Is a weapon behind Havana syndrome?
“A weapon caused the illnesses first reported in Havana”
The big claim in this hole. What do the records say?
The illnesses are documented, but whether a weapon caused them is still disputed: expert panels called pulsed radio-frequency energy a plausible or the most plausible cause, while NIH studies found no injury pattern and the recorded sound matches a cricket. No record read here ties Russia to the Havana cases.
- DisputedTheoryA weapon caused the illnesses first reported in Havana
- ✓ ConfirmedLate 2016 to Aug 2017US government staff in Havana report piercing sounds and pressure at home or in hotels, then fall ill
- DisputedTheoryThe people affected suffered a brain injury that tests can detect
- UnverifiedTheoryUnit 29155 caused the illnesses at the US embassy in Havana
- DisputedTheoryThe illnesses were psychological, not caused by anything outside the body
4 theories
Tap one to go down its tunnelEach root is a theory: one chamber per step, coloured by its rating; the ringed chamber is its key claim. Tap a root to go down it.
Meters
Theory meters read the headline theory, “A directed-energy weapon caused Havana syndrome”. Tap a meter for its reasons.
US diplomats in Havana heard piercing sounds and fell ill. Ten years on, one expert panel calls a pulsed radio-frequency weapon the most plausible cause, government brain scans find no injury, the recorded sound matches a cricket, and the US spy agencies’ own verdict has been withdrawn. This case keeps the real symptoms apart from the contested cause.
The question What made US embassy staff in Havana ill in 2016–17, did a weapon do it, was it Russia, and was there ever a brain injury?
What the records say
The documented story holds up: 14 of 15 timeline steps are Confirmed by the records (score 94).
4 theories checked: 1 unverified, 3 disputed. A theory is rated by its key claim.
The Director of National Intelligence recalls the 2023 and 2025 assessments
confirmedCredible: it rests on a primary (tier-1) record. See the step
Down the rabbit hole
The ground line is the documented timeline. Each tunnel is a theory that branches off it; every chamber is a step, coloured by how well the records support it. The deepest chamber is the theory’s key claim. Tap one to open it.
Main timeline
Oldest first- Late 2016 to Aug 2017confirmed
US government staff in Havana report piercing sounds and pressure at home or in hotels, then fall ill
Of 24 people the State Department identified, 21 were examined: most described a high-pitched sound, often with pressure or vibration that stopped when they moved. Months later most still had cognitive, balance, visual or sleep problems, and 14 were off work.
T1Swanson et al., JAMA, Feb 2018Results; Table 2 - 29 Sep 2017confirmed
The State Department pulls most staff out of its Havana embassy, calling the incidents “attacks”
It said “21 U.S. Embassy employees have suffered a variety of injuries from attacks of an unknown nature”, ordered non-emergency staff and all families home, and admitted it could not say who or what was responsible.
T1State Department, “Actions Taken in Response to Attacks on U.S. Government Personnel in Cuba”, Sep 2017involved party: the US State Department, which called the incidents attacks and ran the responseT1Swanson et al., JAMA, Feb 2018Results - 15 Feb 2018confirmed
A University of Pennsylvania team reports signs of brain injury without any blow to the head
Its case series of 21 patients, referred by the State Department, found objective cognitive, balance and eye-movement problems. The authors write the patients “appeared to have sustained injury to widespread brain networks without an associated history of head trauma.”
T1Swanson et al., JAMA, Feb 2018abstract; Conclusions - Nov 2018confirmed
Government science advisers, JASON, say the recorded sound fits an insect, not a radio-frequency beam
Asked for a rapid assessment of recordings made by US personnel, JASON found with high confidence that the signal was not made by high-power radio-frequency pulses, and that the Indies short-tailed cricket, found in Cuba, was an excellent match.
T1JASON, “Acoustic Signals and Physiological Effects on U.S. Diplomats in Cuba”, Nov 2018Executive summary; sections 3.4 and 4.3, pp. 30–31 - 4 Jan 2019confirmed
Two biologists independently match the recording the AP released to the same cricket’s echoing call
Their unreviewed preprint finds the call of Anurogryllus celerinictus matches the recording in duration, pulse rate and spectrum, and that the call echoing indoors is “virtually indistinguishable” from it. They say the cause of the illnesses was beyond their paper.
