• Due to ongoing issues caused by Search, it has been temporarily disabled
  • Please excuse the mess, we're moving the furniture and restructuring the forum categories
  • You may need to edit your signatures.

    When we moved to Xenfora some of the signature options didn't come over. In the old software signatures were limited by a character limit, on Xenfora there are more options and there is a character number and number of lines limit. I've set maximum number of lines to 4 and unlimited characters.
US government is trying to give ferrets Havana Syndrome

Remember the ferret brain study at Wayne University financed by the DoD? If not, go to post 1,776.

It was the one where "researchers planned to expose the 48 ferrets to radio frequency waves for two hours a day for 60 days. This is expected to result in “an exposure profile that is likely comparable to that which our embassy personnel received.”"

The study was terribly scientific. In fact, it was so scientific that they even had a control group of ferrets that would be exposed to placebo microwaves:
"Twenty-four additional ferrets will receive “sham exposure,” according to the summary."
I'm still wondering how exactly they would do that, and I really want to know. I imagine something like "Confuse-A-Cat, Amaze-A-Vole, Stun-A-Stoat, Puzzle-A-Puma, Startle-A-Thompson's-Gazelle, Bewilderebeest, Distract-A-Bee."
I am not the only one looking forward to hearing about the results or at least seeing the abstract. (I assume that the paragraphs about sham microwave exposure can be found under Method.)
The 'syndrome' sufferers look forward to the study, too!
"“This type of testing will be integral to us finally finding out what happened to the AHI victims as we will be able to compare the imaging that was done on our brains to what will be seen from animals who are subject to radio frequency waves,” said Marc Polymeropoulos."

The study was supposed to have ended in September 2023, and I have been anxiously googling to learn more about it since then - ordinary Google as well as Google Scholar - but so far not a word.
Now, I know that it probably takes some time write a study of this magnitude, but at this point I'm starting to fear that we'll never know, and that it will become a Top Secret document never to be declassified.

I am also starting get a little suspicious: Wouldn't we have heard something by now if they had made any groundbreaking discoveries? I remember how members of the Senate Intelligence Committee told journalists how it was almost certain that the Havana diplomats and spies had been zapped, that the proof was there, that members of the intelligence services had told them so.

Wouldn't it have been leaked to the public by now if the Wayne study has resulted in anything other than fried ferret brains? Wouldn't the sources of journalists like Anderson, Entous and Woolf be insinuating that the irradiated ferrets had retinal bleeding or looked as if they were hearing voices or cricket sounds caused by the Frey effect?

If they had trained the ferrets to respond in a certain way to the sound of crickets before they microwaved them, causing the same reaction by means of microwaves could have been considered proof positive that Putin did it, couldn't it?!

But not a word. It's all crickets.
 
There's a new thread in Science, Mathematics, Medicine, and Technology, Online Neurodivergence Ecosystems, about "children taking on the characteristics of rare psychiatric diagnoses" like the 'TikTok Tourette's', which has been mentioned a couple of times in this thread.
 
Ferret Brains

:ferret: :ferret: :ferret:

As mentioned in post 2,081, I have been waiting to hear the results of the DoD-sponsored ferret brain study at Wayne State U. It was supposed to have ended in September of this year, but as it turns out, it ended in March:
The test involved bombarding 48 ferrets with radio waves to induce brain injuries in a purported attempt to study whether a directed energy weapon could induce the effects of Havana syndrome in humans. It was scheduled to end on September 29, costing taxpayers $750,000. But the Army canceled its grant to Wayne State and ended the experiments on March 10, public records show, just one day after the release of a Politico exposé highlighting PETA’s opposition to the tests. The records note that “Wayne State has elected to rescind this award and the [U.S. government] has agreed that a collaborative closeout is in the best interest of both parties.” Since the grant was canceled, the university apparently refunded $512,000 of the money on August 30.
Victory! Army Ends Brain-Damage Testing on Ferrets at Wayne State Following Pressure From PETA (PETA, Nov 16, 2023)


I suspect that the ODNI report may have had more to do with the untimely ending of the ferret-brain experiment than the Politico article. I also suspect that Pentagon wouldn't have been so willing to put an end to this particular experiment if the first five months had indicated that Wayne State U was on the verge of proving that the brains of U.S. diplomats in Havana had been microwaved.
 
I also suspect that Pentagon wouldn't have been so willing to put an end to this particular experiment if the first five months had indicated that Wayne State U was on the verge of proving that the brains of U.S. diplomats in Havana had been microwaved.
I suspect you are right. Damn PETA! Now we will never know whether directed energy weapons were used on ferrets embassy staff.

