The Pentagon has tested a device that investigators believe may be linked to the condition commonly referred to as Havana Syndrome, CNN has reported.
The Defense Department has been testing the device, which was bought during an undercover operation by the Department of Homeland Security, for over a year, the network reported on Monday, citing four anonymous sources briefed on the subject.
Newsweek contacted the Pentagon, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) via email outside of regular office hours on Tuesday.
Why It Matters
The cause of the often debilitating condition has mystified officials and observers for years, the lack of answers frustrating those impacted.
Unusual symptoms were first made public in late 2016 after U.S. officials and their family members reported a range of symptoms, including memory loss, problems with hearing, insomnia and what appeared to be evidence of brain injury after spending time at the U.S. embassy in Havana.
More than 1,000 people in the U.S. and elsewhere are thought to be affected by Havana Syndrome, which U.S. intelligence officially terms "anomalous health incidents."
What To Know
Two unnamed sources said officials in the previous administration, under former President Joe Biden, had purchased the device for an eight-figure sum. The funding was provided by the Department of Defense, according to the report.
Speculation had swirled some form of directed-energy weapon could have been behind the baffling illness, and that Russian technology could be behind the symptoms. Moscow has denied any involvement.
The device acquired by Homeland Security Investigations—part of DHS—produces pulsed radio waves, one source told CNN. It contains Russian components but is not entirely Russian-made, they added.
Newsweek has reached out to the Russian foreign ministry for comment via email.
A U.S. intelligence report, published in January 2025, said most of the American intelligence community still doubted a foreign adversary was behind Havana Syndrome. But one U.S. intelligence agency believed there is a "roughly even chance" a foreign actor had used a "novel weapon or prototype device" to induce the symptoms, according to the unclassified assessment.
Another intelligence agency judged there was the same probability a foreign actor had developed such a weapon which could have caused the reported illness.
In November 2021, the then-head of the CIA, William Burns, warned Russian intelligence services there would be "consequences" if they were found to be responsible for Havana Syndrome, The Washington Post reported.
What People Are Saying
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said in 2021 Russia had "nothing to do" with the symptoms afflicting U.S. and Canadian officials and their families.
Ned Price, a State Department spokesperson during the Joe Biden administration, told reporters in January 2023 there was a "major effort" underway to get to the bottom of Havana Syndrome, involving the White House, Pentagon, State Department, intelligence agencies, Congress, and scientists.
What Happens Next
The device is still being studied, CNN reported, with some in government remaining skeptical of its link to the condition.
The government is yet to respond publicly to the report.