That's not normal, I think you have HS.

# ? Oct 18, 2022 12:57

vyelkin: Jan 2, 2011

Smythe posted:

i figured out the ticking. it was actually acoustics. theres construction dudes acorss the street and while i was sitting in my chair i could hear the nail gun twice with a perceptible delay, once from the left and once from the right. intrigued, i look out the window & was able to see the guy moving around up there so i watchhim and notice that if he moves a couple feet in either direction i can hear either the tool once from the left, twice from both sides but with lag, or only from the right when it bounces off an apartment building on the other side of my unit. pretty crazy. i can hear it very clearly from the bounce. kinda reminds of those cool dishes they had at astrocamp where you could whisper into it and hear it clear as day on the other dish really far away just via acoustics. makes u respect that kind of engineering in big concert venues and such

that's pretty cool Smythe

# ? Oct 18, 2022 13:03

Cpt_Obvious: Jun 18, 2007

Well you're never going to get the federal government to pay for your headache if you blame it on construction.

# ? Oct 18, 2022 16:04

christmas boots: Oct 15, 2012; To these sing-alongs 🎤of siren 🧜🏻‍♀️songs
To oohs😮 to ahhs😱 to 👏big👏applause👏
With all of my 😡anger I scream🤬 and shout📢
🇺🇸America🦅, I love you 🥰but you're freaking 💦me 😳out; Biscuit Hider

blatman posted:

does anyone else think its a mighty big "coincidence" that if u say havana enough times the word loses all meaning

I think that can happen with any word if you say it too many times. Like "praxis"

# ? Oct 18, 2022 18:17

Smythe: Oct 12, 2003

Weka posted:

Thanks for the update. Have you considered that the Russian government may have built that apartment building it's bouncing off and that the construction worker may be a Cuban brain assassin?

insightful. it is indeed possble...............

# ? Oct 19, 2022 07:51

Dr. VooDoo: May 4, 2006

I woke up this morning and found three pennies face down under my welcome mat outside my front door. Is this someone trying to cast Havana Syndrome on me?

# ? Oct 19, 2022 17:48

Pentecoastal Elites: Feb 27, 2007

I lost 3 pennies this morning near someone's front door. pm for my cashapp

# ? Oct 19, 2022 18:30

FreeRangeHexagon: Apr 17, 2022

I've been stealing pennies and putting them under the welcome mats of strangers, does Havana syndrome make me do this?

# ? Oct 19, 2022 20:18

spacemang_spliff: Nov 29, 2014; wide pickle

i woke up this morning with a bad hangover and I noticed my pennies was missing this happens all the time

# ? Oct 19, 2022 20:39

palindrome: Feb 3, 2020

face down coins are ominous, I mean what are the odds of that happening? watch your back

# ? Oct 19, 2022 20:41

HashtagGirlboss: Jan 4, 2005

It�s true-drop a dozen coins and you�ll get ten or eleven face up. The face side has more buoyancy in the air. It�s just physics. If you see a face down coin chances are it�s human traffickers marking your address to abduct you when you bend down to study the coins

# ? Oct 20, 2022 00:48

Jon Pod Van Damm: Apr 6, 2009; THE POSSESSION OF WEALTH IS IN AND OF ITSELF A SIGN OF POOR VIRTUE. AS SUCH:
1 NEVER TRUST ANY RICH PERSON.
2 NEVER HIRE ANY RICH PERSON.
BY RULE 1, IT IS APPROPRIATE TO PRESUME THAT ALL DEGREES AND CREDENTIALS HELD BY A WEALTHY PERSON ARE FRAUDULENT. THIS JUSTIFIES RULE 2--RULE 1 NEEDS NO JUSTIFIC

Havana syndrome ain't going away!

quote:

https :// www . vice. com/en/article/m7gyxq/havana-syndrome-podcast

A new investigative podcast from VICE World News uncovers deeply held secrets about the world of global espionage.
by Jon Lee Anderson

The Russian Embassy in Havana, Cuba, February 2022. Photo: Ramon Campos Iriarte

HAVANA � For some, it began as a loud noise, like the sound of grinding metal. Others heard something that sounded more like a giant swarm of cicadas. Then, the intense pressure to their ears and head kicked in, which caused headaches, nausea and vertigo. If the person experiencing this bizarre affliction tried to move � to �get off the x� � the noise and pressure would suddenly cease. But the physical symptoms would linger for days, and in some cases, years.

