Article Did the US use a secret "Havana syndrome" weapon during the Maduro raid?

[C C]

RELATED (wikipedia): 2026 United States intervention in Venezuela
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Did the U.S. use a “secret sonic weapon” in the Maduro raid? What we know—and what science says
https://thedebrief.org/did-the-u-s-use-a...ence-says/

EXCERPT: . . . Though it came from her official government account, Leavitt’s repost is not equivalent to a formal statement from the White House or the Department of Defense (DoD), and it does not verify the accuracy of the account the witness provided. Nevertheless...

[...] The story apparently originates from a Spanish audio recording shared on WhatsApp, from a purported eyewitness and Venezuelan security guard loyal to Maduro.

​“We were on guard, but suddenly all our radar systems shut down without any explanation,” an English translation of the reported eyewitness reads. “The next thing we saw were drones, a lot of drones, flying over our positions. We didn’t know how to react.”

​The alleged security guard goes on to describe U.S. forces deploying some type of sonic weapon that left the defenders suddenly incapacitated.

​“At one point, they launched something—I don’t know how to describe it… it was like a very intense sound wave,” the witness says. “Suddenly, I felt like my head was exploding from the inside. We all started bleeding from the nose. Some were vomiting blood. We fell to the ground, unable to move.”

Presently, the U.S. has not publicly confirmed the use of any acoustic or directed-energy weapon in the operation. Moreover, the claim seems to trace back to the same viral WhatsApp message rather than independently corroborated reporting.

Ultimately, while that doesn’t mean the claims are automatically false, it does mean the evidence supporting them is tenuous, at best... (MORE - details)

RELATED (wikipedia): Havana syndrome

[Syne]

The account sounded a lot more extreme than Havana syndrome.

[Yazata]

It sounds kind of sci-fi unbelievable and I'm still not 100% convinced. But White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt repeated it and various credible media outlets are reporting it. Perhaps it's real. Perhaps it's a psychological operation, just a little something for the IRGC and other potential adversaries to have nightmares about.

https://x.com/PressSec/status/2009997866425897308

https://nypost.com/2026/01/10/world-news...s-account/

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/us-used...itt-claims

https://sundayguardianlive.com/world/did...ar-164162/

https://thedefensepost.com/2026/01/12/us...venezuela/

(Highlighting by me)

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"This account from a Venezuelan security guard loyal to Nicolás Maduro is absolutely chilling—and it explains a lot about why the tone across Latin America suddenly changed.

Security Guard: On the day of the operation, we didn't hear anything coming. We were on guard, but suddenly all our radar systems shut down without any explanation. The next thing we saw were drones, a lot of drones, flying over our positions. We didn't know how to react.

Interviewer: So what happened next? How was the main attack?

Security Guard: After those drones appeared, some helicopters arrived, but there were very few. I think barely eight helicopters. From those helicopters, soldiers came down, but a very small number. Maybe twenty men. But those men were technologically very advanced. They didn't look like anything we've fought against before.

Interviewer: And then the battle began?

Security Guard: Yes, but it was a massacre. We were hundreds, but we had no chance. They were shooting with such precision and speed... it seemed like each soldier was firing 300 rounds per minute. We couldn't do anything.

Interviewer: And your own weapons? Didn't they help?

Security Guard: No help at all. Because it wasn't just the weapons. At one point, they launched something—I don't know how to describe it... it was like a very intense sound wave. Suddenly I felt like my head was exploding from the inside. We all started bleeding from the nose. Some were vomiting blood. We fell to the ground, unable to move.

Interviewer: And your comrades? Did they manage to resist?

Security Guard: No, not at all. Those twenty men, without a single casualty, killed hundreds of us. We had no way to compete with their technology, with their weapons. I swear, I've never seen anything like it. We couldn't even stand up after that sonic weapon or whatever it was.

Interviewer: So do you think the rest of the region should think twice before confronting the Americans?

Security Guard: Without a doubt. I'm sending a warning to anyone who thinks they can fight the United States. They have no idea what they're capable of. After what I saw, I never want to be on the other side of that again. They're not to be messed with.

Interviewer: And now that Trump has said Mexico is on the list, do you think the situation will change in Latin America?

Security Guard: Definitely. Everyone is already talking about this. No one wants to go through what we went through. Now everyone thinks twice. What happened here is going to change a lot of things, not just in Venezuela but throughout the region."

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Assuming that there's any truth to this, it does sound like a directed-energy weapon, sonic or otherwise. It's known that they have been working on such things, but I had no idea that they were out of the lab and ready for special forces to deploy.

[stryder]

It sounds kind of sci-fi unbelievable and I'm still not 100% convinced. But White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt repeated it and various credible media outlets are reporting it. Perhaps it's real. Perhaps it's a psychological operation, just a little something for the IRGC and other potential adversaries to have nightmares about.

https://x.com/PressSec/status/2009997866425897308

https://nypost.com/2026/01/10/world-news...s-account/

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/us-used...itt-claims

https://sundayguardianlive.com/world/did...ar-164162/

https://thedefensepost.com/2026/01/12/us...venezuela/

(Highlighting by me)

****************************************

"This account from a Venezuelan security guard loyal to Nicolás Maduro is absolutely chilling—and it explains a lot about why the tone across Latin America suddenly changed.

Security Guard: On the day of the operation, we didn't hear anything coming. We were on guard, but suddenly all our radar systems shut down without any explanation. The next thing we saw were drones, a lot of drones, flying over our positions. We didn't know how to react.

