U.S. defense and intelligence officials are examining specialized equipment acquired covertly in recent years that some investigators believe could be linked to the mysterious medical incidents known as Havana Syndrome, reopening a long-simmering dispute inside the government over the cause of the condition, according to CNN, citing multiple people briefed on the matter.

The equipment was purchased during the final weeks of the Biden administration by Homeland Security Investigations, using Pentagon funds, the sources said. Officials described the price tag as running into the “eight figures,” though they declined to provide an exact amount. Testing and analysis of the equipment are ongoing.

Investigators say the device produces pulsed radio-frequency waves — a form of energy that scientists and intelligence officials have debated for years as a possible cause of Havana Syndrome, formally known inside the government as “anomalous health incidents.” While the system is not entirely Russian-made, it includes Russian components, according to one person familiar with the analysis.

The equipment’s portability has drawn particular attention. Officials said it can fit inside a backpack, a detail that has raised questions about how such a compact device could generate enough power to cause the reported injuries.

Havana Syndrome first emerged in late 2016, when U.S. diplomats stationed in Cuba reported sudden dizziness, headaches and other symptoms consistent with head trauma. Similar cases were later reported by intelligence officers, diplomats and service members around the world, prompting a years-long effort by U.S. agencies to determine whether the incidents were the result of hostile action.

That effort has been marked by sharp internal disagreement. Senior intelligence officials have publicly said there is insufficient evidence to conclude that the incidents were caused by directed-energy attacks from foreign adversaries. Victims, however, have accused the government of downplaying or dismissing evidence and have long argued that Russia was responsible for targeting U.S. personnel.

The discovery and acquisition of the equipment has revived those tensions. Defense officials considered the findings significant enough to brief the House and Senate intelligence committees late last year.

Officials now say their chief concern is not only whether the technology could explain past cases, but whether it has proliferated. If viable, they warn, similar systems could be in the hands of multiple countries, potentially capable of inflicting serious or career-ending injuries on U.S. officials overseas.

How U.S. authorities first learned of the equipment — and from whom it was obtained — remains unclear. Homeland Security Investigations works closely with the Defense Department on overseas operations and has broad authority to investigate customs violations and the spread of controlled technologies. A former Homeland Security official described such cases as among the deepest points of collaboration between HSI and the U.S. military.

Medical and intelligence experts caution that definitive answers remain elusive. The absence of a consistent clinical definition for anomalous health incidents, combined with delays in testing after symptoms appear, has complicated efforts to determine causation.

A 2022 intelligence panel concluded that some cases could “plausibly” have been caused by externally emitted pulsed electromagnetic energy. But in 2023, U.S. intelligence agencies publicly assessed that it was unlikely the incidents were part of a coordinated campaign by a foreign adversary — a position reaffirmed in subsequent assessments through early 2025, even as officials acknowledged they could not fully rule out hostile involvement in a small number of cases.

Marc Polymeropoulos, a former CIA officer who has said he was injured in a 2017 incident in Moscow, said the acquisition of such equipment would represent long-sought validation.

“If the U.S. government has indeed uncovered such devices,” Polymeropoulos said, “then the CIA owes all the victims a major and public apology.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)