Federal agencies in the US are now tasked with investigating strange sonic attacks that have led to weakening symptoms in several US diplomats stationed in Cuba. A recent report by CNN confirmed that Pentagon, alongside other federal agencies, is investigating these directed attacks but still has no leads on the motive or causes. However, the fact that the attacks were carried out so close to the white house makes them particularly alarming.
Havana Syndrome
CNN further reported that the federal agencies have also briefed House Armed Services Committee and Senate lawmakers on the issue earlier this month. The briefing session also included a similar incident near the white house where the National Security Council official reportedly got ill.
An additional case of the supposed Havana Syndrome in 2019 involved a white house official walking her dog along with a suburb in Virginia. GQ, an international men’s magazine, reported this incidence with three sources claiming that the official began hearing a high-pitched ringing in her ears, a tingling in the side of her face, as well as a severe headache. The dog, on the other hand, started seizing up.
An article from The New Yorker in 2018 explains the “Havana Syndrome,” which was initially called “The Thing” and later went through a series of other names. Similar conditions as the ones reported by GQ have been experienced in US and Canadian embassies in Cuba in cases that go as far back as 2016.
Reports of brain damage
Subsequently, scientific and government efforts have been heightened to find the cause of the said attacks. The affected government officials in Cuba were examined, and the results were published in a 2019 issue of JAMA Network. Although the researchers found some cases of brain damage, the report did not conclusively include these incidents.
A National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report later in 2019 stated Microwave energy, especially direct RF energy, as the most plausible mechanism that can explain the “Havana Syndrome.” The report, however, clarified that the causes remained speculative.
