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CIA Director Says He Is Escalating Efforts To Solve 'Havana Syndrome' Mystery (npr.org) 67

Posted by BeauHD from the getting-to-the-bottom-of-it dept.
CIA Director William Burns says he has redoubled the agency's efforts to uncover the cause of Havana syndrome -- the mysterious set of ailments that has afflicted more than 200 U.S. officials and family members around the world. NPR reports: That includes the assignment of a senior officer who once led the hunt for Osama bin Laden to lead the investigation and tripling the size of a medical team involved in the probe, Burns told NPR on Thursday in his first sit-down interview since being confirmed as the agency's chief in March. "I am absolutely determined -- and I've spent a great deal of time and energy on this in the four months that I've been CIA director -- to get to the bottom of the question of what and who caused this," Burns said. "We're no longer the only big kid on the geopolitical block, especially with the rise of China. And as you know very well, there's a revolution in technology which is transforming the way we live, work, compete and fight. And so, CIA, like everyone else in the U.S. government, has to take that into account," he said.

Under Burns' direction, the CIA has tripled the number of full-time medical personnel at the agency who are focused on Havana syndrome and has shortened the waiting period for afflicted personnel to be admitted to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. "I'm certainly persuaded that what our officers and some family members, as well as other U.S. government employees, have experienced is real, and it's serious," Burns said. The director says he is seriously considering the "very strong possibility" that the syndrome is the result of intentional actions, adding that there are a limited number of "potential suspects" with the capability to carry out an action so widely across the globe. A report from last December by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine found that microwave radiation is the "most plausible" explanation for the symptoms.

To head the task force investigating the syndrome, Burns has appointed a veteran officer who helped lead the hunt for Osama bin Laden. The identity of that officer is still undercover, according to The Wall Street Journal. "We're throwing the very best we have at this issue, because it is not only a very serious issue for our colleagues, as it is for others across the U.S. government, but it's a profound obligation, I think, of any leader to take care of your people," Burns said. The syndrome first appeared in 2016 at the U.S. Embassy in Havana, where more than 40 diplomats complained of symptoms such as migraines, dizziness, and memory loss. Dozens more cases have been reported in the years since.

Last week, about two dozen U.S. intelligence officers, diplomats, and other government officials in Vienna have reported experiencing mysterious afflictions similar to the Havana Syndrome." The Biden administration is "vigorously investigating" the reports, but the causes of the syndrome still remain unclear.
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CIA Director Says He Is Escalating Efforts To Solve 'Havana Syndrome' Mystery More

CIA Director Says He Is Escalating Efforts To Solve 'Havana Syndrome' Mystery

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  • I suspect it's part of the infrastructure (Score:4, Insightful)

    by ItsJustAPseudonym ( 1259172 ) on Thursday July 22, 2021 @08:57PM (#61610159)
    The biggest common element between all of the different U.S. embassies that have been afflicted by this syndrome is, they are U.S. embassies. I suspect they installed a new version of gee-whiz security tech using ulltrasonics or low-intensity microwaves at multiple embassies, and the staff are now getting affected by it. Both ultrasonics and microwaves would cause these effects. It would imply that the U.S. is bringing the problem with them, as they roll out new technology.

    The biggest hiccup in my theory is that they probably would have considered this already, but maybe they haven't.

    • Re:I suspect it's part of the infrastructure (Score:5, Insightful)

      by belmolis ( 702863 ) <billposer.alum@mit@edu> on Thursday July 22, 2021 @10:41PM (#61610401) Homepage
      If the problem were due to new security measures in US embassies, it should be found in all of the more recently built or renovated embassies and not in older facilities. That seems not to be the case. To my knowledge Havana syndrome has not been reported from the new embassy in Jerusalem or from the embassy built in 2017 in London. On the other hand, cases have been reported in older embassies, and even in some places that are not US diplomatic facilities at all, such as the Intercontinental London Park Lane hotel.
      • You make a very good observation. However, this could still be consistent with my theory. It could be that they are using specific equipment to retrofit and upgrade older facilities, and that equipment is the cause of the problem. The systems used to retrofit an older facility may be different than those used for new construction. This is analogous to the situation of electrical wiring in a house. If you are adding electrical outlets to an existing house, there are specific boxes for that, and they are
    • Embassies are also targets because we run covert ops out of them. Shhhh thats supposed to be a secret. So its natural that the people working out of the embassy are suspected as cia operatives as well and thus targeted. I would suspect the tech used in security is on par with Langly, VA, yet no cases out of Va.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by cusco ( 717999 )

      You're almost certainly right, and this has been known for quite some time. They're spooks though, so would much prefer to believe that they're under attach than that their equipment is fucking up.

      https://spectrum.ieee.org/semi... [ieee.org]

      Researchers say bad engineering, not a deliberate attack, may be to blame

      Intermodulation distortion occurs when two signals having different frequencies combine to produce synthetic signals at the difference, sum, or multiples of the original frequencies.

