The 'Havana syndrome'
From late 2016 US and Canadian diplomats in Havana reported strange sounds, pressure, headaches and dizziness, and some had lasting symptoms. The US blamed an unknown attack.
2016 CE · 23.14, -82.40 · status: disputed
The account
Suspicions focused on directed microwave or sonic weapons. Similar reports followed from US personnel worldwide. In 2023 US intelligence agencies said it was 'very unlikely' that a foreign adversary was responsible.
The sceptical view
A recording of the 'sound' matched the call of an Indies short-tailed cricket; studies have pointed to existing conditions, stress and mass psychogenic illness. Some researchers maintain that a minority of cases are unexplained.
The researched reading
Real suffering, but most cases are explained by ordinary illness, stress and functional disorders, plus an insect recording. A small subset leaves room for an environmental exposure that has never been confirmed.
| Explanation | Weight | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Perception, memory or mind | 40% | Symptoms such as headache, dizziness and fatigue are common and non-specific. Large NIH studies in 2024 found no MRI-detectable brain injury or biological markers compared with controls, but did find high rates of functional disorders. Clustering after alarming news fits mass psychogenic illness and persistent postural-perceptual dizziness. |
| A known natural phenomenon | 25% | The recorded “sound” matched the call of the Indies short-tailed cricket, and many reports trace to pre-existing conditions, infections or ordinary illness. |
| Something in the surroundings | 22% | A 2020 National Academies panel judged pulsed radiofrequency energy a plausible cause for a subset of early cases. A Canadian study pointed to neurotoxic pesticide fumigation in Havana. Both are physical exposures in the surroundings, neither proven. |
| A cultural story | 7% | Media and political framing as an “attack” shaped which symptoms people noticed and reported worldwide. |
| A hoax or fabrication | 3% | There is no evidence of deliberate fakery by sufferers. A few reports are opportunistic. |
| Genuinely anomalous | 3% | A small set of cases remains unexplained, but a weapon would be human technology, not something beyond science. |
Official position: In 2023 US intelligence agencies judged it very unlikely a foreign adversary was responsible; some agencies later lowered that confidence for a few cases.