WorldWideWeird Episode 2 Transcript

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOhED1x60fs

There's few things more frightening than being sick when nobody can find out what’s wrong with you. Even more so when you’re not sure if it’s a sickness at all, you may have been targeted, caught up in espionage, a hold over from the Cold War. The worst part is, it’s spreading, and nobody has any idea why.

Hello, welcome to WorldWideWeird, I’m your host. I hope you are all somewhere safe and cozy because tonight’s episode will cover the mysterious Havana Syndrome, what it is, how it started, and maybe, what caused it. To old listeners, welcome back, and to new ones, welcome. I hope you enjoy.

In 2016, Cuba was opened to commercial flights to and from the United States. This was after then president Barack Obama became the first sitting U.S. president to visit the island nation in nearly 90 years. The relations between the two countries were starting to mend after years of hostility, then people started to get sick.

It started with one U.S. official stationed in Havana Cuba at the American embassy. He started hearing a buzzing, grating sound that caused uncomfortable pressure in his head. That continued to worsen, turning into chronic headaches, fatigue, vertigo and motor issues. This was reported to the U.S. embassy, who didn’t take it seriously. That was until two more people reported similar symptoms. Suspicions raised in the minds of the U.S. government when they saw only their people were suffering from this strange affliction, the Cuban workers around the embassy were unaffected. This spurred them to investigate Cuba and Russia, convinced they were organizing some kind of attack on their people. As they were investigating this, more people became sick. By September of that year, 16 CIA agents were affected, as well as other government officials. A doctor sent to examine those suffering also developed symptoms. The total number of those affected by Havana Syndrome is at least 40, although there could be many more that the CIA kept under wrap. As well as Americans, 14 Canadians in Havana also came forward with symptoms. Both the Canadian and the American governments were convinced some sort of radio or sonic weapon was being used to attack their people and they were still suspecting Cuba and Russia, though they had no solid evidence to do so. Seemingly to avoid more people from falling ill, both governments withdrew nonessential personnel in the embassies, leaving less people than before travel was reestablished to the island.

The Symptoms of Havana Syndrome are many and varied. For most, the first symptom is a loud metal grating, buzzing noise that causes pain and pressure inside their head. However some people report never hearing this, instead they just manifested the later symptoms. Other common symptoms include tinnitus, motor issues, insomnia, fatigue, nausea, vertigo, fainting, chronic headaches, frequent nosebleeds, memory loss, lack of concentration, and vision loss. These symptoms usually lasted for months after being exposed to the buzzing too. Frighteningly to those affected, examinations of their brains also showed signs of brain damage, such as significantly less brain matter compared to those unaffected. There was also evidence of inner ear damage. These injuries were often described as an “immaculate concussion” due to the similarities between the brain damage and a concussion, however, none of those affected reported any kind of external injury and showed no evidence of suffering from one. Their brains were the only part of them affected. Scientists who examined these people could not find any record of anything similar to these injuries.

When looking for what the possible cause of these types of injuries could be, the first suggestion was some kind of sonic weapon. The United States believed that the current political relations in Cuba could be a motive for attacking U.S. workers. The question is though, is a weapon like this even possible? To be fair, there are sound weapons that do exist, police in the United States have used Long Range Acoustic Devices against protestors that creates an unbearable high pitched noise and that can be aimed at specific targets. There is also sound that can cause very negative physical effects. Infrasound, also referred to as low frequency sound, is any soundwave that is lower than any sound humans can actually hear. While you might not be able to hear it though, it can still have negative effects on your body, such as dizziness, vision problems, heart palpitations, feelings of sadness, and even of unease, revulsion and fear. Infrasounds are often rumored to be used in horror movies, and have been looked into for use in weapons. These types of weaponized sound attacks could fit for Havana Syndrome, as the first symptom is usually sound, however, other than being vaguely similar, neither of these sound weapons actually fit reports of Havana Syndrome. For one thing, there’s no known weapon that causes these results, including the long lasting symptoms, and nobody has found a way to recreate any of the effects. And the United States’ accusation of Cuba using these yet unknown sonic weapons caused many Cubans, both within and out of the government to laugh. Some thought it sounded like a science fiction movie plot. Beyond the question of if Cuba even has the resources to pull something like that off, it doesn’t change the logistics of the supposed weapon. Sound can’t change brain matter like what was seen in those suffering from Havana Syndrome, and even if it could, it could not do it from a distance and still remain undetected by everyone else around. The only way sound waves could harm someone would be if their head was underwater, but that is very much not consistent with any reports of this affliction.

