The Defense Department is funding animal tests to determine whether radio frequency waves may be the source of a mysterious illness known as "Havana syndrome" that has afflicted hundreds of U.S. government employees in recent years, according to publicly available documents and three people familiar with the matter. . . . business
News of these long-running, never-reported animal tests comes after the Office of the Director of National Intelligence ruled last week that there was no clear evidence that a foreign adversary used weapons to cause the outbreak. Despite that mark, the Pentagon continues to explore the option, Politico reports.
In September, the military awarded a $750,000 grant to Wayne State University in Michigan to study the effects of radio frequency waves on mice with brain abnormalities, according to grant information posted on USASpending.gov. The goal, the documents show, is to determine whether those exposures are causing the symptoms faced by U.S. government workers in Havana, Cuba and China.
Symptoms are described as severe headaches, temporary hearing loss, dizziness, and other problems similar to traumatic brain injury.
The Defense Department has also tested pulsed radio frequency sources on primates to try to determine whether the effect could be related to what the government calls an "unhealthy phenomenon," said a former and current U.S. intelligence official briefed on the effort. Both were granted anonymity to discuss the sensitive work. It is unclear whether that internal investigation is ongoing.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Defense, Lt. Commander Commando Gorman, confirmed that the grant to Wayne State University, together with the University of Michigan, will allow "the development and testing of a new laboratory animal model to simulate mild head trauma."
"Behavioral, imaging, and histological studies will determine whether the model compares to abnormalities seen in humans," Gorman said, "and the model can be used to test potential treatments to reduce deficits associated with traumatic brain injury."
Garman declined to comment on whether the Defense Department conducted the tests on primates.
As directed by Congress, "DoD continues to address issues related to AHI, including incident identification, investigation, mitigation, detection and response," Gorman said. "Our main focus is on helping those affected, as the health and well-being of our employees is our top priority."
The year-long investigation, which was funded from September 30 last year to September 29 this year, is part of the Defense Department's efforts to determine the cause of the mysterious incident. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence's annual threat assessment submitted to Congress this week noted that the intelligence community also continues to actively investigate the issue, primarily in "certain priority cases where a cause has not been ruled out, potentially involving one or more foreign actors." . ".
Intelligence chief Avril Haynes told lawmakers on Wednesday that she agreed with the intelligence community's overall assessment, but noted that the government was continuing to investigate to determine the "science and technology" cause.
Animal rights groups refuse to do so
Shalin Gallo, vice president of the animal rights group PETA, condemned the news that the US Department of Defense is testing the technology on animals.
"We are concerned about the Army's plan to expose monkeys to microwave radiation in a misguided attempt to determine the effects on the human brain associated with Havana syndrome," Gallo said. "It refutes the supposed justification for the Navy's current $750,000 taxpayer-funded brain injury experiment, which bombards 48 bodies of water with radio waves."
But advocates say testing on animals with human-like brains is necessary to help victims. The U.S. Department of Defense has conducted an investigation that indicates officials already have "very strong scientific evidence," including computer simulations, that support the theory that radio frequency exposure may have caused Havana syndrome, a former intelligence official said.
“If there's no science, you won't get permission to test on animals. ... You've proven that the science is accurate and that it exists, and now you're seeing biological effects that can't be modeled, and you need samples to determine what they're doing biologically,” the former official said.
The Defense Department has another contract for additional animal testing, the former official said, declining to give details.
"These types of experiments will eventually be necessary to understand what happens in people with IAH, because we can compare our brain images with what we see in animals that have been exposed to radiofrequency waves," says former Mark Polimeropoulos. A CIA officer suffered debilitating symptoms after a suspected targeted energy attack during a mission in Moscow in 2017.
In the Wayne State University study, researchers planned to expose 48 ponds to radio frequency waves for two hours a day for 60 days. This results in "an exposure profile likely comparable to that experienced by our embassy staff." According to the summary, another twenty-four horseshoes will receive "false exposure".
It is important to use animals, such as otters, with a brain structure that resembles the "gyrencephalic features" of the human brain; Mice and rats do not meet these criteria, the abstract says. The brain tissue of hyrencephalic animals such as humans, ferrets, pigs and primates resembles hills and valleys compared to the smooth surface of the brain of lissencephalic animals such as mice and rats.
Another research description from the Defense Technical Information Center's publicly available database specifically touches on Havana syndrome.
"U.S. government officials working at our embassies in Havana, Cuba, and China have been diagnosed with an acquired neurosensory syndrome, commonly known as Havana syndrome," according to the summary, which said the victims "had similar symptoms and clinical data". ". A person with a head injury.
There is "strong evidence" that Havana syndrome is caused by "supernatural radio frequency (RF) exposure," according to a report that says Russia has used radio waves to eavesdrop on U.S. government personnel since the Cold War. , when the exercise was known as the Moscow Signal.
The researchers propose a one-year study to determine whether radiofrequency waves induce brain changes caused by "repeated minor head trauma and exposure to trauma or blasts."
After exposing the water to RF waves, the researchers will conduct cognitive measurements such as tests of memory, learning and anxiety, and assess the animals' hearing balance and function "to determine whether exposure to RF is similar to neurosensory syndromes that are already occurring. found in both men and women” who reported symptoms of Havana syndrome.
History of tests
Animal testing of directed energy sources dates back to the 1960s, when scientists at the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency exposed primates to microwaves, while Russia used microwave devices to spy on US government officials in Moscow. Last year, the National Security Archive obtained and released records about the program, which the Biden administration is examining as part of its investigation into Havana syndrome.
However, there are now strict regulations regarding animal testing. Then-Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger banned the use of animals in the Defense Department's "wound labs" in 1983, which help develop ways to treat wounds, though it was later relaxed to allow the use of goats and pigs in "living tissue studies." Exercises according to Gali. US Department of Defense Directive 3216.01 currently prohibits the use of cats and dogs in gunshot wound testing, and the purchase of primates or marine mammals "for the purpose of training in the surgical or other treatment of gunshot wounds of all types."
Meanwhile, in 2005 the military banned the use of dogs, cats, marine mammals and nonhuman primates "in research conducted for the development of biological, chemical or nuclear weapons."
But in September 2022, the New York Post reported that the Army's Medical Research and Development Command had quietly changed its policy on harming pets, primates and marine mammals for research purposes with the approval of the Army's Office of Animal Care and Use Review.
Last year, PETA appealed to the military to release data on such animal testing after the military changed its policy. The Army initially told PETA it had 2,000 records in response to the group's Freedom of Information Act request, but later backtracked and said it only had one protocol for testing animal gunshot wounds, which Gall said was called "confidential". .
The army disputes that it has the relevant documents.
"PETA filed a FOIA, and after a very careful search of the records, a FOIA-compliant document was found that could not be released due to its classification," MRDC spokeswoman Lori Salvatore told the Army Times last year.
“The experience of gunshot wounds to dogs, cats, monkeys and marine animals are bloodstains on the uniforms of those who serve bravely. They are doing nothing to improve people's health, and the military should immediately reverse its order allowing the disgusting tests, Galla said. "The Army must stop allowing paranoia and fear to influence its research and immediately ban all animal testing of such weapons."
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