Envoys’ illnesses baffle scientists
Many theories as to why staff at U.S. and Canadian embassies in Cuba got sick
It’s a mystery out of a John le Carré novel: For the past several months, U.S. diplomats in Cuba have suffered unexplainable symptoms, from hearing loss and vertigo to nausea and concussions. Some say they’re struggling to concentrate and recall even common words.
Equally strange: While some victims said they felt vibrations or heard loud noises audible only in parts of a room, others experienced nothing.
So far, 21 Americans have reported symptoms, and Canadian diplomats are suffering as well. It’s become so bad that the United States decided this week to yank all non-essential personnel from its Havana embassy. Americans are being warned against visiting the country for their own safety until investigators can figure out what’s happening.
What is going on? For months, experts have struggled to explain what kind of weapon could cause such a wide variety of symptoms. Investigators on the scene have uncovered few clues. In the absence of hard proof, there are lots and lots of theories. The sonic attack theory is a popular one, especially because some of the diplomats are reporting hearing loss, sounds and vibrations. Ultrasonic frequencies, which are high-pitched, can be harnessed and directed.
It’s also not hard, professors say, to build a device that emits this kind of noise. “You can buy transducers on the internet that emit these frequencies,” Robin Cleveland, a professor of engineering science at the University of Oxford, told the Guardian. “Anybody with a bit of engineering background could put one together.”
But high frequency sound doesn’t travel well through any kind of barrier, like a wall or even a curtain. Scientists are also skeptical about ultrasonic sound’s potential to cause permanent brain damage. (According to U.S. officials, some Cuban diplomats had been diagnosed with mild traumatic brain injury.)
OK. So, maybe it’s an electromagnetic device?
Electromagnetic waves can be easily directed, like a laser. They can also travel through walls, and could plausibly be concealed from afar.
But electromagnetic waves usually cause physical damage by heating body tissue. And the diplomats haven’t reported burning sensations. Could it be a chemical weapon? There are several chemicals that can cause hearing damage, including mercury and lead, along with some industrial solvents.
Writing in USA Today, director of medicine at the American Council on Science and Health Jamie Wells and microbiologist Alex Berezow explain that it’s possible, particularly “if the diplomats share meals together, it is a distinct possibility that somebody poisoned their food.”
It’s possible that the diplomats were exposed accidentally to the chemical that’s now wreaking havoc. Or maybe the culprit is testing out some new surveillance system that’s gone awry?
Unlike the best spy capers, we’re so far stuck without a satisfying ending.