Another theory, very similar to the sonic weapon, is the microwave weapon. Unlike sound waves, microwaves can travel much faster, and have more energy. Microwaves also produce phantom sounds in the head of someone exposed to them, a sound nobody else can hear. However, many of the detractors of the last theory also apply to this one. There is no actual proof any weapon like this exists, and nobody has been able to produce results matching those in Havana with microwaves. Additionally, the microwave weapons that do exist do not cause anything like the symptoms suffered by those in Havana, certainly without external injuries.

Aside from weapons, certain scientists say pesticides are the cause of the ailment. Some scientists have observed neurotoxins consistent with pesticides used in the area in people who suffered from Havana Syndrome. These pesticides were being sprayed around the area to kill mosquitos that were spreading Zika virus. Despite finding these traces though, it is probably not likely that this is the root cause of Havana Syndrome, considering only United States and Canadian citizens were affected and not any people from Cuba.

In 2017, The Associated Press captured the buzzing noise heard by those in Havana. Multiple people suffering from Havana Syndrome confirmed that it sounded accurate to what they heard. I’ll play it for you here. Don’t worry, it probably won’t melt your brain. It seems buglike, not quite the grating metal that some described. And actually some believe it is bugs, Short Tail Crickets to be precise. Take a listen to this. Similar? Some people think so. Though others bring up the strange pulse rate present in the Havana buzzing sound. Crickets are usually more consistent with their sound while the recording is not. However, that could be explained by the sound echoing around the walls of a house or hotel room. If this explains the noise though, then what explains the symptoms? Probably not killer crickets. The theory that is thought to explain those is mass hysteria.

Mass hysteria is defined as a condition affecting a group of persons, characterized by excitement or anxiety, irrational behavior or beliefs, or inexplicable symptoms of illness. It usually affects small groups, which the Americans and Canadians were. Besides being in a foreign place, there was a language barrier as well, so they were further isolated. Stress and anxiety are also catalysts for mass hysteria, and there was plenty of that going around in Havana. Government personnel were already warned that they were most likely going to be monitored by the Cuban government, which could heighten anxiety and paranoia, and after the ailment was officially recognized and a warning was sent out, cases skyrocketed. The cricket noises could have just been the catalyst that set everything off. The difficulty in diagnosis could be a point in favor of mass hysteria too. Psychosomatic illnesses are difficult to diagnose, often the only way to diagnose them is to rule out every other possible cause. And the symptoms reported are incredibly broad to all be traced back to one source. Even the symptom Havana Syndrome is known for, the buzzing, isn’t present in every case. The concussion like symptoms could also possibly be explained by this as well. Some soldiers who experienced shellshock in World War One had injuries to their brains similar to those who were near an explosive when it went off, except they were never near any explosions. It was ruled that the stress and horror they endured in the war could have produced these results in and of themselves. And while this is all a compelling theory, there still is one thing that it doesn’t explain. Some people who suffered from Havana Syndrome reported that their pets were being affected by it as well. Their personalities would change, they would become aggressive, and some even started throwing up blood. One dog had to be put down after coming back to America due to how aggressive it had become. If it really was mass hysteria started by crickets, then the family dog wouldn’t be affected by it.

In part, Havana Syndrome setback United States Cuba relations. The U.S. blamed Cuba for the attacks and Cuba denied it. The progress made in the short time before was undone. The U.S. and Canada pulled out most of their embassy staff out of Havana, and Cuban diplomats were deported from the U.S. The new boom in tourism from the U.S. to Cuba also dropped. Havana Syndrome could have been the result of hostility still present in Cuba for the United States, or the United States could have used a case of mass hysteria to undo previous progress made in earlier administrations. Right now we just don’t know, and considering that the CIA is involved, we might never know. It seems to have been an isolated incident with no clear answer. However, it’s not quite as isolated as originally thought.

In 2018, a woman working at the United States embassy in China started to hear a noise she described as an oscillating hum that became painful. She suffered from vomiting and nosebleeds and even her dog started throwing up blood. At first she had blamed it on the bad air quality, but after mentioning it to her work they sent her off to get tested. The results came back, and it showed she was suffering from similar symptoms to those found in Havana. Soon more people in the embassy started reporting symptoms. The United States feared another Havana Syndrome so they sent out a travel alert to diplomats and started testing and evacuating people. And then the cases stopped, and nobody has suffered from anything similar since.

Thank you for listening, I very much appreciate it. If you would like to follow this podcast on social media, see when new episodes are posted, and have input on future topics, check it out on Instagram at world underscore wide underscore weird and on Twitter at world underscore wide weird. Have a good night, and stay away from cricket noise.