Interviewer: So what happened next? How was the main attack?

Security Guard: After those drones appeared, some helicopters arrived, but there were very few. I think barely eight helicopters. From those helicopters, soldiers came down, but a very small number. Maybe twenty men. But those men were technologically very advanced. They didn't look like anything we've fought against before.

Interviewer: And then the battle began?

Security Guard: Yes, but it was a massacre. We were hundreds, but we had no chance. They were shooting with such precision and speed... it seemed like each soldier was firing 300 rounds per minute. We couldn't do anything.

Interviewer: And your own weapons? Didn't they help?

Security Guard: No help at all. Because it wasn't just the weapons. At one point, they launched something—I don't know how to describe it... it was like a very intense sound wave. Suddenly I felt like my head was exploding from the inside. We all started bleeding from the nose. Some were vomiting blood. We fell to the ground, unable to move.

Interviewer: And your comrades? Did they manage to resist?

Security Guard: No, not at all. Those twenty men, without a single casualty, killed hundreds of us. We had no way to compete with their technology, with their weapons. I swear, I've never seen anything like it. We couldn't even stand up after that sonic weapon or whatever it was.

Interviewer: So do you think the rest of the region should think twice before confronting the Americans?

Security Guard: Without a doubt. I'm sending a warning to anyone who thinks they can fight the United States. They have no idea what they're capable of. After what I saw, I never want to be on the other side of that again. They're not to be messed with.

Interviewer: And now that Trump has said Mexico is on the list, do you think the situation will change in Latin America?

Security Guard: Definitely. Everyone is already talking about this. No one wants to go through what we went through. Now everyone thinks twice. What happened here is going to change a lot of things, not just in Venezuela but throughout the region."

********************************************

Assuming that there's any truth to this, it does sound like a directed-energy weapon, sonic or otherwise. It's known that they have been working on such things, but I had no idea that they were out of the lab and ready for special forces to deploy.

I could pose what might of happened for a number of things there, however the problem is if I do that it might cause some of the US's "Shock and Awe" to be lost.

I will say however that I wouldn't put it passed the current US administration to utilise weaponry that previously was shelved due to concerns of what it does and what it would do if out in the wild. (We live in a world were any advantage is only so for a short duration of time before an opposition reverse engineers it, so the least said the better.)

[Yazata]

For whatever it's worth (perhaps not much)

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/device-hava...overnment/

As somebody on X said: 'I wonder how many monkeys got fried testing this thing'.

[Zinjanthropos]

Wouldn’t the effects of Havana Syndrome felt by people 5-10 years ago mean that somebody already has or had the weapon? Unless the US was testing it without telling their own people, some of whom were in the weapon’s range. Remember US saying they had nothing to do with that.

If this weapon exists then it would appear as if US got the weapon from somewhere and reverse engineered it. Are there reports that more than just the guards were affected?

[stryder]

Wouldn’t the effects of Havana Syndrome felt by people 5-10 years ago mean that somebody already has or had the weapon? Unless the US was testing it without telling their own people, some of whom were in the weapon’s range. Remember US saying they had nothing to do with that.

If this weapon exists then it would appear as if US got the weapon from somewhere and reverse engineered it. Are there reports that more than just the guards were affected?

Havana Syndrome was to my knowledge was rudimentary and likely a particular state operators attempt at duplicating other devices that have been built elsewhere.

The effects to my knowledge actually suggest more about where the equipment was placed than what was being used. (It was likely fixed to Yacht masts in the harbour area, which means the bob of waves would of effected the trigonometry of the equipment in usage.)

There has been other equipment in use for a lot longer than Havana. I can confirm that equipment has been in usages since the mid to late 1990s. (The equipment is directly linked to the original Cold War)

[Zinjanthropos]

If all you have to do is buy it then I figure if one uses it then expect the same in response.. I guess if drones can be knocked out of the sky or disabled by a concentrated burst of microwave energy then humans become targets also. Keep your heads up down there neighbour. Not like there weren’t companies working on development…i.e. Epirus, Northrop Grumman, Thales . Believe Chinese also.

[C C]

[...] If this weapon exists then it would appear as if US got the weapon from somewhere and reverse engineered it. [...]

That's the gist of the purported narrative. But likely developed well beyond being limited to a few vulnerable paratroopers or clandestine spies walking around with backpack models. If a rival nation wasn't the source, then thank James Bond conspiracy and Munchausen syndrome for prodding DARPA to engineer the real thing (or the real myth).

The device was purchased clandestinely in the final weeks of the Biden administration by the Department of Homeland Security's Homeland Security Investigations division, using Pentagon funding that exceeded eight figures, according to two people familiar with the matter. The device is portable, backpack-sized, and contains components of Russian origin, the two people said.

[...] Former senior CIA intelligence officer Marc Polymeropoulos, who has spoken publicly of the symptoms he suffered after being struck in Moscow in 2017, criticized the agencies for what he said were disingenuous prior inquiries.

"The CIA always claimed that none of this technology even existed, that a device didn't exist, and they based their [assessments] on this," he said, "so their entire analytic assumptions are now blown up. A new, full analytic review is now warranted, and the DNI must call for one."

[Syne]

So a Russia sourced weapon would be used to mildly harass some embassy workers in a backwater dictatorship?
No wonder Putin's having such a hard time with Ukraine.