US Federal agencies are on alert and have launched an investigation at least two possible incidents on US soil, including one near the White House that appears similar to mysterious, invisible attacks that have led to debilitating symptoms for dozens of US personnel abroad, CNN reports.
Citing multiple sources familiar with the matter, the news outlet reported “that while the Pentagon and other agencies probing the matter have reached no clear conclusions on what happened, the fact that such an attack might have taken place so close to the White House is particularly alarming.”
The report goes on to say that US defense officials have “briefed lawmakers on the Senate and House Armed Services Committees” on the matter, including on the incident near the White House. That incident, which occurred near the Ellipse, the large oval lawn on the south side of the White House, sickened one National Security Council official, according to multiple current and former US officials and sources familiar with the investigation, according to CNN.
A White House official reported a similar attack while walking her dog in a Virginia suburb just outside Washington, GQ reported.
“Those sickened reported similar symptoms to CIA and State Department personnel impacted overseas, and officials quickly began to investigate the incident as a possible ‘Havana syndrome’ attack, CNN reported, noting that that name refers to “unexplained symptoms that US personnel in Cuba began experiencing in late 2016 — a varying set of complaints that includes ear popping, vertigo, pounding headaches and nausea, sometimes accompanied by an unidentified “piercing directional noise.”