- 23 Jul 2019confirmed
Brain scans of 40 Havana patients differ from healthy controls, the Penn team reports
Patients had less white matter on average and differences in the cerebellum and in hearing and visual networks. The authors write that “the clinical importance of these differences is uncertain and may require further study.”
T1Verma et al., JAMA, Jul 2019abstract; Limitations - 5 Dec 2020confirmed
The National Academies call directed, pulsed radio-frequency energy the most plausible cause
Its committee, working for the State Department, found the sudden directional early symptoms consistent with pulsed RF energy, judged insecticides and Zika unlikely, and said psychological factors could not be ruled out for some chronic symptoms. It could not rule out other causes.
T1National Academies, “An Assessment of Illness in U.S. Government Employees…”, Dec 2020Summary, “Plausible mechanisms” - 8 Oct 2021confirmed
Congress passes the HAVANA Act to pay CIA and State staff with qualifying brain injuries
The Helping American Victims Afflicted by Neurological Attacks Act authorises payments to CIA and State Department personnel and their dependents who incur qualifying injuries to the brain.
T1HAVANA Act of 2021, Public Law 117-46title; sec. 2 - 1 Feb 2022confirmed
A panel the intelligence agencies set up finds pulsed electromagnetic energy a plausible explanation
With access to over 1,000 classified documents, it found the symptoms “genuine and compelling” and that “pulsed electromagnetic energy, particularly in the radiofrequency range, plausibly explains the core characteristics”. It did not examine who might be responsible.
T1IC Experts Panel on AHIs, executive summary, declassified 1 Feb 2022Methodology; Findings - 1 Mar 2023confirmed
Most US intelligence agencies judge it “very unlikely” a foreign adversary is responsible
Five agencies said so, with moderate to high confidence; two said “unlikely”, with low confidence. They found no credible evidence an adversary had such a weapon and judged the symptoms probably came from preexisting conditions, ordinary illness or the environment.
T1Intelligence Community Assessment, “Updated Assessment of Anomalous Health Incidents”, 1 Mar 2023pp. 1–2involved party: the US intelligence community, judging whether it failed to detect attacks on its own officers; recalled in 2026 by the Director of National Intelligence - 18 Mar 2024confirmed
Two NIH studies find no brain injury pattern in up to 86 people who reported incidents
After correcting for multiple comparisons, MRI showed “no significant differences” from matched controls, and most clinical and blood tests were normal. Those affected did report more fatigue, depression, post-traumatic stress and imbalance; 24 of 86 had a functional neurological disorder.
- 31 Mar to 1 Apr 2024confirmed
A media investigation links Russia’s GRU Unit 29155 to incidents abroad; the Kremlin calls it baseless
The Insider, with 60 Minutes and Der Spiegel, reports unit members near incidents in Frankfurt in 2014 and Tbilisi in 2021 and awards for work on “non-lethal acoustic weapons”. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called it “nothing more than baseless, unfounded accusations by the media.”
- Dec 2024 to 10 Jan 2025confirmed
A House subcommittee chairman attacks the 2023 assessment, and two agencies shift their view
Chairman Rick Crawford’s interim report says the assessment “lacked analytic integrity”. The intelligence agencies’ January 2025 update keeps “very unlikely” for most, but one agency now sees a “roughly even chance” a foreign actor used a novel weapon on a small subset of people.
T1House Intelligence CIA Subcommittee interim report, Dec 2024Executive summaryinvolved party: the subcommittee chairman, who writes that he is convinced a foreign adversary is behind some incidents and frames the dispute against the outgoing administrationT1Intelligence Community Assessment, “Updated Assessment of Anomalous Health Incidents, as of December 2024”, 10 Jan 2025Executive summaryinvolved party: the US intelligence community, updating its own 2023 judgment; recalled in 2026 by the Director of National Intelligence - 13 Jan 2026unverified
The US government is reported to have bought, and be testing, a pulsed radio-frequency device with Russian parts
CBS News reports, from unnamed people, that Homeland Security Investigations bought a backpack-sized device in late 2024 with Pentagon money and that the Pentagon has tested it for over a year. No official has confirmed it, and no test result is public.
