Pentagon obtains device that may be responsible for “Havana Syndrome,” CNN reports

Photo: Associated Press

For more than a year, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has been testing a device acquired during an undercover operation that some investigators link to “Havana Syndrome” — a series of unexplained illnesses affecting U.S. diplomats, intelligence officers, and military personnel. CNN reported, citing sources familiar with the investigation, that the device was purchased with Pentagon funds and, while not entirely of Russian origin, contains Russian components. The Insider and its partners previously reported that Havana Syndrome may be linked to the activities of GRU officers from Unit 29155, as the timing and geography of the incidents coincided with the travel of Russian intelligence operatives.

According to two of CNN’s sources, the purchase was carried out in the final weeks of President Joe Biden’s administration by a unit of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security known as Homeland Security Investigations, or HSI, with funding provided by the Department of Defense. The sources said officials paid an “eight-figure” sum in U.S. dollars for the device, without specifying the exact amount.

CNN reported that the device remains under study and that its connection to Havana Syndrome is still disputed. Debate continues within the U.S. government, and some agencies remain skeptical of the theory that the “anomalous health incidents” (AHIs) suffered by personnel are in fact tied to a Russian directed energy weapon. CNN said it sought comment from the Pentagon, HSI, and the Department of Homeland Security. The CIA declined to comment.

One CNN source said the device acquired by HSI emits pulsed radio waves — a mechanism that some officials and academic researchers have discussed for years as a possible cause of the incidents. The source added that the device is not entirely Russian-made but that it includes components of Russian origin.

Another source told CNN that U.S. authorities have long grappled with the question of whether equipment powerful enough to cause such effects could be portable. According to a source familiar with the device’s specifications, it could fit into a backpack.

The purchase of the device has reignited a long-running and contentious debate within the U.S. government over the nature of Havana Syndrome (officially referred to as “anomalous health incidents”). The first reported cases occurred in late 2016, when U.S. diplomats in Havana began reporting symptoms resembling head injuries, including dizziness and severe headaches. Similar incidents were reported in other countries in subsequent years, and The Insider was also able to locate victims of suspected directed-energy attacks that occurred in Frankfurt, Germany in 2014.

Amid the debate, Sen. Marco Rubio and several other influential senators from both parties sent a letter to the president in April 2024 calling for the investigation into the incidents to be renewed and expanded. The lawmakers said new investigations, including the joint report by The Insider and its partners, contained information that in their view warranted a reassessment of previous conclusions made by the U.S. intelligence community.

CNN noted that the U.S. intelligence community and the DoD have sought to determine whether those affected were victims of a directed-energy attack carried out by a foreign state. Senior intelligence officials have publicly said there was insufficient evidence to support that theory, while those affected have argued that authorities were “gaslighting” them and ignoring signs of a possible Russian role.

Still, according to CNN, military officials considered the findings serious enough to hold classified briefings for the House and Senate intelligence committees late last year, including discussions of the acquired device and the progress of its testing.

One of the key concerns for some officials is the potential proliferation of the technology, CNN sources said. If the device proves to be capable of causing AHIs like those that have already been documented, it could mean such technologies are available to more than one country, increasing the risk of new incidents involving U.S. personnel.

CNN said it was unable to determine where or from whom HSI acquired the device in question. The network noted that HSI has broad authority to investigate crimes including customs violations and the spread of technologies controlled by the United States, and that it often works with the DoD on overseas operations. A former Homeland Security official told CNN that such investigations are a major area of cooperation between HSI and the U.S. military. For example, if U.S. forces in Afghanistan or Iraq discovered American-made components and questions arose about how they had reached the region, HSI would be brought in. CNN also said it remains unclear how U.S. authorities first learned of the device’s existence in order to arrange for its purchase.

CNN also pointed to shifts in official assessments. In 2022, one intelligence panel concluded that some incidents could plausibly have been caused by pulsed electromagnetic energy from an external source. But in 2023, the intelligence community publicly said it could not link the cases to the actions of a foreign adversary and considered it unlikely that they were part of a targeted campaign. That assessment remained in place as of January 2025, CNN reported, though an Office of the Director of National Intelligence spokesperson said analysts could not fully rule out foreign involvement in a small number of cases.

That position, CNN said, has frustrated those who have been affected by AHIs for years. Many believe there is clear intelligence pointing to Russian involvement, and some said their symptoms were so severe that they were forced to leave government service. CNN also noted that, according to its earlier reporting, some current and former CIA officials expressed concern that the agency may have “softened” the conclusions of its investigation.

The emergence and testing of the device has been seen by some victims as potential confirmation of their claims. CNN quoted former CIA officer Marc Polymeropoulos, one of the first to publicly describe his AHI-related injuries, which he attributes to a suspected attack in Moscow in 2017.

“If the [U.S. government] has indeed uncovered such devices,” Polymeropoulos said, “then the CIA owes all the victims a f**king major and public apology for how we have been treated as pariahs.”

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