      From my comment towards th

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by DarkOx ( 621550 )

      Assuming a skilled operator can construct the device from obtainable bits a good way to throw the us off the trail of a specific state actor would be to have your local sig-int operators put together your microwave-sonic-whatever ray gun and point it US Embassies in a bunch of different countries that don't seem to fit any known economic/strategic alliance.

      I am not suggesting that is what is going on here as I have no cause to support it other than its plausible. As long as the device is relatively small ea

    • "The biggest common element between all of the different U.S. embassies that have been afflicted by this syndrome is, they are U.S. embassies."

      If you eliminate the differences, then everything is the same.

      The biggest hiccup in your theory is that the effect has been claimed at sites that are not US Embassies.

  • this was tested years ago (Score:5, Funny)

    by algaeman ( 600564 ) on Thursday July 22, 2021 @08:58PM (#61610161)
    The first tests of this weapon were conducted in the US congress, but no headaches, memory loss, conscience or mental activity whatsoever were reported among the congress members.

  • Mass hysteria is ruled out? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by shm ( 235766 ) on Thursday July 22, 2021 @09:06PM (#61610175)

    Like the people who claim to be affected by Wi-Fi signals?

    • Re:Mass hysteria is ruled out? (Score:4, Informative)

      by Gravis Zero ( 934156 ) on Thursday July 22, 2021 @10:26PM (#61610379)

      Mass hysteria is ruled out?

      Yes, in fact in Havana. You don't get brain damage and hearing loss from "mass hysteria".

      • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

        by znrt ( 2424692 )

        it could be both. exhaustive diagnosis seems to have been carried out in the havana case, but according to wikipedia the rest of cases didn't have that level of scrutiny at all and seem a mixed bag, one case is someone walking the dog in washington, a few cases in china that seem inconclusive, random isolated one time events around the world ...

        it sounds all really fishy. it is hard to believe that this could have been going on since 2016 consistently and the cia (no less) is still clueless ... and the u.s.

        • OR these targets were not random and they share a tie way above our need-2-know paygrade. Perhaps thats why the heightened scrutiny? Its hard to even explain something like this if you know way more than you are allowed to say; but at the same time now have to say something about these attacks. Back in the 90s paladin press sold tech plans for a Microwave Oven Blaster. Maybe some variant of thst concept? Or Eric Cartman's brown note.

      • Erh... yes you do [wikipedia.org].

      • There is no evidence of brain damage. https://newrepublic.com/articl... [newrepublic.com]
    • It sounds plausible to me. I would expect people working in intelligence to suffer all kinds of mental stress due to the working conditions. I wouldn't find it at all surprising if mental illness became a problem in some cases. Mental illnesses, especially anxiety & stress related ones, do tend to have very real & debilitating physical effects. Are there any correlations between the locations of the embassies & incidence rates? Do some embassy environments impose high loads of stress on employee

  • Microwave radiation (Score:4, Interesting)

    by PPH ( 736903 ) on Thursday July 22, 2021 @10:40PM (#61610399)

    Not likely. Microwave radiation at levels sufficient to produce neurological effects are pretty easy to detect. In a few cases, old school police radar detectors (very broad band and not tuned to scan only police radar frequencies) have been known to alert to high end military radar. It wouldn't take much more sophisticated technology to alert people that 'something' was there. Likewise, ultrasound is pretty easy to detect at significant energy levels.

    The best bet for the Havana Syndrome is neurotoxic pesticides of the type used to combat Zika virus carrying mosquitos. Possibly aggravated by some of the inoculations that travelers like embassy personnel are likely to receive.

    • Electromagnetic Energy is definitely detectable and embassies tend to be on the look out for, if only for espionage reasons. But that leaves more than just pesticides.

      While chemicals are viable, so are infections and sonic energy. The symptoms (Headaches, sleepiness, dizziness, hearing loss and some neurological symptoms) fit the kind of low level damage that sonic attacks are known for. If the sound is too high or low pitched for the human to hear, they would not realize it.

      I am not saying it is not pes

    • PPH said: "Microwave radiation at levels sufficient to produce neurological effects are pretty easy to detect."

      Pretty sure it's not if it's a Maser, which has a coherent beam (i.e. narrow/directional).

