By B.N. Frank
In October 2021, President Biden signed a law to help “Havana Syndrome” victims. Strangely enough, some continue to describe “Havana Syndrome” as a “mysterious” condition even though experts have been saying for years that it’s likely caused by exposure to electromagnetic radiation, though the exact source/s are unknown (see 1, 2, 3). Recently, another group of experts came to the same conclusion.
From Ars Technica:
Pulsed electromagnetic energy, ultrasound “plausibly” explain Havana syndrome
Expert panel says other popular hypotheses, like mass psychogenic illness, are unlikely.
Beth Mole – 2/3/2022, 6:04 PM
A device delivering pulsed electromagnetic energy or ultrasound “plausibly explains” the enigmatic health incidents that have caused debilitating and long-term neurological effects in some US diplomats and intelligence agents. That’s according to a report by a panel of intelligence community analysts and outside experts in the fields of science, medicine, and engineering. An executive summary of the report was declassified and released Wednesday.
The new report is the latest effort to unravel a medical mystery that began in 2016 when US and Canadian diplomats stationed in Havana, Cuba, reported bizarre, unexplained episodes. The diplomats described piercing, directional sounds and vibrations that left them with a constellation of neurological symptoms, sometimes referred to as “Havana Syndrome.” Since then, reports of hundreds of additional possible cases among US intelligence agents stationed all over the world have poured in, fueling wide speculation, skepticism, and political controversy.
The new report bolsters a leading but contentious hypothesis: that the incidents are attacks by a foreign adversary—mostly suspected to be Russia—using a covert weapon, possibly one that delivers pulsed radiofrequency energy. While some analysts and experts have openly dismissed the idea, the panel concludes that pulsed electromagnetic energy or ultrasound are plausible causes. However, the panel did not examine who might be responsible.
Overall, the report falls far short of any definitive conclusions. The executive summary that was released includes numerous redactions and notes that there are caveats and “information gaps” to the plausible scenarios. There is still no solid evidence that such a weapon exists or that it was used on US personnel. And if such attacks occurred, a motive is also unclear (though there is plenty of speculation).
Still, the panel worked to narrow the possibilities and concluded that other popular hypotheses on the cause of the mysterious health incidents are unlikely. Improbable theories include functional neurological disorders and mass psychogenic illness (collective delusion). The panel also cast doubt on ionizing radiation, audible sound (sonic weapons or crickets), and chemical and biological agents.
“These mechanisms are unlikely, on their own, to account for the required effects or are technically or practically infeasible,” the panel concluded.
Mystery
Together, the new report reinforces the findings of a 2020 report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The 2020 report concluded that directed pulsed radiofrequency energy was the “most plausible mechanism” to explain the cases. The new report also echoes the conclusions from a team of doctors at the University of Pennsylvania who examined 21 affected US personnel and ruled out mass psychogenic illness. The doctors concluded in a 2018 JAMA article that the personnel had “sustained injury to widespread brain networks without an associated history of head trauma.” But their injuries and experiences were inconsistent with mass psychogenic illness, and the individuals weren’t all in contact with each other, which would be necessary for a collective delusion to spread. The team also dismissed viral and chemical agents as possible explanations.
The new report also dovetails with an interim CIA report, released two weeks ago. That report concluded that, of roughly 1,000 reports of possible health incidents among intelligence and state department employees, most were easily explained by environmental or known medical factors. Thus, the CIA concluded that it was unlikely that a foreign adversary, such as Russia, was orchestrating some sort of sustained, global campaign against US personnel. However, a few dozen cases remain unexplained, and the CIA left open the possibility that attacks by adversaries could be behind them.
Those remaining unexplained cases are the focus of the new expert panel report. To dig into those cases, the panel waded through dozens of briefings and more than 1,000 classified documents, which spanned scientific and medical topics, included sensitive intelligence reporting, health incident reports, and trend analyses. The panel also had direct access to the US personnel with unexplained cases and their medical records.
The panel concluded that, in these cases, the signs and symptoms of the incidents—which the government calls AHIs (anomalous health incidents)—were “genuine and compelling.” Overall, the AHIs are marked by four consistent features:
- An acute onset of audio-vestibular sensory phenomena, sometimes including sound or pressure in only one ear or on one side of the head
- Other nearly simultaneous signs and symptoms such as vertigo, loss of balance, and ear pain
- A strong sense of locality or directionality
- And the absence of known environmental or medical conditions that could have caused the reported signs and symptoms
The panel said that some incidents affected multiple people in the same space and clinical samples of some of the affected people showed biomarkers for “cellular injury to the nervous system.”