Not that it would make any difference. If the study didn't confirm the hypothesis people would just say ferrets and human brains are different so the results are inconclusive. So PETA were right to stop the senseless torture of these poor animals.

The only way to properly test it is to use actual embassy staff at an actual embassy. Immoral! you cry. But we wouldn't actually microwave them, we would just say we had and wait to see what symptoms they developed. Then at the end of the experiment we would reveal the truth - and see how many believe it.
 
The only way to properly test it is to use actual embassy staff at an actual embassy. Immoral! you cry. But we wouldn't actually microwave them, we would just say we had and wait to see what symptoms they developed. Then at the end of the experiment we would reveal the truth - and see how many believe it.


They already conducted the test you're proposing. And unlike the ferret-brain study, it worked!
Pentagon considering telling troops to report suspected ‘Havana Syndrome’ incidents (May 26, 2021)

As for the number of people afflicted during the test, Nicky Woolf recently (see post 2,073) claimed, "There's now maybe 5 or 6 thousand."

However, I don't know the number of the entire cohort, and the rather small number of people in the original cohort in Havana who developed the symptoms on their own, i.e. mass psychogenically rather than by means of suggestion by the DoD, the CIA, the State Department etc., should of course be subtracted from the ones in the experiment.
 
I just stumbled on a very good podcast from Citations Needed, May 3, 2023. Much like many of Fair Observerhttps://www.fairobserver.com/tag/havana-syndrome/'s articles about the 'syndrome', it had somehow managed to stay below the radar of my regular Google searches for new contributions to the 'syndrome' story and only appeared when I was doing a more specific search.

Episode 180: Havana Syndrome and the Power of Mainstream, Acceptable Conspiracy Theories (Medium, May 3, 2023)
The Medium page also has a transcription of the whole episode.

Also here:
"I Was A Teenage Conspiracy Theorist," The Atlantic magazine playfully titled a 2020 essay. "Choose your reality: Trust wanes, conspiracy theories rise," reported The Associated Press in 2022. "Do You Know Someone Who Believes in Conspiracy Theories? We Want to Hear About It," wrote The New York Times last year.
(...)
On this episode, we detail the double standards applied to conspiracy theories inside and outside of the realm of U.S. corporate media. We’ll examine the development of the concept of conspiracy theories and the media's selective invocations of the term to discredit real grievances directed at American power and the U.S. government, and moreover, how power-friendly conspiracies — namely those focused on Enemy States like the Havana Syndrome narrative — are permitted to fester and grow without pushback because their red yarn dot connecting implicates the right lists of Acceptable Bad Guys.
Our guest is Jacobin writer Branko Marcetic.
Episode 180: Havana Syndrome and the Power of Mainstream, Acceptable Conspiracy Theories (Citations Needed on Podcasts.Apple, 1 hr 26 min)


The first half of the podcast is about previous conspiracy theories, the second half is specifically about the 'Havana syndrome'.
 
Last edited:
The 'syndrome' in pop culture: Black Noise - Within the light lies something dark

I don't think this is my kind of movie, and it appears to be the stuff that TI nightmares are made of:
Members of an elite security team deployed to rescue a VIP on an exclusive island.The rescue mission becomes a desperate attempt to survive, escape the island and elude the sinister presence that seeks to harm them.
Black Noise (2023) (IMDb)

Director Philippe Martinez (The Steam Experiment, Viktor) along with his co-writers Sean-Michael Argo (Jeepers Creepers: Reborn, Binary Samurai) and Leigh Scott (Transmorphers, Pirates of Treasure Island) gives Black Noise a kick-ass prologue and follow it up with plenty of mystery once the team reaches the seemingly deserted island. Mike Mahon, making his debut as a cinematographer after working in various capacities on films like The Island and Invisible Monsters: Serial Killers in America, gives the tropical paradise a creepy, Marie Celeste feeling as the mercenaries explore it.

Why has everyone but their client vanished? What is the loud, and painful, noise they keep hearing? And why are they having hallucinations of people and events from their past? They may not be the most original of mysteries, but Black Noise sets them up with more skill than a lot of films. It even brings in a mention of Havana Syndrome, something I haven’t seen used in a film like this before.
https://www.voicesfromthebalcony.com/2023/11/14/black-noise-2023-review/Black Noise (2023) Review (VoicesFromTheBalcony, Nov 14, 2023)


Black Noise Official Trailer (2023) (Saban Films on YouTube, Sep 26, 2023 - 1:30 min)

From the YouTube transcription:
what happens
that sound is freaking me out
what functions have been disabled what
is going on
frequencies beyond our range of hearing
cause problems in the neural pathways
what's ever happening here
it's beyond our understanding
what the hell is that


I don't know what the hell that is, but I bet it's not crickets!
However, the landscape on "the seemingly deserted island" does look kind of Cuban.
 