- 11 Jun 2026confirmed
The Director of National Intelligence recalls the 2023 and 2025 assessments
Tulsi Gabbard’s memo says they excluded relevant intelligence, suppressed alternative analysis and relied on an ethically flawed medical study, CNN and the New York Times report. The recall withdraws the “very unlikely” judgment; the reports read describe no new finding in its place.
T2CNN, “Gabbard rescinds Biden-era intel assessments…”, 12 Jun 2026T2New York Times, “Gabbard revokes Biden-era assessments on mysterious ailments”, 12 Jun 2026T1House Intelligence Committee, Chairman Crawford statement, 11 Jun 2026involved party: House Intelligence Committee chairman Rick Crawford, who had long called for the recall
Branches
Go down oneA branch is only as strong as its weakest step so far. The count is how many sources back each step.
“A directed-energy weapon caused Havana syndrome”
Was a weapon, such as a pulsed radio-frequency device, behind the illnesses first reported in Havana?
The State Department itself called the incidents “attacks of an unknown nature” when it drew down the embassy; the first medical report followed in February 2018.
- 823,844 YouTube views, CHUPPL, “Havana Syndrome, Explained.” as of 1 Nov 2026 T3YouTube: CHUPPL, “Havana Syndrome, Explained.”
- 792,339 YouTube views, Wendigang, “HAVANA SYNDROME - The Secret Weapon that ‘Doesn’t Exist’” as of 1 Nov 2026 T3YouTube: Wendigang, “HAVANA SYNDROME - The Secret Weapon that ‘Doesn’t Exist’”
The symptoms were real, sudden and tied to a place
Victims describe a directional sound or pressure that stopped when they moved, then lasting illness.
The premise: confirmedTrue: the first medical series and the intelligence agencies’ own expert panel describe exactly this, and even the 2023 assessment says staff reported sincerely. What caused it is the open question.
Independent experts found a radio-frequency weapon the best explanation
Proponents cite the National Academies and the expert panel.
The premise: confirmedBoth bodies did say this, as a mechanism that fits the symptoms, not as proof that a device existed. Neither identified a weapon, and the National Academies said it could not rule out other causes.
The intelligence agencies buried the evidence
Victims and a House chairman say the 2023 “very unlikely” verdict was manufactured.
The premise: disputedThe chairman’s report says so, and in 2026 the Director of National Intelligence recalled both assessments, citing excluded intelligence. Both are political actors; the evidence they say was excluded has not been published.
T1House Intelligence CIA Subcommittee interim report, Dec 2024Executive summaryinvolved party: the subcommittee chairman, who writes that he is convinced a foreign adversary is behind some incidents and frames the dispute against the outgoing administrationT2CNN, “Gabbard rescinds Biden-era intel assessments…”, 12 Jun 2026T1Intelligence Community Assessment, “Updated Assessment of Anomalous Health Incidents”, 1 Mar 2023p. 1involved party: the US intelligence community, judging whether it failed to detect attacks on its own officers; recalled in 2026 by the Director of National IntelligenceThe government now has the device
Reported by CBS in January 2026.
The premise: unverifiedOnly unnamed sources say so, and the CIA declined to comment. Even if true, owning a device does not show one was used in Havana.
- confirmed
Two expert panels call pulsed radio-frequency energy the most plausible or a plausible mechanism
The National Academies (2020) found it “the most plausible mechanism” among those it considered; the intelligence agencies’ own expert panel (2022) said it “plausibly explains the core characteristics, although information gaps exist.”
T1National Academies, “An Assessment of Illness in U.S. Government Employees…”, Dec 2020SummaryT1IC Experts Panel on AHIs, executive summary, declassified 1 Feb 2022FindingsStartStrength so far:confirmed· 2 sources on this step - confirmed
JASON found the recorded sound was not produced by radio-frequency pulses
It judged with high confidence that the signal in the recordings was not made by high-power RF pulses. Not everyone affected heard a sound, so this does not settle what made people ill.
