The U.S. government quietly spent eight figures on a device that officials believe may be tied to the mysterious cluster of ailments known as Havana Syndrome, acquiring it in an undercover operation and then turning it over for extensive military testing. The purchase, which topped $10,000,000, is now at the center of a political and scientific storm over what the technology can actually do and whether it is connected to the real-world suffering of American personnel. As scrutiny intensifies, the story has become a test of how far Washington will go to chase an elusive threat that its own intelligence agencies have publicly downplayed.
At stake is more than a single classified gadget. The device sits at the intersection of unresolved medical complaints, contested intelligence assessments, and a growing partisan fight over how the Biden Administration handled potential attacks on U.S. officials. The result is a rare glimpse into how national security agencies respond when the science is uncertain but the fear is very real.
The secret purchase and the $10,000,000+ price tag
According to multiple accounts, the U.S. government quietly acquired the device in late 2024 through an undercover operation run by Homeland Security Investigations, or HSI, a unit that typically focuses on transnational crime rather than exotic weaponry. The acquisition, carried out near the end of the Biden Administration, was not publicly disclosed at the time, and only a limited circle inside the national security bureaucracy and congressional oversight committees was informed that HSI had secured a piece of hardware some investigators believe could replicate the symptoms associated with Havana Syndrome. Reporting indicates that the U.S. government paid an eight figure sum for the equipment, meaning the price exceeded $10,000,000 and signaled that officials saw it as a potentially critical lead rather than a speculative curiosity, a point underscored by later briefings to congressional committees.
Republican lawmakers now say they learned of the purchase only after outside reporting surfaced, and they are pressing for answers about who authorized the deal and how the money was routed. In a public statement, House Homeland Security Committee leaders said that, according to recent reporting, HSI acquired the device in an undercover operation at the end of the Biden Administration, and they have formally demanded documents and interviews from the Department of Homeland Security to clarify the chain of command. The chairmen framed their inquiry as a test of transparency, arguing that a multimillion dollar acquisition of a suspected directed energy system should never be hidden from Congress, and they pointed directly to the role of HSI and the timing under the Biden Administration in their request to Homeland Security.
From DHS to the Pentagon: how the device is being tested
Once HSI secured the device, it did not remain inside the Department of Homeland Security for long. The hardware was transferred to the Pentagon, where The Defense Department began a lengthy technical evaluation to determine whether it could plausibly generate the kinds of symptoms reported by U.S. personnel in Havana and other locations. Officials have spent more than a year subjecting the device to laboratory analysis and field-style testing, treating it as a potential pulsed energy weapon that might emit radiofrequency or microwave radiation in a way that could affect the human nervous system. The Defense Department’s involvement reflects a shift from law enforcement acquisition to military science, with specialists trying to understand whether the device is a prototype, a production model, or something closer to a proof of concept, according to detailed accounts of the Pentagon testing.
Separate descriptions of the same handoff emphasize that the Pentagon is studying the device as part of a broader effort to understand so called anomalous health incidents, not as a stand alone smoking gun. Officials at the Department of Defense have reportedly examined whether the hardware, or similar technology, could have been used in Havana or other cities where U.S. personnel fell ill, and they are comparing its capabilities to what is known about foreign research into directed energy systems. Local coverage of the case has stressed that the Pentagon is evaluating whether the device, acquired in an undercover operation, represents a unique threat or simply one example of a class of tools that could be adapted for hostile use, a question that has driven ongoing analysis inside the Pentagon apparatus.
Havana Syndrome’s murky origins and official skepticism
The device’s arrival in U.S. hands comes years after Havana Syndrome first entered the national vocabulary, when a CIA officer in Cuba reported sudden, unexplained symptoms that included dizziness, headaches, and cognitive problems. Those early cases in Havana were followed by similar complaints from diplomats, intelligence officers, and military personnel in other countries, prompting a sprawling investigation into whether a foreign adversary was targeting Americans with a novel weapon. Yet after extensive review, U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that it was “very unlikely” that a foreign government was responsible for the bulk of reported incidents, a finding that cast doubt on the idea of a coordinated campaign and left many victims feeling that their experiences were being minimized despite the high profile origins of Havana Syndrome.
That official skepticism now sits awkwardly beside the decision to spend more than $10,000,000 on a device that some investigators think could reproduce at least some of those symptoms. If intelligence agencies believe a foreign adversary is “very unlikely” to be behind the incidents, critics ask, why did the government commit eight figures to obtain and test a suspected pulsed energy weapon? The tension is especially sharp for those who see the device as potential validation that directed energy exposure can cause real harm, even if not every reported case fits the pattern. For them, the acquisition suggests that, whatever the public line, parts of the national security establishment still worry that Havana Syndrome may have a technological root that has not yet been fully acknowledged.
Political backlash and the fight over accountability
The revelation that the Biden Administration oversaw the purchase has triggered a sharp response from Republican lawmakers, who argue that Congress was kept in the dark about a major national security decision. In their letter, House Homeland Security Committee leaders highlighted that HSI obtained the device in an undercover operation at the end of the Biden Administration and demanded to know which senior officials approved the deal, how the eight figure payment was structured, and what safeguards were in place to evaluate the seller. They have framed the episode as part of a broader pattern of secrecy, insisting that any acquisition of a suspected Havana Syndrome related weapon should have been promptly disclosed to relevant committees rather than surfacing only after outside reporting forced the issue, a concern they laid out in detail to Homeland Republicans.
Outside Congress, the purchase has also become a flashpoint in the long running debate over how the U.S. government has treated Havana Syndrome victims. Critics note that while agencies were slow to recognize and compensate affected personnel, they were willing to spend more than $10,000,000 on a single device whose relevance remains unproven. That contrast has fueled calls for greater transparency about what the Pentagon has learned from its testing and whether any findings have been shared with those who suffered symptoms. For lawmakers and advocates, the core question is whether the government’s secretive approach reflects legitimate security concerns or an instinct to shield decision makers from scrutiny over a controversial and politically sensitive issue.
Supporting sources: Pentagon studying device.
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