The series of incidents described above were first reported in Havana, Cuba in late 2016 by US spies and diplomats stationed there. Doctors who initially treated these patients could not come up with a diagnosis for the symptoms many continued to suffer from. Some just called it �The Thing.�

In the years since, reported incidents have spread beyond Havana, to places like Vienna, London, Moscow and even in the vicinity of the White House. The medical community remains baffled by what �The Thing� is. Some question whether it is real at all, and have suggested it might be a case of widespread psychogenic illness � also known as hysteria.

quote:
Doctors who initially treated these patients could not come up with a diagnosis for the symptoms many continued to suffer from. Some just called it �The Thing.�

In late 2018, my colleague Adam Entous and I teamed up to find out exactly what happened to these spies and diplomats. The resulting New Yorker piece � �The Mystery of the Havana Syndrome� � uncovered many new details about incidents, as well as the timeline of events that led up to the initial reports in Cuba. But years later, we � along with the rest of the world � are still asking: what is Havana Syndrome? Is it real? And if it is real, who � or what � is causing it? And perhaps the most frustrating question of all: why is it taking the US government so long to solve it?

Our new podcast Havana Syndrome aims to answer those questions.

Reporters Jon Lee Anderson and Adam Entous, the hosts of the new podcast Havana Syndrome. Photos: Ramon Campos Iriarte

In following the trail of clues, we uncovered some deeply-held secrets about the world of global espionage that could provide the key to finally solving the mystery.

In our reporting, we traveled to Havana to visit the scene of several early incidents; we visited London where two White House staffers reported Havana Syndrome symptoms in a hotel located just blocks from Buckingham Palace; we paid a visit to Vienna, where the second largest outbreak of reported Havana Syndrome cases led to the dismissal of the local CIA station chief; and we retraced the steps of a national security official who reported an incident within shouting distance of the Oval Office.

The home of Patient Zero in Havana, Cuba, February 2022. Photo: Ramon Campos Iriarte

In 2013, an idealistic young speechwriter for President Barack Obama named Ben Rhodes set out to change the course of history, engaging in secret talks with the communist government of Cuba to mend fences between the two countries. In December 2014, he accomplished this goal when President Obama and President Ra�l Castro jointly announced the restoration of relations between the United States and Cuba for the first time in 50 years. �It was the highpoint of my life,� Rhodes told us. �My daughter was born on December 11th, and this was December 17th.�

But Rhodes�s success also provided new opportunities for US spies. �Once you have that up close and personal access,� then-CIA Director John Brennan told us in a surprisingly candid interview, �it affords you new opportunities as far as your intelligence objectives are concerned.� In other words: the CIA saw the historic "rapprochement" as an opening to conduct more successful espionage in Cuba, a country with a reputation for being among the most difficult in the world for foreign spies to penetrate.

A former CIA officer named Tony � a pseudonym for security reasons � stationed undercover in Havana spoke exclusively to us for the podcast. He said Cuban intelligence would regularly place guards outside his home and used camera surveillance to track his every movement. Sometimes, they�d even come into his home. �They'd defecate in your house, cut your internet lines, they would drain your water cisterns. They'd flatten your tires or do some sort of damage to your car.�

In late December 2016, Tony experienced what he believed to be a new form of harassment. �This loud sound just blasted into my bedroom,� he explained. �And then the severe, severe ear pain started.�

Tony rolled off his bed to get away from the sound and pressure. But shortly thereafter, he began experiencing bizarre symptoms including headaches, nosebleeds and dizziness. Other CIA officers, as well as diplomats in the US embassy, reported similar incidents and health problems. Initially the US government suspected that the Cubans were somehow involved in causing these health problems or knew about them. They reached out to the Cuban leadership to seek answers. President Castro himself denied any involvement.

quote:
�This loud sound just blasted into my bedroom. And then the severe, severe ear pain started.�

In August 2017, Tony, Tina and their affected colleagues were flown to the US and secretly taken to a medical facility at the University of Pennsylvania for treatment. The team there concluded that their ailments were in fact real � likely not the result of any mass psychogenic illness � and that the victims must have suffered from a form of traumatic brain injury, similar to a concussion. But what could cause a concussion without leaving behind any physical evidence? That remains unknown.

But to Tony, the swiftness with which his physical condition devolved after that incident remains baffling. �I was at the top physical, psychological, emotional place I could have ever been in my life,� he told us. �I was just a force to be reckoned with and I was gung ho to do my job. And within six months, I was a zombie and nonfunctional as a human being.�

quote:

Today we are sharing an episode from one of our newest series � Havana Syndrome. In 2016, a mysterious, debilitating illness begins to afflict American diplomats and spies working abroad � first in Cuba, and then around the world. Victims report crippling neurological symptoms. Some describe the feeling of being hit by an invisible, directed pressure while they were stationed on government property, or sometimes standing in their own homes or hotel rooms. Is this bizarre illness the result of a weapon? Is it mass psychosis? Or something else entirely?

