Could insects really be responsible ? Image Credit: U.S. Department of State
It has been suggested that the mystery sounds heard by US diplomats may have been nothing more than insects.
The phenomenon, which targeted embassy personnel in Havana and sparked a breakdown of international relations between Cuba and the United States, was first made public in August 2017.
Thought to involve the use of sonic weapons, the attacks had been directly targeting the hotel rooms of US diplomats, inducing a range of symptoms that included hearing loss, dizziness, balance problems, visual complaints, headache, fatigue, cognitive issues and difficulty sleeping.
Now though, following an analysis of a recording of the audio captured by embassy workers, researchers have determined that the most likely culprit is the Indies short-tailed cricket.
An experiment that involved playing back recorded cricket sounds indoors seemed to confirm that there was indeed an uncanny resemblance between the 'sonic attack' and the insect's call.
"This provides strong evidence that an echoing cricket call, rather than a sonic attack or other technological device, is responsible for the sound in the released recording," researchers wrote.
While the findings don't confirm whether or not the sounds in the recording are those responsible for making people ill, they do suggest that the mystery could have a rather mundane explanation.
They could also help to dispel any mistrust between Cuba and the US over the matter.
"The safety and security of US personnel, their families, and US citizens abroad is and has always been the department of state's top priority," a State Department spokesman said in a statement.
"As we continue to report, a government interagency investigation, involving medical, scientific, and technical experts across the US government and academia, is ongoing to determine the source and cause of these events."
So is this how they explain the alleged sonic attacks in China as well? https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/02/health/cuba-china-state-department-microwaves-sonic-attacks/index.html
Well, clearly the sound recording wasn't what caused the sickness/symptoms in all those people. I hear crickets every summer night, and I actually find it soothing.
This whole 'sonic/microwave weapon' thing is total RUBBISH. Whatever happened to those diplomats was NOT as the result of some sort of "death ray" weapon.
It wasn't? Then what was it? LRAD (Long Range Acoustic Device) (2012) LRAD in use at G20 protests (2009) LRAD can cause damages ranging from headaches to loss of bowel control and burst eardrums, depending on the setting used. If I can watch 9 year old footage of this weapon on YouTube, assume they have it down to the size of a tablet by now. Someone is trying to shape US/Cuban policy.
And yet the 'diplomats' and their staff didn't suffer any such symptoms. Nor can ANYONE explain how an acoustic device could target people so far away, in an embassy building physically isolated from its surroundings, and without impacting civilians in nearby buildings. The diplomats had a pre-existing condition. They took it to Cuba with them.
It "sounds" like acoustic weapons are actually very directional. IE you can you focus the sound attack on a small area. It's not like they turn it on and every one within a mile radius goes deaf. Hearing a noise and feeling pain in your ears at the same time doesn't fit any pre-existing condition I'm aware of. The odds of all of them sharing that same condition? I wouldn't put much money on that one.
The ability to 'focus' sound only exists at high frequencies. And there is no medical evidence of high-frequency sounds causing anything even REMOTELY similar to the symptoms experienced by the USA and Canadian diplomatic staff and their relatives. But not anybody ELSE working in the embassy ! The medical reports are somewhat speculative, and are innovative. For all we know, 50% of the US population might suffer from a similar diagnosis.
Probably a bad mix-up of medication like the gulf war syndrome... or malaria medication has the cause for the PTSD cases rise in the Canadian army. The malaria medication can induce life brain damage mimicking PTSD. And lot of people working abroad got a mediaction package from their employer a lot of time, so they are prone to have the same symptoms. https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2016/08/11/malaria-drug-causes-brain-damage-that-mimics-ptsd-case-study/
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