T1JASON, “Acoustic Signals and Physiological Effects on U.S. Diplomats in Cuba”, Nov 2018p. 30T1Swanson et al., JAMA, Feb 2018Results= HoldsStrength so far:confirmed· 2 sources on this step - confirmed
The intelligence agencies found no evidence an adversary had such a weapon, then two of them wavered
In 2023 they found “no credible evidence” of a weapon causing the incidents. By January 2025 one agency judged it “likely” a foreign actor has an RF anti-personnel capability, while all agreed no foreign actor had been tied to any specific event.
T1Intelligence Community Assessment, “Updated Assessment of Anomalous Health Incidents”, 1 Mar 2023p. 1involved party: the US intelligence community, judging whether it failed to detect attacks on its own officers; recalled in 2026 by the Director of National IntelligenceT1Intelligence Community Assessment, “Updated Assessment of Anomalous Health Incidents, as of December 2024”, 10 Jan 2025pp. 1–2involved party: the US intelligence community, updating its own 2023 judgment; recalled in 2026 by the Director of National Intelligence= HoldsStrength so far:confirmed· 2 sources on this step - unverified
A device that could produce the effects is reported to be in US hands
This rests only on unnamed sources speaking to CBS News. Its maker, where it came from and what testing found are not public.
▼ WeakerStrength so far:unverified· 1 source on this step - disputed
Key claim: a weapon caused the illnesses first reported in Havana
Two expert panels found pulsed RF energy plausible for the core cases. Against it: NIH studies found no injury pattern, the recorded sound matches a cricket, and no weapon has been shown to exist. The intelligence agencies’ “very unlikely” was recalled in 2026 without a new finding.
T1National Academies, “An Assessment of Illness in U.S. Government Employees…”, Dec 2020SummaryT1IC Experts Panel on AHIs, executive summary, declassified 1 Feb 2022FindingsT1Pierpaoli et al., JAMA, 18 Mar 2024 (NIH imaging)abstractT1JASON, “Acoustic Signals and Physiological Effects on U.S. Diplomats in Cuba”, Nov 2018p. 30T2CNN, “Gabbard rescinds Biden-era intel assessments…”, 12 Jun 2026= HoldsStrength so far:unverified· 5 sources on this step
Bullshit meter
- A device that could produce the effects is reported to be in US hands. Unverified.
- Key claim contradicted by tier 1? Partly. No tier-1 record shows a weapon existed or was used in Havana, and the NIH studies and the cricket analyses cut against it, but two expert panels still called pulsed radio-frequency energy a plausible cause.
Fluff meter: possibly planted
- Can’t be traced to an original record. Absent: it traces to the State Department’s own 2017 description of “attacks” and to named expert reports.
- First appeared from new or anonymous accounts. Absent: it began with the government’s own statements about its staff.
- Coordinated identical wording. Not measured.
- Cited source doesn’t exist. Not measured: the reported device has not been shown publicly.
- Later contradicted. Not measured as a whole: parts are contradicted (the recorded sound) and parts supported (the panels); see the steps.
● present · ○ absent · – not measured. Lists signals only. It never accuses anyone.
Personal interest meter
- The US intelligence agencies, were judging whether they had failed to detect attacks on their own officers; a House subcommittee chairman says their 2023 assessment lacked analytic integrity. T1House Intelligence CIA Subcommittee interim report, Dec 2024Executive summary; Finding 1involved party: the subcommittee chairman, who writes that he is convinced a foreign adversary is behind some incidents and frames the dispute against the outgoing administration
- CIA staff who reported incidents, found their access to facilitated care and benefits “largely predicated” on the foreign-attack hypothesis, the Senate committee’s staff found. T1Senate Intelligence Committee, Audits and Projects Report 24-01, 2025Finding I
“Has a documented interest” only, each one sourced. Never an implication of guilt.