      Although detection would depend upon it's beam divergence and distance from the target.

      But a Maser at the "right" frequency in conjunction with previous exposure to high levels of organophosphate pesticide which disrupt the enzyme acetylcholinesterase, could explain most of the symptoms and a binary deli

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Anonymous Coward

        Lots of fancy words, but any RF energy is going to be easy to pick up with a spectrum analyzer. Unless you think they can deliver microwave energy in a beam the size of a laser pointer, then the problem becomes how do you target just the people and not alert any RF sensors? Any delivery system would have to penetrate through walls and supposedly Faraday-cage type rooms.

        • If we donâ(TM)t already have microwave and ultrasound detectors in our embassies and other overseas offices, someone should go to jail. Personal wearable detectors should not be hard to design. High energy beams should be easy to verify or rule out.
          • There's a good chance that these embassy workers are being affected in their homes. Hence the effects on family members as well. Embassies may have sophisticated monitoring equipment in place, but something like a cheap radar detector could be given to them to take home.
        • A maser beam could be scanned until the reflection indicated motion induced doppler consistent with a human heart beat, then start scanning a smaller area to track the humans motion and keep the beam centered on them. Not trivial but certainly feasible. Seems like reflections of the beam off metal and from the human would still make the RF energy easy to detect though.

          If the CIA is truly considering technological advancements then terrahertz lasers, masers and beams could potentially have effects like t

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by cusco ( 717999 )

      Higher in the thread I posted a link to the IEEE article pointing out (several years ago) that this is probably caused by the interaction of multiple pieces of ultrasonic equipment being used in the same space. https://yro.slashdot.org/comme... [slashdot.org]

    • You are correct that this can be detected, for instance Acousticom 2 RF Microwave Meter (consumer product $200), or Analog Devices AD8363 (component-level for $100). Microwaves can also be screened out using wire meshes and the sort of conductive features used in microwave oven windows. However there are difficulties with your statement: "Microwave radiation at levels sufficient to produce neurological effects are pretty easy to detect.". If you were to bathe a room in microwaves with sufficient power to

  • Maybe it's aliens (Score:3, Funny)

    by ayesnymous ( 3665205 ) on Thursday July 22, 2021 @11:17PM (#61610439)
    just throwing that out there

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Though you jest, the quality of data the public sees combined with the we-don't-know stance of the authorities is on par with what we saw with UFOs.

  • âoeHavanaâ Syndrome? (Score:3)

    by Dave Knott ( 3945853 ) on Friday July 23, 2021 @12:26AM (#61610505)
    Doctors and scientists are now supposed to avoid naming diseases geographically, in order to avoid possible prejudice (e.g. âoeDeltaâ COVID-19 variant, instead of âoeIndianâoe variant). I guess that only applies when the country in question is not already the subject of US prejudice.

    • Re:Havana Syndrome? (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      The problem was named the Havana Syndrome well before the new guidelines. The old names are still in use like German Measles.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by noodler ( 724788 )

      It is not a disease, it is a syndrome.

    • Doctors and scientists are now supposed to avoid naming diseases geographically, in order to avoid possible prejudice (e.g. âoeDeltaâ COVID-19 variant, instead of âoeIndianâoe variant). I guess that only applies when the country in question is not already the subject of US prejudice.

      Nobody cares if a place-name is used for designation.

      It's when it's used as rhetoric to assign unproven blame, in racist/discriminatory slurs, and to deflect from mounting a responsible response that it's a problem. If you're using a place-name to imply "it's only an over-there problem" when it's not, that's wrong. If you're using a place-name to make fun of a culture, that's wrong. If you're using a place-name to indicate fault where it hasn't been demonstrated, that's wrong.

      Bottom line: if it's pol

  • I thought the mistery was solved some time ago... Someone recorded the sound and people were able to detect a certain species of cricket at Cuba. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/0... [nytimes.com]

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by cusco ( 717999 )

      Yeah, but they're spooks so they'd prefer to believe that they're under attack rather than that their expensive toys are messing with their heads. I posted higher in the thread the link to the IEEE article about it. https://yro.slashdot.org/comme... [slashdot.org]

  • Microwave !!
    How is that different from the "5G is killing us" nuts ?

    Or maybe it's all true and we are the brainwashed sheep :(

  • Their little bodies can't handle the WIFI and cellphone density in these foreign lands.
    The local cooks and cleaning crews don't complain.

  • Perhaps it's a binary weapon --microwaves in combination with some substance that has a special resonance or reaction to them. The second component could
    be released in the ambient atmosphere, or in the food or water. Just a thought.

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