Award-winning journalists Jon Lee Anderson and Adam Entous take listeners to the heart of this saga in Havana Syndrome, a new podcast from VICE World News. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

Havana Syndrome is hosted and reported by Jon Lee Anderson and Adam Entous, and produced and reported by Julia Nutter, Jesse Alejandro Cotrell and Ramon Campos Iriarte. Edited and executive produced by Annie Aviles and Kate Osborn. Original composition and sound design by Steve Bone. Production support from Pran Bandi.

Janet Lee is Senior Production Manager for VICE Audio. Fact Checking by Nicole Pasulka. Charles Raggio is the head of VICE Audio.

quote:

Transcript
Episode 8. Deny Everything, Admit Nothing (final episode)

37:26

Jon Lee Anderson:
As for the cases that happened after Havana well if Russia had the technology and it had worked in Havana why not take it on the road especially if your goal in life is to gently caress with the U.S. At that point it's not even about going after specific CIA officers it's about messing with our heads anywhere they can.

Adam Entous:
I hear what you are saying Jon Lee but I really think we need to stick with the facts and there are just that many of them. What do we know. We know we have a a bunch of people who say they've been hurt but the CIA hasn't been able to find any communications intercepts in which officials in Russia or Cuba talk about what they did and I want to be honest I think it's very strange that they haven't been able to collect anything like that. I think the events in Ukraine raise further doubts about assumptions that the Russians could be so disciplined. Look at the way the Russians have been operating in Ukraine, they are so sloppy and yet we are supposed to believe that they were able to disguise these activities for so long against our, against our CIA personnel around the world.

The CIA also told us that they are continuing to rigorously investigate the causes of the incident but they added that quote we have not so far developed credible intelligence linking a foreign state actor or weapon to any incident. The CIA's investigation into Havana Syndrome hasn't stopped. Just a few months ago I spoke to a source with deep knowledge of what the CIA has been able to turn up. And a couple of things they said stood out to me.

One they confirmed a rumor I've heard that in some suspected Havana Syndrome cases the cause was probably a technical failure. Some of those secure skiffs had faulty HVAC systems which increase pressure inside the skiff and that caused some people to hear a sound, have ear pain and get dizzy. So for at least these cases it wasn't a secret weapon it was an equipment malfunction.

The other thing I learned that even though the government has narrowed down the list of potential cases there are about two dozen that they still can't explain and some of those cases are in fact outside of Havana meaning Havana Syndrome remains a global mystery. On top of that we have learned about a number of incidents that happened in the 80's and 90's that have peaked the interest of various U.S. government agencies. I know that investigators have spoken to some of the people involved to see if there might be a connection but in other cases that I know of these investigations have been strangely passive. One patient offered to give the government audio recordings that he took immediately after his incident but the government for reasons I don't understand won't even take them.

Jon Lee Anderson:
Looking at how much we have learned I think back to something else Dr. Andrew told us.

Dr Andrew:
Someone else made the prescient comment of this gonna be like Moscow Microwaves and we don't have time to deal with this.

Adam Entous:
Meaning meaning an investigation that actually goes anywhere never reaches a conclusion.

I don't know what they meant frankly. I think maybe it was just a matter of time and manpower drain. They were extremely busy they were always understaffed. I think they genuinely believe that this was not likely a real thing and that they just didn't have time to deal with this and needed to nip it in the bud as they said.

<mysterious music begins playing>

Jon Lee Anderson:
I think it's pretty safe to say that Havana Syndrome is not an isolated incident and I also think it's likely that there are some U.S. government officials who are aware of this but have chosen to remain silent.

Adam Entous:
Maybe but I'm not going to sign on to that claim.

<60's lounge spy music begins playing>

A source once told me something that really stuck in my mind. Intelligence is an imperfect science, it's what you know, and it can change in the blink of an eye.

Jon Lee Anderson:
To me despite the Americans going back in to Cuba the Havana Syndrome has already been incredibly effective for whomever unleashed it. As a tactic or a covert weapon it's brilliant, leaves no hard trace, has a major physical and psychological impact and even if there are only a handful of quote unquote true cases its caused a far and wide ripple effect. Freaked out US officials. All they had to do it seems was hit us in a few key places from there the alarm that it caused did much of the rest of the work. Like maybe this is a both and situation meaning yes our people were hit with something and also there are some cases that were psychogenic.

