iStockphoto / Dmitry Nogaev
Only a handful of years ago, a large contingent of experts looking into Havana Syndrome were convinced the alleged ‘attacks’ were really nothing more than the phenomenon known as ‘mass hysteria’ that can and does cause severe injuries.
Now, after a new 5-year investigation into Havana Syndrome, there is evidence of a Russian intelligence unit being behind the attacks, evidence suggesting it wasn’t mass hysteria at all. Part of that evidence was shared on Sunday’s episode of 60 Minutes, five years after the first 60 Minutes segment on the phenomenon.
Parts of the investigation are unable to be revealed due to security risks. But in the segment, they discuss how in the first round of attacks they pondered if it was Russia. In the second wave they said “this is starting to look like Russia.” And now in the third round of investigations, there are sources directly saying it is Russia causing these attacks.
It is quite eerie to hear them describe this as “Putin’s biggest victory, in his own mind. Russia’s biggest victory against the West.”
What they’re talking about here is an unknown acoustic weapon that has been used on top individuals in the US counterintelligence community, causing traumatic brain injuries similar to blunt force trauma, but with no evidence of how the attacks were pulled off. They first occurred in 2016 when employees at the US Embassy in Havana, Cuba were attacked and it has puzzled investigators ever since.
I listened to this episode of Stuff You Should Know that presents information of how this was believed by many to be an instance of mass hysteria:
The case of Mark Lindsay was interesting. His attack came while he was working at a US Consulate in China and was suffering migraines, memory loss, dizziness, and other symptoms.
When 60 Minutes looked into his story in 2019 they described it as ‘unbelievable’ but now, with more evidence, they believe every word he said. Mark Lindsay says the sound was very loud and also in a very specific location above his son’s crib. Lindsay believes he was targeted due to his work with top secret equipment.
60 Minutes ran a segment on Havana Syndrome in 2022 and prior to that, the CIA and broader intelligence community released an assessment saying they did not think there was “a worldwide campaign by a foreign adversary to harm Americans.” Since Havana in 2016, there have been more than 1,000 incidents reported similar to the initial attacks.
So where we are at now, with this latest investigation, is investigative journalist Christo Grozev, an expert on Russia and the man who identified those who poisoned Vladimir Putin’s adversary Alexey Navalny in 2020, was able to find an email that “contained a receipt work that had been done by a member of a union in Russia called 29155.”
CBS News describes Unit 29155 as a pretty terrifying and terribly collection of individuals. Saying “this elite unit consists of assassins and saboteurs who use countersurveillance, explosives, poison, and technologically advanced equipment on their targets.”
That receipt/email showed that this unit in Russia had been engaged in “empirical tests of a directed energy unit.” He called this email “the closest to a receipt that you can have” that Russia is behind building and testing a device to do exactly what is believed to have been causing the Havana Syndrome attacks.
The 60 Minutes investigations into Havana Syndrome have been extensive. Much more so than anything the government has done that the public has been made aware of, with emphasis on the latter portion. They’ve ran multiple segments on Havana Syndrome including this one about attacks in Vietnam:
The common element across the attacks is (1) Americans are being attacked and (2) those Americans are high ranking/successful members of the intelligence community and not just peons. Hopefully, now that it’s becoming clearer that Russia could be behind these attacks something will be done to prevent any more attacks on Americans.