by Debra Heine via American Greatness,
A former Intelligence officer is accusing the CIA of gaslighting the victims of a debilitating health phenomenon known as Havana syndrome.
Investigative journalist Catherine Herridge sat down with the CIA whistleblower to hear about her “career-ending injuries” in an exclusive interview posted on X.
The House Intelligence Committee recently determined in an interim report that “the Intelligence Community has attempted to thwart congressional efforts to uncover the truth at every turn.”
“It’s a cover-up and it’s terrifying,” said the former intel officer, who spoke to Herridge using the alias “Alice. “It should be terrifying for all Americans.”
Dubbed “Anomalous Health Incidents (AHIs),” the syndrome was first experienced by U.S. government personnel stationed in Havana, Cuba, in 2016. Those affected reported hearing piercing noises and then suffering head pressure followed by various symptoms, including headache, nausea, fatigue, dizziness, vertigo, ear pain, and cognitive dysfunction.
Hundreds of cases of the Havana syndrome have since been reported, chiefly among US spies, diplomats and soldiers posted abroad, leading many to believe they were targeted by a hostile country with a high powered microwave system weapon.
However, the Intelligence Community has consistently resolved that the mysterious illnesses were unlikely the work of a foreign actor, and more likely “attributable to naturally occurring medical conditions, environmental exposures, or psycho-social factors.”
The Democrat-controlled U.S. Senate came to the same conclusion in a new report released on Friday.
The House Intelligence Committee however determined in its Dec. 5 report that it is “increasingly likely a foreign adversary is responsible for some portion of reported AHIs.”
Both committees concluded that the CIA’s handling of the Havana Syndrome cases has been seriously flawed and inconsistent.
“The conclusions published by the DNI in the unclassified Intelligence Community Assessment on AHI are dubious at best, misleading at worst,” said House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence CIA Subcommittee Chairman Rick Crawford (R-Ark.)
“Alice,” who now requires the assistance of a service dog, handled top secret national security missions just a few years ago, Herridge noted in her report.
The whistleblower said she believes her career-ending injuries were caused by a foreign directed energy weapon.
There is documented evidence to support this claim.
The National Security Agency (NSA) confirmed in 2014 that the intelligence community was aware that a foreign adversary possessed a high powered microwave system weapon that could “weaken, intimidate or kill an enemy over time without leaving evidence.”
According to the unclassified NSA report, the intelligence community knew in 2012 that a foreign adversary had designed a weapon “to bathe a target’s living quarters in microwaves, causing numerous physical effects, including a damaged nervous system.”
AHIs have been reported in the U.S. and in multiple other countries, including Austria, Columbia, China, Georgia, Germany, India, Poland, Russia, and Vietnam.
Alice said she experienced her AHI one night while serving in Africa.
“I heard a weird noise—it was a really weird sound, I’ll never forget it,” she said, adding that she also felt a vibration in her feet.
She described the onset of her symptoms, telling Herridge, “my ear started hurting. I had vertigo, the room started spinning, my head started pulsing. I had a ton of pain in my left ear.”
The former intel officer added that her ears started ringing and she thought she was going to “pass out.”
She has since been diagnosed with traumatic brain injury. According to Herridge, Alice needed to take several breaks during the interview and needed to wear sunglasses to reduce the glare of the camera lighting.
“I never thought I’d be retired in my forties,” she said.
Alice told Herridge that she suspected that there a multiple weapons capable of causing these symptoms, and they are probably small enough to fit in backpacks.
A leaked Defense Department letter acknowledges that the injuries and experiences “are real”—not the result of “psycho-social factors.”
Alice said she blames Russia for the attack.
“I believe the Russian GRU [military intelligence service] came to my house late at night … and took me off the battlefield,” she said.
According to Herridge, multiple sources have told her that CIA Director Robert Burns has said privately that he also believes Russia is responsible for some of the attacks.
But the Intelligence Community officially determined in a 2023 IC assessment that it was “very unlikely” that the AHIs were brought on by a foreign adversary.
Alice said that had she received the IC report while she was still a CIA official, she would have sent it back to the analysts and told them to “start over again” because it didn’t meet even the agency’s “most basic” standards.
Herridge asked the former agent if she found the report to be “demoralizing,” humiliating, a “slap in the face,” and a “betrayal” after she had pledged to serve her country. Alice replied “yes” to all of the above.
“I miss my colleagues and I miss the work every single day,” she said.
Alice told Herridge that she believed the CIA has gaslit her and every other agent who has suffered from Havana Syndrome by not taking their injuries seriously.
Her voice cracking, the whistleblower said she had already gone to the funerals of several of her CIA friends after they had lost their battles with cancer.
“We’re basically like ticking time bombs,” she said. “I have friends in nursing homes. I have friends with Parkinson’s, dementia.”
A heavily redacted U.S. government report obtained by Herridge shows how the CIA pulled Alice’s security clearance after she was medically retired, “citing psychological conditions.”
“It sounds like retaliation,” Herridge said. “Did CIA treat women officers differently? she asked, adding that she had read reports where female officers had been told their issues were possibly hormonal.
Alice said the chauvinistic attitude seemed like a throwback to the 1950s.
“They brought up, “could you be pregnant?, are you upset because you’re not pregnant?, is it hormones?, is it menopause?, is it perimenopause?, do you have an anxiety disorder?,” she said.
In March of 2024, the Department of Defense stated in a letter to colleagues that “we believe your experiences are real and we are unwaveringly committed to continue to provide quality care for you and those that are eligible.”
Herridge posited that one possible reason for the CIA refuses to admit agents are being targeted with powerful microwave weapons is that it such an admission would devastate the agency’s recruitment efforts.
Alice agreed and called on the CIA to stop denying “what is happening to us” so there can continue to be opportunities for the U.S. “to collect information that we need to prevent this from happening to more people.”
She expressed hope that the Trump administration will “drain the swamp” and at a bare minimum, replace the intel analysts behind the fraudulent 2023 IC report.
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