If I was foreign adversary behind this I would be pretty satisfied. This worked out pretty drat well for them. To top it all off our officials have been left relatively defenseless without a smoking gun we can't come out and declare war on anyone and we kind of look like wimps complaining of some mysterious ailment that there is no hard evidence for it except for the symptoms and we haven't even come out and said as much. So we're basically sitting ducks waiting for the next Havana Syndrome.

<60's lounge spy music continues playing>

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3QnpyRKZpM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8mwCrHuHYA

quote:

Part 2
12:40
<ominous mysterious music>
Alyssa Farah Griffin:
When it happened at the White House it really occurred to me that this could be a threat.

I was working in the White House communications director office which is a small office of the west wing. It faces out over Lafayette Park. I remember thinking great it's happening again.

Dr Sanjay Gupta:
Alyssa Farah Griffin has quickly become one of the best known faces in republican politics. Having served in prominent communication roles at the White House and the Pentagon during the Trump administration. But behind the scenes starting in 2016 Alyssa found herself on the job privately struggling with concerning health episodes which she is now sharing publicly for the first time.

Alyssa Farah Griffin:
I remember telling my mom and this was my dream job I said I don't think I can stand this job because I can not go to work and risk feeling like this and being in severe disorienting discomfort.

Dr Sanjay Gupta:
It first began in her highly secured office in the Pentagon where Farah Griffin says on multiple occasions she experienced a sudden onset of symptoms much like the health incidents years earlier in Havana.

Alyssa Farah Griffin:
To describe it as deeply uncomfortable is an understatement. Severe sinus pressure, as well as like pressure in my ears and then pain and then kind of a steady often humming sound. I chalked it up initially to an allergy but as it consistently went on and my ability to do my job was impacted by it I did eventually raise it up. Nobody said oh yeah this is Havana Syndrome because it is unclear and it remains unclear but there was something that was happening that was a medical issue that was altering my ability to do my job.

Dr Sanjay Gupta:
After receiving an otherwise clean bill of health from her personal doctor in the spring of 2020 Farah Griffin left the Pentagon to take on a new role at the White House where she says one day to her surprise while sitting at her desk just feet away from the oval office it happened again.

Alyssa Farah Griffin:
It hit me like a wave where I just immediately felt disoriented and dizzy and it lasted about 30 minutes. It was just striking. I remember I went home that night and I said to my husband this is scary this happened again I don't understand what's going on.

Dr Sanjay Gupta:
That seems really frightening to me as a citizen.

Jon Pod Van Damm has issued a correction as of 23:32 on Jan 25, 2023

# ? Jan 25, 2023 23:22

30.5 Days: Nov 19, 2006

Havana syndrome! It's back and it's fake! And nobody cares

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/03/01/havana-syndrome-intelligence-report-weapon/

quote:

The mysterious ailment known as �Havana syndrome� did not result from the actions of a foreign adversary, according to an intelligence report that shatters a long-disputed theory that hundreds of U.S. personnel were targeted and sickened by a clandestine enemy wielding energy waves as a weapon.

The new intelligence assessment caps a years-long effort by the CIA and several other U.S. intelligence agencies to explain why career diplomats, intelligence officers and others serving in U.S. missions around the world experienced what they described as strange and painful acoustic sensations. The effects of this mysterious trauma shortened careers, racked up large medical bills and in some cases caused severe physical and emotional suffering.

Many of the afflicted personnel say they were the victims of a deliberate attack � possibly at the hands of Russia or another adversarial government � a claim that the report contradicts in nearly every respect, according to two intelligence officials who are familiar with the assessment and described it to The Washington Post.

Seven intelligence agencies participated in the review of approximately 1,000 cases of �anomalous health incidents,� the term the government uses to describe a constellation of physical symptoms including ringing in the ears followed by pressure in the head and nausea, headaches and acute discomfort.

Five of those agencies determined it was �very unlikely� that a foreign adversary was responsible for the symptoms, either as the result of purposeful actions � such as a directed energy weapon � or as the byproduct of some other activity, including electronic surveillance that unintentionally could have made people sick, the officials said. They spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the findings of the assessment, which had not yet been made public.