Correlation meter
- The National Academies and the 2022 expert panel, both found pulsed radio-frequency energy plausible; they are the strongest records for the weapon theory and are cited against the psychogenic one. T1National Academies, “An Assessment of Illness in U.S. Government Employees…”, Dec 2020Summary
- The NIH studies, undercut the brain-injury claim and were a basis for the 2023 assessment. The 2026 recall memo faults an unnamed “ethically flawed medical study”; the reports read do not say which. T1Pierpaoli et al., JAMA, 18 Mar 2024 (NIH imaging)abstract
- The cricket recordings, explain the sound but not the illnesses: JASON and the 2019 preprint reach the same match independently. T1JASON, “Acoustic Signals and Physiological Effects on U.S. Diplomats in Cuba”, Nov 2018pp. 30–31
Links to other cases appear once those cases exist.
Who worked on this
This case was assembled by the site from public records. Contributions are not open yet. Nothing here is invented, so the counts are zero.
This is the first published version of the case.
Sources
- T1involved party: the US State Department, which called the incidents attacks and ran the response “Actions Taken in Response to Attacks on U.S. Government Personnel in Cuba”, Office of the Spokesperson, US Department of State, September 2017 (the text dates the ordered departure to 29 September); read on the 2017–2021 archive site. 2017-2021.state.gov
- T1Randel L. Swanson et al., “Neurological Manifestations Among US Government Personnel Reporting Directional Audible and Sensory Phenomena in Havana, Cuba”, JAMA vol. 319 no. 11, pp. 1125–1133, published online 15 Feb 2018 (University of Pennsylvania; patients referred by the State Department; full text read on PubMed Central). doi.org · copy read: pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- T1“(U) Acoustic Signals and Physiological Effects on U.S. Diplomats in Cuba”, JASON (the MITRE-run science advisory group), November 2018, declassified; read as the Federation of American Scientists’ scanned PDF (Internet Archive copy). The scan’s text layer is badly garbled, so only passages that could be read with confidence are used.. irp.fas.org · copy read: web.archive.org
- T2Alexander L. Stubbs and Fernando Montealegre-Z, “Recording of ‘sonic attacks’ on U.S. diplomats in Cuba spectrally matches the echoing call of a Caribbean cricket”, bioRxiv preprint 10.1101/510834, posted 4 Jan 2019. Not peer-reviewed: bioRxiv lists no published version (checked 1 Nov 2026).. doi.org
- T1Ragini Verma et al., “Neuroimaging Findings in US Government Personnel With Possible Exposure to Directional Phenomena in Havana, Cuba”, JAMA vol. 322 no. 4, pp. 336–347, 23 Jul 2019 (University of Pennsylvania; full text read on PubMed Central). doi.org · copy read: pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- T1National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, “An Assessment of Illness in U.S. Government Employees and Their Families at Overseas Embassies”, consensus study report (David A. Relman and Julie A. Pavlin, eds.), released 5 Dec 2020 after a security review; done under a State Department contract (19AQMM19C0090). Summary and front matter read on nap.edu.. doi.org · copy read: nap.nationalacademies.org
- T1Helping American Victims Afflicted by Neurological Attacks Act of 2021 (“HAVANA Act of 2021”), Public Law 117-46, 135 Stat. 391, 8 Oct 2021 (read on govinfo.gov). www.govinfo.gov
- T1“Executive Summary”, IC Experts Panel on Anomalous Health Incidents (set up by the Director of National Intelligence and the CIA’s deputy director), declassified by DNI Haines on 1 Feb 2022; read as the Internet Archive copy of the dni.gov PDF. www.dni.gov · copy read: web.archive.org
- T1involved party: the US intelligence community, judging whether it failed to detect attacks on its own officers; recalled in 2026 by the Director of National Intelligence “Updated Assessment of Anomalous Health Incidents”, Intelligence Community Assessment ICA 2023-02286-B, National Intelligence Council, 1 Mar 2023 (unclassified version); read as the Internet Archive copy of the dni.gov PDF (dni.gov refuses scripted access). www.dni.gov · copy read: web.archive.org
