Exclusive: What the Government Isn't Telling Us About 'Havana Syndrome'

Whistleblowers describe being intentionally targeted by weapon thought to have been invented by Russia, based originally on U.S. technology

REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo

President Donald Trump’s reluctance to put boots on the ground in Iran may not be as simple as it seems.

Members of Congress, the CIA and the executive branch are privately investigating the possibility that Russia is behind dozens of government workers suffering from Anomalous Health Incidents (AHIs) — commonly called “Havana Syndrome.” That’s a condition commonly associated with a cluster of unexplained symptoms experienced by diplomats and government personnel abroad.

Havana Syndrome was first reported by U.S. personnel in Cuba in 2016.

There’s growing concern that the Ukrainian battlefield is being used as a testing ground for microwave technology — or worse — and that technology could be used against American infantry if we decided to invade Iran. The culprit behind it, according to military experts, is Russia, and perhaps China.

“I didn’t do this to myself,” one person who came forward to describe suffering from AHIs told Raw America. “I’ve been told it was a natural occurrence.”

Last year, the U.S. intelligence community released a report stating that most government agencies believe it highly unlikely the symptoms are the result of actions by an adversarial nation-state.

That assessment came despite a revelation in 2024 that the CIA has consistently lied to the American public about AHIs. The James Madison Project and attorney Mark Zaid obtained documents in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request showing that the government knows more about AHIs than it’s been letting on. In March 2023, a declassified report — prepared for the Director of National Intelligence by a panel of experts — appears to show conclusively that “Havana Syndrome” is not a naturally occurring health problem.

Several whistleblowers stated that they believe they were intentionally targeted.

“I felt an intense headache, but if I moved a few feet to my left or the right, I didn’t feel anything,” one of the whistleblowers told Raw America.

Government documents show that the weapon most likely causing the symptoms is a microwave or sonic transmitter that could be the size of “an old-fashioned box camera.” Others say they have no idea what size it is, or what it looks like – “but it has to be mobile enough to be indiscriminately carried by one or two people.” Zaid said the whistleblower complaint is significant in exposing what’s really behind AHIs.

“This whistleblower complaint represents the most significant and lawful disclosure of information that undermines the public posture of the Intelligence Community, and specifically the CIA, concerning AHIs,” Zaid told Raw America.

“The information seen firsthand by this whistleblower directly contradicts the asserted conclusions that U.S. personnel, particularly within the [Intelligence Community], are not being attacked by a foreign power using some sort of directed energy,” he continued. “It asserts the existence of classified documents, which are specifically identified in the complaint, is being deliberately covered up, including being withheld from other investigating federal agencies.”

Russia has long been suspected of being behind the technology, with many believing it was developed from radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology.

The root cause of the suspicion towards Russia dates to the “Great Seal Bug”, or “The Thing,” which is one of the first covert listening devices known to exist. The Soviet Union gifted a wooden copy of the The Great Seal to W. Averell Harriman, the U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union in 1945. It was discovered in 1951 by a British radio operator who overheard American conversations on an open Soviet Air Force radio channel as the Soviets were beaming radio waves at the ambassador’s office. That is the direct ancestor of what is now believed to be the device causing AHIs.

“The idea is the Soviets developed it or weaponized or we did, and others are using it,” Zaid explained on the podcast “Just ask the Question.”

Whistleblowers told Raw America they don’t know who is ultimately behind it, but the first known incidents occurred among government workers in Havana, which led to the coining of the term “Havana Syndrome” owing to the cluster of cases reported in Cuba in 2016 and 2017, not long after the U.S. Embassy in Havana reopened there during the Obama administration’s rapprochement with the Castro regime. All of the known cases have been experienced by government workers, with a few of the cases even occurring on American soil. So, while Russia is suspected, Zaid said “no one has been ruled out.”

“The irony is that decades ago the United States invented the directed energy technology likely being used against our own people today,” Zaid said. “Ample public evidence exists that Russia, and China as well, have spent years enhancing and modifying the technology. Still further public domain evidence supports the conclusion that Russian operatives have been targeting American diplomatic and intelligence officers throughout the world with this weaponized technology.”

“If the classified evidence were to be made public, it is hard to believe there would be any doubts remaining,” he added.

“We just want it to be acknowledged this is a real thing and we want to be able to get treatment for it. This isn’t the case of a bunch of people making this all up,” one of the whistleblowers explained.

The U.S. government has failed to clear up the matter and continues to fight Freedom of Information requests, leading to several lawsuits and some unfounded speculation.

On her way out the door, in March, former Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard re-opened the controversy when she asked that all the information on Havana Syndrome be made public. According to previously published reports, the U.S. military apparently retrieved a “Havana Syndrome” device and recently tested it in Norway.

Several news agencies have reported that suspicious health incidents that “sound an awful lot like the Havana Syndrome” have been reported among military personnel in Ukraine. Some reports have tied the episodes to the Russian GRU, its military intelligence unit. However, the Kremlin has consistently denied any involvement.

“You’d be reluctant to send anyone into battle knowing these things are out there, and if mass produced, there’s little or no warning, no defense and few counter measures you can take,” a Pentagon insider told Raw America.

Support Raw America’s Independent Reporting

Raw America White House reporter Brian Karem was only able to write this exclusive report thanks to the support of our paying subscribers. We hired Brian in June with the intent of having a veteran journalist on the ground in Washington, working their sources, and bringing you the stories that the billionaire-owned outlets either won’t touch or will water down beyond recognition.

We launched Raw America as a direct response to the billionaire takeover of American media. Jeff Bezos controls the Washington Post. The Ellison family runs CBS News, and they’re about to run CNN. Rupert Murdoch owns Fox, the Wall Street Journal, Vox Media and Roku. This is straight out of the authoritarian playbook: concentrate media ownership among a small handful of billionaires friendly with the regime, censor accountability reporting, and fire everyone who doesn’t play along.

Raw America will never answer to a billionaire owner or a corporate board. We answer to readers like you, and only you. But that model can only work if enough readers who believe in the importance of independent journalism step up to keep it funded. If you found this report valuable, the single most important thing you can do is become a paying subscriber. Your support makes all of this possible.