Toronto Star

What did U.S. Embassy workers hear in Cuba?

Recordings of sonic attacks sent to intelligen­ce services, navy for acoustic analysis

- JOSH LEDERMAN AND MICHAEL WEISSENSTE­IN THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON— It sounds sort of like a mass of crickets. A high-pitched whine, but from what? It seems to undulate, even writhe. Listen closely: There are multiple, distinct tones that sound to some like they’re colliding in a nails-on-the-chalkboard effect.

The Associated Press has obtained a recording of what some U.S. Embassy workers heard in Havana in a series of unnerving incidents later deemed to be deliberate attacks. The recording, released Thursday by the AP, is the first disseminat­ed publicly of the many taken in Cuba of mysterious sounds that led investigat­ors initially to suspect a sonic weapon.

The recordings themselves are not believed to be dangerous to those who listen. Sound experts and physicians say they know of no sound that can cause physical damage when played for short durations at normal levels through standard equipment, such as a cellphone or computer.

What device produced the original sound remains unknown. Americans affected in Havana reported the sounds hit them at extreme volumes.

Whether there’s a direct relationsh­ip between the sound and the physical damage suffered by the victims is also unclear. The U.S. says that, in general, the attacks caused hearing, cognitive, visual, balance, sleep and other problems.

The recordings from Havana have been sent for analysis to the U.S. navy, which has advanced capabiliti­es for analyzing acoustic signals, and to the intelligen­ce services, the AP has learned. But the recordings have not significan­tly advanced U.S. knowledge about what is harming diplomats.

The Navy did not respond to requests for comment on the recording. State Department spokespers­on Heather Nauert wouldn’t comment on the tape’s authentici­ty.

Cuba has denied involvemen­t or knowledge of the attacks. The U.S. hasn’t blamed anyone and says it still doesn’t know what or who is responsibl­e. But the government has faulted President Raúl Castro’s government for failing to protect American personnel, and Nauert said Thursday that Cuba “may have more informatio­n than we are aware of right now.”

“We believe that the Cuban government could stop the attacks on our diplomats,” said White House chief of staff John Kelly.

Not all Americans injured in Cuba heard sounds. Of those who did, it’s not clear they heard precisely the same thing.

Yet the AP has reviewed several recordings from Havana taken under different circumstan­ces, and all have variations of the same high-pitched sound. Individual­s who have heard the noise in Havana confirm the recordings are generally consistent with what they heard.

“That’s the sound,” one of them said.

The recording being released by the AP has been digitally enhanced to increase volume and reduce background noise, but has not been otherwise altered.

The sound seemed to manifest in pulses of varying lengths — seven seconds, 12 seconds, two seconds — with some sustained periods of several minutes or more. Then there would be silence for a second, or 13 seconds, or four seconds, before the sound abruptly started again.

Acloser examinatio­n of one recording reveals it’s not just a single sound. Roughly 20 or more different frequencie­s, or pitches, are embedded in it, the AP discovered using a spectrum analyzer, which measures a signal’s frequency and amplitude.

Not all Americans injured in Cuba heard sounds. Of those who did, it’s not clear they heard precisely the same thing

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Canada