Investigative journalist Catherine Herridge says federal investigators are examining the device as questions persist over unexplained health incidents involving U.S. personnel.
WASHINGTON, DC — The U.S. government is studying a directed-energy device reportedly obtained through a covert operation involving federal agencies, according to investigative journalist Catherine Herridge, adding a new development to years of questions about unexplained illnesses reported by American diplomats, intelligence officers and other government personnel.
Herridge told NewsNation that the Department of Homeland Security was among the federal partners involved in obtaining the device and that investigators are examining its components. She cited unnamed sources who linked the technology to a known foreign adversary, but the government has not publicly established who manufactured the device or conclusively tied it to attacks on U.S. personnel.
The report follows earlier disclosures about a portable device acquired by the U.S. government in late 2024. CBS News reported in January that Homeland Security Investigations obtained a backpack-sized device in a clandestine transaction financed with Pentagon money. Sources briefed on that matter said the device contained components of Russian origin and emitted pulsed radio-frequency energy. The presence of Russian-made components, however, does not by itself establish who built the device or whether a government directed its use.
CBS News later reported that undercover Homeland Security agents purchased a miniaturized microwave device from a Russian criminal network and that the U.S. military conducted tests involving animals. The network’s involvement and the origin of components have fueled scrutiny of possible foreign connections, but publicly available information has not established that Russia or another government was responsible for the unexplained incidents involving U.S. personnel.
Those incidents are officially known as anomalous health incidents, or AHIs, and became widely known as “Havana Syndrome” after U.S. personnel in Cuba reported unusual symptoms beginning in 2016. Similar cases were later reported by government personnel in other countries. Investigations have examined numerous possible causes while producing competing assessments about whether a foreign actor or specialized technology was responsible.
A U.S. intelligence assessment released in 2023 concluded that it was very unlikely a foreign adversary was responsible for most reported AHIs. That conclusion has remained disputed by some affected personnel, former officials and researchers. A separate panel of experts convened by U.S. intelligence agencies had concluded in 2022 that pulsed electromagnetic energy, particularly in the radio-frequency range, could plausibly explain some core characteristics reported in a subset of cases.
More recent reporting has added evidence that such technology can produce biological effects without resolving who, if anyone, used it against Americans. The Washington Post reported in February that a Norwegian government scientist built a machine capable of emitting powerful microwave pulses and tested it on himself in 2024. The scientist experienced neurological symptoms, according to people familiar with the episode. People familiar with that test cautioned that it did not prove that a foreign adversary was behind AHIs.
Herridge has separately investigated claims involving directed-energy technology and people who reported unexplained injuries. In her latest account, she said her sources would not publicly identify the foreign power they suspect. That leaves a significant distinction between evidence suggesting where technology or components originated and proof that a particular government built, controlled or deployed the device.
Former national security official Charles Kupperman has also told NewsNation that he believes a directed-energy device was used against federal employees on the White House grounds during President Donald Trump’s first term. He said the incident occurred in a passageway between the White House and the Eisenhower Executive Office Building and that affected personnel did not receive government medical examinations until years later. His account has not publicly established who was responsible for the alleged incident.
Directed-energy weapons are a broad class of systems that use concentrated electromagnetic energy rather than conventional projectiles. The technology can include high-energy lasers and high-power microwave systems. The U.S. military develops its own directed-energy weapons, primarily for missions such as defeating drones, but the device at the center of the AHI investigation has been described as a different type of portable system producing pulsed radio-frequency energy.
The reported acquisition gives investigators a physical device to examine, but major questions remain unanswered publicly, including who designed it, whether it was ever used against U.S. personnel and whether its effects match documented AHI cases. Federal testing and intelligence reviews are continuing, while no U.S. agency has publicly attributed the reported incidents as a whole to a specific foreign government.
Author note: Last updated Sept. 23, 2026.