'Havana Syndrome' Not Caused By Energy Weapon or Foreign Adversary, US Intelligence Says

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: The mysterious set of symptoms known as 'Havana syndrome' was not caused by an energy weapon or foreign adversary, US intelligence has concluded. The assessment concludes a multi-year investigation into approximately 1,000 'anomalous health incidents' (AHIs) among US diplomats, spies and other employees in US embassies and missions around the world. Victims reported brain injuries, hearing loss, vertigo and strange auditory sensations, among other symptoms. Many suspected they had been victims of a targeted attack using some kind of directed energy weapon.

Of the seven intelligence agencies that undertook the investigation, five determined that 'available intelligence consistently points against the involvement of US adversaries in causing the reported incidents,' according to an unclassified version of the report released Wednesday by the House intelligence committee. Those five agencies deemed foreign adversary involvement 'very unlikely.' One considered it 'unlikely' and one declined to state a conclusion.

The assessment involved a painstaking effort to analyze syndrome cases for patterns that could link them, as well as a search, using forensics and geolocation data, for evidence of a directed energy weapon, unnamed officials told the Post. 'There was nothing,' one official said. The officials told the Post they were open to new evidence that a foreign adversary had developed an energy weapon, but did not believe Russia or any other adversary was involved in these cases. The intelligence agencies 'judge that there is no credible evidence that a foreign adversary has a weapon or collection device that is causing AHIs', according to the unclassified report. 'In light of this and the evidence that points away from a foreign adversary, causal mechanism, or unique syndrome linked to AHIs, IC agencies assess that symptoms reported by US personnel were probably the result of factors that did not involve a foreign adversary, such as preexisting conditions, conventional illnesses, and environmental factors,' the report reads.

Three agencies have 'high confidence' in that assessment, three have 'moderate confidence' and one has 'low confidence.'

Read more of this story at Slashdot.