A declassified summary of results from a yearlong investigation on anomalous health incidents (AHIs) has been released.
The investigation was conducted by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence‘s nonpartisan audits and projects staff into the response to AHIs by the intelligence community.
The report is based largely off hundreds of hours of testimonial evidence provided by Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officials, other U.S. government officials, medical professionals who provided care and who reported AHI symptoms.
Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Mark R. Warner of Virginia and Vice Chairman Marco Rubio of Florida released the summary on Friday.
The report found that:
- The CIA facilitated AHI-related medical care for nearly 100 CIA-affiliated incidents, but many individuals faced obstacles to timely and sufficient care.
- AHI clinical research studies have identified unexplained clusters of symptoms, but the CIA has stopped collecting clinical data on AHIs while Department of Defense research efforts continue.
- The CIA has provided benefits and compensation to many AHI reporters, but ease of access to these programs has been inconsistent and affected by the agency’s organizational position on AHIs.
- The CIA’s AHI response has been hampered by communication and messaging challenges.
- The CIA’s response to AHIs has negatively affected AHI reporters and led to a trust deficit with portions of its workforce.
- The unknown nature of AHIs and AHI analytic efforts complicated the CIA’s organizational response to reported incidents.
The report also includes several recommendations to the CIA to improve care for individuals who report AHI symptoms.
The report does not address the question of causality or attempt to attribute AHI symptoms to a specific actor or device. Much work remains to be done by the intelligence community and Congress.
The declassified summary of the report is available online.
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Rebecca Barnabi