- T1Carlo Pierpaoli et al., “Neuroimaging Findings in US Government Personnel and Their Family Members Involved in Anomalous Health Incidents”, JAMA vol. 331 no. 13, pp. 1122–1134, published online 18 Mar 2024 (National Institutes of Health; full text read on PubMed Central). doi.org · copy read: pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- T1Leighton Chan et al., “Clinical, Biomarker, and Research Tests Among US Government Personnel and Their Family Members Involved in Anomalous Health Incidents”, JAMA vol. 331 no. 13, pp. 1109–1121, published online 18 Mar 2024 (National Institutes of Health; full text read on PubMed Central). doi.org · copy read: pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- T2“Unraveling Havana Syndrome: New evidence links the GRU’s assassination Unit 29155 to mysterious attacks on U.S. officials and their families”, The Insider (Riga), published 31 Mar 2024, a joint investigation with CBS 60 Minutes and Der Spiegel. Several victims are pseudonymous and some officials unnamed; the named sources include Lt. Col. Greg Edgreen, who ran the Defense Intelligence Agency’s working group.. theins.press
- T2Reuters, “Kremlin dismisses report Russia behind ‘Havana Syndrome’”, 1 Apr 2024; read as republished by The Globe and Mail. www.theglobeandmail.com
- T1involved party: the subcommittee chairman, who writes that he is convinced a foreign adversary is behind some incidents and frames the dispute against the outgoing administration “Investigating the Intelligence Community’s Conclusions on Anomalous Health Incidents: Is the Intelligence Community Hiding the Real Reason for This Phenomenon?”, interim report by Chairman Rick Crawford of the Subcommittee on the CIA, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, December 2024. intelligence.house.gov
- T1involved party: the US intelligence community, updating its own 2023 judgment; recalled in 2026 by the Director of National Intelligence “Updated Assessment of Anomalous Health Incidents, as of December 2024”, ICA 2025-00008-B, National Intelligence Council, 10 Jan 2025 (approved for release 9 Jan 2025); read as the Internet Archive copy of the dni.gov PDF. www.dni.gov · copy read: web.archive.org
- T1“Review of CIA’s Efforts to Provide Facilitated Medical Care and Benefits for Individuals Affected by Anomalous Health Incidents”, Audits and Projects Report 24-01, Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (non-partisan staff review; unclassified summary), posted in 2025; read as the Internet Archive copy. www.intelligence.senate.gov · copy read: web.archive.org
- T2Olivia Gazis, “Device that may be tied to ‘Havana Syndrome’ obtained by U.S. government”, CBS News, 13 Jan 2026. Every point about the device rests on unnamed sources; the Pentagon and DHS did not reply and the CIA declined to comment.. www.cbsnews.com
- T2CNN, “Gabbard rescinds Biden-era intel assessments that were skeptical about ‘Havana Syndrome’”, 12 Jun 2026; read as republished by KEYT (News Channel 3-12). keyt.com
- T2Julian E. Barnes, “Gabbard revokes Biden-era assessments on mysterious ailments”, The New York Times News Service, 12 Jun 2026; read as republished by the Hawaii Tribune-Herald. www.hawaiitribune-herald.com
- T1involved party: House Intelligence Committee chairman Rick Crawford, who had long called for the recall “Chairman Crawford Statement on Director Gabbard’s Recall of the Flawed Intelligence Community Assessments on AHI”, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, 11 Jun 2026. intelligence.house.gov
- T3Robert W. Baloh and Robert E. Bartholomew, “Havana Syndrome: Mass Psychogenic Illness and the Real Story Behind the Embassy Mystery and Hysteria”, Copernicus Books (Springer Nature), published 20 Mar 2020 (publisher’s page read; the book itself was not). A record of the argument.. link.springer.com
- T3“Havana Syndrome, Explained.”, CHUPPL, YouTube, uploaded 30 Sep 2024. A record of the claim’s spread.. www.youtube.com
- T3“HAVANA SYNDROME - The Secret Weapon that ‘Doesn’t Exist’”, Wendigang, YouTube, uploaded 26 May 2026. A record of the claim’s spread.. www.youtube.com
- T3“Havana Syndrome: Is Russia behind the mysterious illness? | 60 Minutes Australia”, 60 Minutes Australia, YouTube, uploaded 28 Apr 2024. A record of the claim’s spread.. www.youtube.com