The Pentagon is still researching different weapons that may have caused the mysterious illness known as “Havana syndrome,” even after the U.S. intelligence community released an assessment ruling out for the most part a directed attack by a foreign adversary, Politico reported, citing five people familiar with the effort.
A formal intelligence assessment involving the CIA and six other agencies released on March 1 determined that a foreign enemy most likely did not target U.S. personnel with a clandestine weapon, shattering prevailing theories about the cause of the illness. However, many victims still believe they were subject to a directed energy attack, and the Department of Defense (DOD) has apparently not ruled out the possibility, according to Politico.
DOD research labs under the Army and Air Force are testing various weapons systems to identify possible causes for the symptoms, including painful auditory sensations, two former intelligence officials with knowledge of the efforts told Politico. (RELATED: DOD Awards New $3 Million Grant To EcoHealth Alliance, Group That Funded Wuhan Lab Research)
At the same time, the Pentagon is working on “defenses” against weapons that could have caused the syndrome, an intelligence official previously said, according to Politico.
The intelligence assessment considered hundreds of alleged cases of the so-called “anomalous health incident” (AHI) but produced nothing that could point to a foreign cause, hostile or otherwise.
“Most [Intelligence Community] agencies have now concluded that it is ‘very unlikely’ a foreign adversary is responsible for the reported AHIs. IC agencies have varying confidence levels because we still have gaps given the challenges collecting on foreign adversaries,” Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said in a statement upon releasing the intelligence assessment.
One agency said it was “unlikely” a foreign actor caused the symptoms, two intelligence officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Washington Post. Another agency did not offer a conclusion on foreign involvement.
However, two unnamed agencies agreed to the findings with “very low confidence,” believing that a weapon could still be responsible, Haines said.
“There was nothing,” one official told the Post, referring to the instances where U.S. intelligence had the ability to examine every aspect of a patient’s environment during the time of the suspected attack.
Agencies could not identify a clear pattern in surrounding circumstances that could link each case, the officials told the Post. Neither could forensic analysis and review geolocation data yield evidence of a direct line of sight for radio waves or ultrasonic beams to reach the alleged target.
After the release of a declassified Intelligence Community Assessment on Anomalous Health Incidents (AHIs) commonly referred to as “Havana Syndrome”, I issued the following statement: pic.twitter.com/Zdi8ruJZR7
— Senator Marco Rubio (@SenMarcoRubio) March 2, 2023
Afterward, DOD released a message to victims that it is “keeping the course” on research, according to Politico.
A congressionally-mandated team “remains focused” on getting to the bottom of “the causation, attribution, mitigation, identification and treatment for such incidents,” Lt. Col. Devin Robinson, a Pentagon spokesperson, told the outlet. That team has zeroed in on assisting victims and “is not focused on creating weapons,” he added.
The Pentagon spends roughly $1.5 billion yearly on research into directed energy weapons.
The DOD did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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