The Cambridge Dictionary team chose hallucinate as its Word of the Year 2023 as it recognized that the new meaning gets to the heart of why people are talking about AI. Generative AI is a powerful tool but one we’re all still learning how to interact with safely and effectively – this means being aware of both its potential strengths and its current weaknesses.
But chatbots aren’t the only ones that feel like they’ve been seeing **** lately. I feel like I’ve been tripping pretty heavily for years.
Cambridge Dictionary Names ‘Hallucination’ Word of the Year and I’ve Never Felt So Seen (Gizmodo, Nov 18, 2023)


Among the "bizarre—if slightly less catastrophic—stuff" mentioned in the article: "“Havana syndrome” was a thing."
 
The Hum (Wikipedia) is back, this time in Omagh, Northern Ireland:
The BBC reports on strange goings on in Omagh. From the report:
The night-time noise has been reported in a wide area of the County Tyrone town in recent weeks.
Fermanagh and Omagh District Council’s attempts to trace it have so far not been successful.
Now, noise experts could be called in by a Northern Ireland council as it struggles to find the source of a mystery hum.
Alliance Party councillor Stephen Donnelly said it was a serious problem for some residents.
He was initially contacted by people in the Tamlaght Road area of Omagh in late October, but in the weeks since reports of the mystery noise have spread to other parts of the town.
A mysterious humming noise is disturbing the good people of Omagh… (slugger o'toole, Nov 14, 2023)

Omagh hum: Council could call in noise specialists (BBC, Nov 14, 2023)

I assume that the slugger o'toole article popped up instead of the BBC article because some of the readers mention the 'syndrome'.
 
More Omagh Hum

What does it sound like? A low-pitched rumble, like a car engine idling, electronic pulsing, that kind of thing. You can find simulations online.
(...)
Weirdly, not everyone can hear the hum: only about 4% of the population (the most susceptible group is middle-aged women), and audio experts often can’t detect what they report with recording equipment.
So, the hum is in their heads? Well, there may not always be an external cause and, where there is, behavioural therapies can help, as with tinnitus. “The more people focus on the noise, the more anxious and fearful they get, the more the body responds by amplifying the sound,” according to audiologist, Dr David Baguley.
The Omagh hum: what is the source of the town’s mystery moan? (TheGuardian, Nov 15, 2023)


At least the 'syndrome' suffering CIA agents in Havana not only heard an actual sound but were even able to record it on their cell phones, which should have been a consolation to them if they hadn't come up with the wrong explanation for it in the first place and then were offended when scientists managed to find the real explanation.

“You hear it when everything quiets down around 10 or 11pm,” said Joe, 62, who preferred to not supply a surname. “It’s hard to describe. It’s a low hum, like an engine. It wouldn’t keep me awake, I’ve got enough noise in my head.” He suspected the cause was industrial.
Lisa Brannigan, 49, reckoned it might come from a goldmine that operates outside Omagh. “We’re in a valley, so sound travels.” A friend,, who declined to be named, said she was “100% certain” it was not aliens.
(...)
Standing on a dark, deserted, humless high street, Killian Murray, 23, wondered if the source might be wind whistling through housing estates. His friend Cathaoir McCullagh, 24, speculated about streetlamp bulbs acting up. His other theory was over-sensitive teenagers. “That generation has lost the plot,” he said.
(...)
Gerard Casey, 37, a manager at The Aviary pub, was a hum sceptic. “I’ve heard of it. I’ve not heard it. I’m beginning to think it’s a myth, a figment of people’s imagination.”
‘It’s a bit of a mystery’: what’s causing Omagh’s hum? (TheGuardian, Nov 21, 2023)


I'm a little worried about Cathaoir. Complaining about teenagers when you're 24 can't be healthy. (In case anybody's wondering about the pronunciation like I was.)

