One highly-sophisticated device that the US government is studying was apparently bought using covert operations, and which some officials believe may be the cause of the mysterious health occurrences that are being called Havana Syndrome, befitting American diplomats, spies, and military troops.
What's with the Havana Syndrome, and why is it a mystery?
During the last months of the Biden administration, a Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), a department of the Department of Homeland Security, purchased a device that cost them eight figures, with funding provided by the Defence Department.
The acquisition was also a continuation of a longstanding endeavour to learn the origins of Havana Syndrome, a collection of undiagnosed illnesses allegedly affecting personnel of the US overseas since 2016.
'I was at the top physical, psychological, emotional place I could have ever been in my life, and within six months I was a zombie and non-functional as a human being," said a certain Tony, a former CIA officer and considered 'patient zero' of the illness.
The device, which is currently under testing, emits pulses of radio waves, a technology that has long been viewed by some experts as the cause of the symptoms of Havana Syndrome.
Even though the device is not purely Russian-made, it has parts of Russian origin. This fact has given rise to the speculations of the suspected foreign handiwork of the device due to its portability that enables it to fit into a backpack.
Its structure begs the question of how so powerful a weapon could be compacted to be used in the field undercover, and whether it was possible to use them in targeted assaults.
'It's incumbent on the CIA to provide the medical help we require, which does not include telling us that we're all making it up,' said former CIA officer Marc Polymeropoulos to GQ Magazine in 2020.
'I want the agency to treat this as a combat injury.'
Does a device truly exist? Explaining the controversy
Certain authorities do not believe that the device has any connection to Havana Syndrome due to no concrete evidence that pulsed radio waves can cause the health cases.
Other people suspect that the device exists is an indication that the US government may be on the verge of discovering the technology behind such health incidents that have no explanations.
The symptoms, which include vertigo and headaches to cognitive disturbances, have confused the doctors, particularly after the fact that most of the cases were diagnosed many years after the symptoms manifested, thus making it difficult to ascertain causality.
No one agrees on the matter of whether the outside source of energy like the electromagnetic pulse has caused the problem, but there have been intelligence tests that have indicated the possibility of such a theory.
A covert menace and weapons proliferation worry
The proliferation of this technology is one of the biggest fears of the officials. In case the device is found to be able to result in physical harm, its spread may endanger the US personnel around the world.
According to several sources, in case adversaries of the country, including Russia or other countries, have created or acquired similar tools, it might potentially signify the intensification of the number of insidious attacks against American officials.
The details of the US government's effort to learn about the device are not clear. HSI has prior experience working with the military on technology proliferation investigations abroad, and most of the time, they are concerned with border and customs patrol.
The idea of the agency procuring this device implies a back-door operation to reveal and learn about the foreign technology that can be applied against US staff.
'No conclusive evidence'
Havana Syndrome is shrouded in mystery, and this makes it difficult to conclude. Nevertheless, after several studies, even those done by intelligence panels, had no conclusive evidence to prove that the health incidents were caused by a foreign opponent or a planned attack.
In 2022, certain intelligence researchers have hypothetically postulated that the symptoms may have been caused by pulsed electromagnetic energy, which is plausible.
Nonetheless, as of 2023, governmental authorities stated that they did not have enough evidence to pin it down to foreign interference, and this has been frustrating to the victims and their supporters.
The victims and former intelligence officers complain that the government has underemphasized or ignored the evidence that indicates Russia or other aggressive countries. Cases of CIA officers who suffered injuries in Moscow have been highlighted as being high profile and have contributed to claims that it has been inadequate or biased in terms of the investigation.
According to some officials, the recent purchase of this mysterious device can be regarded as a breakthrough, an opportunity to get the physical evidence on the available external technology that can be used to do harm.
The Havana Syndrome enigma remains, and numerous issues with the mysteries of its origin, causes, and technology have remained open to questions.