Plausible
While the panel deemed many proposed causes unlikely, it considered pulsed electromagnetic energy, particularly in the radiofrequency range, as plausible. Though much of the discussion on this topic in the executive summary was redacted, what was left noted:
There are several plausible pathways involving various forms of pulsed electromagnetic energy, each with its own requirements, limitations, and unknowns. For all the pathways, sources exist that could generate the required stimulus, are concealable, and have moderate power requirements… Using nonstandard [REDACTED], antennas and techniques, the signals could be propagated with low loss through air for tens to hundreds of meters, and with some loss, through most building materials.
More than seven lines of text are then redacted before the summary continued: “Stimulation and disruption of these biological systems has been credibly demonstrated in cells and tissues, and persons accidentally exposed to radiofrequency signals described [REDACTED] sensations similar to the core characteristics [of the AHIs]. However, there is a dearth of systematic research on the effects of the relevant electromagnetic signals on humans.”
Ultrasound also plausibly explains the AHIs, the panel reported, but there are “information gaps” here as well. Ultrasound is only thought to be plausible in cases where there was close-access to a target. The panel wrote:
The required energy can be generated by ultrasonic arrays that are [REDACTED], portable, and produce a tight beam. Ultrasound is used to open the blood-brain barrier in medical procedures, and acoustic stimulation of the aforementioned anatomical areas could produce symptoms consistent with AHIs. Studies of ‘ultrasound sickness’ and related audio- vestibular symptoms have reached mixed conclusions, but the panel was presented with [REDACTED] independent, first-hand accounts in which researchers were exposed to high-power ultrasound beams and subsequently experienced some of the core characteristics.
Moving forward
The panel concluded with seven recommendations, including those for more data, clinical measurements, research aids, information about biological effects, communication with the government workforce, and biomarkers to identify AHIs quickly. An entire recommendation related to “detectors” was also redacted.
In a joint statement, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines and Director of the Central Intelligence Agency William Burns said:
Moving forward, the work of the IC [Intelligence Community] Experts Panel will help sharpen the work of the IC and broader US Government as we focus on possible causes. We will stay at it, with continued rigor, for however long it takes. The US Government remains committed to providing access to care for those who need it, and we will continue to share as much information as possible with our workforce and the American public as our efforts continue. Nothing is more important than the wellbeing and safety of our colleagues.
Last month, Secretary of State, Antony Blinken stated “We’ve got virtually the entire government working on this at the President’s instructions,” and “We’re not there yet, but we will get there. We will figure this out.”
Figure it out?! When people who are not American diplomats and their family members experience symptoms and injuries reported by “Havana Syndrome” victims, this is often referred to as Microwave Sickness, Radiation Sickness, Electromagnetic Sensitivity (ES) and/or Electromagnetic Hypersensivity (EHS). As more government workers report experiencing symptoms of “Havana Syndrome” and file lawsuits, the connection to EHS already seems evident to scientists and countless others.
Sources of electromagnetic radiation are EVERYWHERE! They include Bluetooth, “Smart”, and wireless devices and infrastructure i.e. activity trackers and other wearables (see 1, 2), cell phones, cordless phones, cell towers and antennas, “smart” wireless home appliances, Wi-Fi routers and transmitters, wireless security systems, utility “Smart” Meters, Virtual Reality (VR) headsets, 5G, etc. Electric Vehicles (EVs) and Hybrid Vehicles (see 1, 2, 3, 4) and EV chargers emit high levels of radiation as well. Exposure can affect animals too.
In August, a federal court ruled in favor of organizations and petitioners that sued the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for NOT adequately protecting Americans from wireless radiation exposure. More recently non-profit groups petitioned the U.S. Health and Human Services Department (HHS) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to declare wireless radiation an “imminent” health hazard and start warning the public.
In the meantime, “Havana Syndrome” symptoms will probably continue to be reported (see 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) and possibly again delay scheduled government trips like what happened with Kamala Harris last year.
Activist Post reports regularly about “Havana Syndrome”, ES, EHS, Microwave Sickness, Radiation Sickness, and unsafe technology. For more information, visit our archives and the following websites:
- Wireless Information Network
- Electromagnetic Radiation Safety
- Environmental Health Trust
- Physicians for Safe Technology
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