One agency, which the officials did not name, determined that it was �unlikely� that a foreign actor was at fault, a slightly less emphatic finding that did not appreciably change the consensus. One agency abstained in its conclusion regarding a foreign actor. But when asked, no agency dissented from the conclusion that a foreign actor did not cause the symptoms, one of the intelligence officials said.

The symptoms were first reported at the U.S. Embassy in Havana in 2016.

The officials said that as analysts examined clusters of reported cases, including at U.S. embassies, they found no pattern or common set of conditions that could link individual cases. They also found no evidence, including forensic information or geolocation data, that would suggest an adversary had used a form of directed energy such as radio waves or ultrasonic beams. In some cases, there was no �direct line of sight� to affected personnel working at U.S. facilities, further casting doubt on the possibility that a hypothetical energy weapon could have been the culprit, one of the officials said.

One of the officials said that even in geographic locations where U.S. intelligence effectively had total ability to monitor the environment for signs of malicious interference, analysts found no evidence of an adversary targeting personnel.

�There was nothing,� the official said. This person added that there was no intelligence that foreign leaders, including in Russia, had any knowledge of or had authorized an attack on U.S. personnel that could explain the symptoms.

The second official, who described a frustrating �mystery� as to why longtime colleagues had become ill, said analysts spent months churning data, looking for patterns and inventing new analytic methodologies, only to come up with no plausible explanation.

Both officials said the intelligence community remained open to new ideas and evidence. For instance, if information emerged that a foreign adversary had made progress developing the technology for an energy weapon, that might cause analysts to adjust their assessments.

But they essentially foreclosed the possibility that Russia or another adversarial government or nonstate actor was behind the mysterious syndrome.

�One always wants to be humble,� one official said. �And we looked at what [additional information] we would need� to change the conclusions. The official added that some work on finding a source for the health conditions continues, notably at the Defense Department, and that intelligence agencies were prepared to lend their support to that effort.

The intelligence assessment also examined whether an adversary possessed a device capable of using energy to cause the reported symptoms. Of the seven agencies, five determined that it was �very unlikely,� while the other two said it was �unlikely.�

Over the years, government agencies including the State Department and FBI were unable to substantiate the use of an energy weapon.

But the new assessment is at odds with the view of an independent panel of experts, which last year found that an external energy source plausibly could explain the symptoms. The panel, which was convened by the intelligence community, suggested that a foreign power could have harnessed �pulsed electromagnetic energy� that made people sick.

The expert panel�s findings also were consistent with earlier conclusions of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, which found that �directed, pulsed radio frequency energy appears to be the most plausible mechanism in explaining these cases.�

David Relman, who headed the National Academies investigation and co-chaired the intelligence community experts panel, and had not reviewed the final intelligence assessment, said the energy weapon hypothesis remains viable.

�There are multiple possible explanations for the apparent discrepancy between the failure to identify a malefactor and the plausibility of directed energy as a mechanism. One should not necessarily discount the latter,� Relman told The Post.

The new intelligence report may represent the official word on the strange health ailment, but it probably won�t be the last word on the matter.

Some current and former officials whose conditions remained unexplained say that the CIA and other intelligence agencies did not sufficiently investigate the possibility that an energy weapon was used against them. They argue that analysts could have done more to find correlations between, say, the travel histories of suspected Russian intelligence operatives and the times and places where symptoms were reported.

Intelligence officials counter that analysts looked closely at that possibility and devoted extraordinary resources to the search for a possible cause. A dedicated group staffed by seasoned analysts and led by a senior CIA officer was set up to study the issue. People involved in the analysis have described it as the most complex and difficult challenge of their careers. In the end, they found no pattern to connect reported cases to a potential cause.

The CIA and other agencies also devoted more resources to providing medical care for afflicted personnel, a move that some sufferers applauded, saying that in the first years that symptoms were reported, they were treated skeptically by their managers and medical experts.

A senior official said on Wednesday that the Biden administration would continue to ensure personnel receive medical care and that it would process requests under a law that compensates government employees who experienced symptoms and in some cases had to stop working. Some individuals will be eligible for payments in the six-figure range.

�Nothing is more important than the health and wellbeing of our workforce,� Maher Bitar, the senior director for intelligence programs on the National Security Council, said in a statement.

�Since the start of the Biden-Harris Administration, we have focused on ensuring that our colleagues have access to the care and support they need. � Our commitment to the health and safety of U.S. Government personnel remains unwavering,� said Bitar, who is the interagency coordinator for the response to anomalous health incidents.

Early in the Biden administration, officials encouraged government employees who thought they were experiencing symptoms associated with the health incidents to come forward. That, the intelligence officials acknowledged, led to a flood of reported cases, most of which were attributed to other factors, such as preexisting medical conditions.

