HAVANA SYNDROME
Is the US now taking the mystery more seriously?
The mysterious “Havana Syndrome” afflicting US diplomats shows no sign of abating, and US officials seem to be no closer to either identifying what causes it, or if (as they suspect), it is the result of some kind of weapon, who is behind it. The latest location to report multiple cases of the affliction, which experiencers say involves the sudden onset of a feeling of pressure inside the head, accompanied by directional buzzing noises as well as fatigue, nausea, dizziness and a menu of other symptoms, is Berlin. Here, German police have instigated a probe into an “alleged sonic weapon attack on employees of the US Embassy” after several people at the Embassy experienced symptoms.
This follows seemingly more targeted incidences of the syndrome, in one case afflicting a CIA officer travelling with CIA director William J Burns in India. Burns was reportedly “angered” by the incident and some CIA officials believe the attack was a message to Burns from an unidentified adversary that “no one is safe”. It also caused intelligence concerns as the perpetrators would have needed advance notice of Burns’s visit, which was a closely guarded secret. In another incident, the arrival of USVice-President Kamala Harris in Vietnam was delayed for several hours after cases were reported. She remained in Singapore and only proceeded to Hanoi “after careful assessment”. The cases in Hanoi involved two US diplomats who were affected in their homes, at least one seriously enough to need medical evacuation. NBC News reported that two officials were evacuated after “acoustic” incidents.
It is interesting that in both this case and the Berlin one, where a potential cause was mentioned, it was “sonic” and “acoustic”, whereas previously the consensus seemed to be that some kind of microwave device was the probable cause. It is unclear whether this is simply coincidence, or whether it indicates that there has been some (so far unreported) progress in identifying the cause of the syndrome.
The US Government does seem to be taking it seriously, though. The CIA station chief inVienna was removed from his post for not responding appropriately to the rash of cases there – more than anywhere apart from Havana – and President Biden has signed a bill pledging better healthcare and financial support for Havana Syndrome victims, but hedging things slightly by terming it as “anomalous health incidents” rather than attacks. There is also now a dedicated investigatory task force led by a CIA veteran of the hunt for Osama Bin Laden. They are expected to report by the end of the year, but it is unlikely their report will be made public.
A dissenting voice comes from the JASON Group of independent scientists who have advised the US Government since the Cold War. Their 2018 report on Havana Syndrome was recently declassified and says: “No plausible single source of energy (neither radio/ microwaves nor sonic) can produce both the recorded audio/video signals and the reported medical effects. We believe the recorded sounds are mechanical or biological in origin, rather than electronic.” They point to the call of the Indies short-tailed cricket as being a detailed match to recordings of the alleged sounds of an attack recorded in Cuba, although they concede that these might be used as a deception by an adversary attacking using a completely different way of causing illness. These crickets, though, cannot account for the post-report experiences of officials in places such asVienna or Berlin, where none are to be found. BBC News, 25 Aug, 21+24 Sept, 9 Oct; msn.com, 1 Oct 2021.
For previous reports, see
FT359:22, 360:14, 363:4, 370:2627, 382:10-11, 389:26-27, 401:9, 407:21, 411:26.