The More Information Seeps out on Havana Syndrome, the More Secretive the Intelligence Community Gets.
In February 2022, ODNI and CIA released a 4-page Executive Summary of the IC Experts Panel on Anomalous Health Incidents (AHIs) report. On the next day, an expedited FOIA request was filed to obtain a full version of this Assessment. Request was denied, and on March 10, 2022, Journalist Brian Karem, represented by Attorney Mark Zaid filed a FOIA Lawsuit (1-22-cv-00674-TNM). Litigation was successful, and a heavily redacted, 153-page IC Expert Panel Report was released by ODNI in March 2023.
The history of obtaining this Report was reflected in the Salon.com article by Brian Karem published on the next day following Report’s Release. The online article used to contain a functioning link to the Report. However, the link is no longer functional, so I am providing you with a downloadable PDF of the document previously obtained from Salon.com.
By the time the article was published, an Updated Assessment of Anomalous Health Incidents was released by ODNI on March 1, 2023. Attorney Mark Zaid was quoted in the Salon Article: “This report (Sept 2022 IC Expert Panel Report obtained as a result of the FOIA litigation) differs from the summary released earlier this month (March 1, 2023) and previous statements from the intelligence community. It is becoming apparent that these events were perpetrated either by foreign actors, or it is an experiment gone horribly wrong.”
Third, the most recent ODNI Executive Summary of the Updated Assessment of Anomalous Health Incidents, as of December 2024 was released on January 10, 2025. Following the release of the interim report, Brian Karem and Mark Zaid filed a FOIA request to release full report, and on January 17, 2025 ODNI released the full report …every page of which was redacted. Basically, the ODNI released 34 pages of blank ink. Litigation by Brian Karem and Mark Zaid followed, and the case is still ongoing (1-25-cv-00779-CJN).
What was new in the 2025 ODNI Updated Assessment?
(Out of 7 Agencies), Two IC components have changed their judgments since 2023 based on new reporting that they evaluated to indicate that foreign directed-energy research programs have been making progress. One component assesses it is “likely” a foreign actor has an RF antipersonnel capability and that this capability can cause biological effects consistent with some of the symptoms reported as possible AHIs. The other component assesses there is a “roughly even chance” that a foreign actor has a capability that could have caused some of the experiences reported as possible AHIs.
However, it didn’t change the overall conclusion, because the ODNI report took a simple average of opinions. Methodologically, this kind of reasoning is flawed. If you have new information that nullifies other conclusions, that new conclusion must be adopted. Also, let’s not forget that the scope of the Assessment was limited to “foreign adversary only”.
It seems that the closer we get to real answers, the more secrecy is exhibited by the Intelligence Community. While we were able to obtain the September 2022 IC Expert Panel (though heavily redacted), the 2025 attempt failed (so far).
The reason for classifying this information is of course National Security, but the argument falls on its face when victims of Havana Syndrome are civilians. No wonder, the US Government is actively resisting the acknowledgement of diagnosed Havana Syndrome victims among US Civilians.
We must work tirelessly to achieve this recognition. It’s a critical step in our mission to free targeted individuals.