The final report�s conclusions are in keeping with an earlier interim assessment by the same group of agencies, which found that the health incidents probably were not the work of another country mounting a global attack.

�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 senior CIA official said at the time.

Intelligence analysts had reviewed cases that were reported on every continent except Antarctica. The vast majority of them were attributed to preexisting medical conditions or environmental or other factors, the official said.

The earlier, interim assessment had left open the possibility that a few dozen individuals whose symptoms remained unexplained, which the official called �the toughest cases,� might have been targeted in isolated attacks. �Our work is continuing, and we are not done yet,� the official said at the time.

Many of those afflicted were serving in U.S. embassies or diplomatic facilities or were traveling overseas when they fell ill. Children of U.S. government personnel also have reported symptoms.

But in the end, the final intelligence report found that medical experts could not attribute the symptoms to an external cause separate from a preexisting condition or environmental factors, including conditions such as clogged air ducts in office buildings that could cause headaches, the officials aid.

Over time, the state of medical understanding about the condition has evolved in ways that point away from a foreign adversary�s involvement, the officials said.

State Department personnel serving in U.S. embassies are among those who have reported symptoms over the years. Despite the new conclusions, Secretary of State Antony Blinken remains of the view that something happened to those employees who have reported significant ailments, and he is committed to making sure they are cared for, said a person familiar with Blinken�s thinking who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a divisive topic within the department.

Blinken has long doubted that personnel are suffering from mass hysteria or some psychogenic event, officials have said. Previous investigations, notably by the FBI, had raised the possibility that the symptoms had a psychological origin, not a physical one, outraging many sufferers who felt their pain had been marginalized and their claims not taken seriously by medical personnel. Experts have emphasized that even if the illnesses were psychogenic, that doesn�t mean sufferers are imagining their symptoms.

�Those who have been affected have real stories to tell � their pain is real,� Blinken wrote to all U.S. diplomats when the CIA previewed its interim findings. �There is no doubt in my mind about that.� Blinken called the symptoms described by people he met with as �gut wrenching.�

The independent experts panel also cast doubt on a psychological cause. �Psychosocial factors alone cannot account for the core characteristics, although they may cause some other incidents or contribute to long-term symptoms,� they wrote.

Some proponents of the hypothesis that a foreign actor is to blame and who were familiar with the new report�s findings said they felt frustrated and weren�t ready to abandon the possibility that a foreign government, probably Russia, was at work. They have pointed out that the drop in recent reported symptoms has coincided with Russia�s invasion of Ukraine, suggesting that the Kremlin�s resources were spread too thin to continue a possible campaign against U.S. personnel.

�The timing is deeply suspicious,� a State Department official said.

There have been no accounts of Russia introducing a new type of energy weapon on the battlefield in Ukraine.

At the height of public concern about Havana syndrome, U.S. officials who questioned or were even neutral on the possible cause faced significant scrutiny.

The CIA recalled its top officer in Vienna in 2021 after he was accused of not taking claims seriously enough, among other criticisms.

Also that year, the State Department�s top official overseeing cases, Ambassador Pamela Spratlen, left her position after six months amid calls for her resignation. Spratlen had held a teleconference with sufferers who asked about the FBI study that determined that the symptoms were psychogenic. Spratlen declined to say whether she believed the FBI study was accurate, angering diplomats who say their symptoms are the result of an attack, said people familiar with the matter.

# ? Mar 1, 2023 18:35

ScrubLeague: Feb 11, 2007; Nap Ghost

i'm glad we paid like a dozen guys twenty million dollars each because they got a coke hangover

# ? Mar 1, 2023 18:40

Al!: Apr 2, 2010

ScrubLeague posted:

i'm glad we paid like a dozen guys twenty million dollars each because they got a coke hangover

personally im glad we are finally compensating our wounded warriors

# ? Mar 1, 2023 20:42

PERPETUAL IDIOT: Sep 12, 2003

Said it before here but now that the CIA is denying its existence, I believe 100% in Havana Syndrome. In fact, I believe that it was developed in the communist Seychelles before being exported to Yemen for the Houthi rebels to use against US diplomats around the world.

# ? Mar 1, 2023 20:58

a.p. dent: Oct 24, 2005

30.5 Days posted:

Havana syndrome! It's back and it's fake! And nobody cares

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/03/01/havana-syndrome-intelligence-report-weapon/

lol

# ? Mar 1, 2023 21:00