This town in Northern Ireland can hear a constant humming noise and no one knows what it is.
There is this mystery known as 'The Hum' that's been reported across the globe for the past fifty years - a low level noise some describe sounds as if a car is running outside your house
The council are investigating
Humming noise heard across Omagh in Northern Ireland currently can't be traced (ITV News on YouTube, Nov 14, 2023 - 1:26 min)

Council officials are looking at calling in noise specialists in an attempt to locate a mystery hum disturbing residents of a Co Tyrone town.
People in Omagh have been reporting a persistent low level hum or buzz in the town for several weeks.
Noise officers have been sent out to investigate it and have heard it, but have so far been unable to identify the source.
Omagh's mystery hum keeps Tyrone residents awake (RTÉ News on YouTube, Nov 15, 2023 - 1:35 min)



ETA: I bet the hum sounds better in French with a silent h:
Un "hum" : c'est comme ça que les riverains d'Omagh, une ville d'Irlande du Nord, décrivent le bruit qu'ils entendent chaque nuit
Le "Hum", ce mystérieux bourdonnement qui frappe la ville d'Omagh (GEO, Nov 23, 2023)
 
Last edited:
Thank you Dann, for continuing this thread. As the sister of a self-appointed "TI", who is now, unfortunately, teaching her teenage daughter this conspiracy theory, this is the most informative deep dive into Havana Syndrome that I've seen. I know my arguments won't change her mind, but at least I have a resource I can turn to when I myself have questions.
 
You and Sherkeu may have something to talk about.

Occasionally, I reply to tweets at #HavanaSyndrome, which has almost entirely been taken over by TIs and the people who prey on them. I don't think I change anybody's mind, but some of them seem to appreciate when, for instance, I tell them why the doctor's report they have received after a brainscan and sometimes shared in a tweet doesn't mean what they have interpreted it to mean. Whenever possible I provide a relevant Wikipedia link.

It may be a way to get through to the people you are close to and don't want to alienate: Stick to the facts about specifics and stay non-confrontational. It's then up to them to draw the conclusion that, 'Well, if I was wrong about this one, maybe I was also ...'
Or not ...
 
A (minor) Mystery Solved

I got this wrong:
Unfortunately, I can't find the article by Baloh and Bartholomew, Politics dictating on science is like a gunshot in a concert: Commentary to “Havana Syndrome: A Post Mortem”, that Della Sala's article is a commentary to. (Stendhal)
The title of the article by Baloh and Bartholomew would have been "Havana Syndrome: A Post Mortem", whereas "Politics dictating on science is like a gunshot in a concert" would be the title of Della Sala's commentary.
However, that doesn't help much because a search for "Havana Syndrome: A Post Mortem" only comes up with links to Sergio Della Sala's commentary.
Did he confuse it with this Bartholomew article (mentioned in post 1,789)? The Death of Havana Syndrome (2016-2023): R.I.P. (Skeptic, March 13, 2023)


Sergio Della Sala wrote about a commentary by the two Roberts, Baloh and Bartholomew, that hasn't been published yet but soon will be in the International Journal of Social Psychiatry.

Two other texts about the 'syndrome' in the same issue:
Della Sala: Politics dictating on science is like a gunshot in a concert (published online Oct 27, 2023)
Mitchell Valdes-Sosa: When politics obstructs self-correction in science (published online Oct 31, 2023)
 
Many TIs have turned to MAGA, if they weren't already there, because ... well, of course, they have. It's in line with other QAnon conspiracy theories about mind controlling microchips in the vaccines etc.
But the MAGAest of them don't follow the news close enough to have discovered that many 'syndrome' celebrities aren't on the side of MAGA at all.

That Olivia Troye used to work for guy that the Capitol rioters wanted to hang and therefore might not be all in on the Trump cult doesn't seem to have occurred to this one:
Dear #TargetedIndividual World. Olivia Troye tells 60 Minutes about #HavanaSyndrome who worked with VP Mike Pence. How many of us have suffered prior before they spoke out and they DO NOTHING! What a crock of Govt [turd emoji] #neuroweapons is not a Conspiracy
Olivia Troye tells 60 Minutes about “Havana Syndrome”-like experience (60 Minutes on YouTube, June 27, 2022)
Mama Butter Bean (Twitter/X, Dec 4, 2023)
 
Last edited:
I first noticed this study when it was published in October, but I didn't really know what to make of it:
A regulatory pathway model of neuropsychological disruption in Havana syndrome (PubMed)

However, one thing I did notice was that it seemed to bode well for the 'syndrome' sufferers:
Furthermore, simulations of neurological regulatory dynamics reveal subjects do not appear to be "locked in" persistent illness but rather appear to be engaged in a slow recovery trajectory.


I was also looking for anything that would indicate what might have caused the 'syndrome', but not even the graphics seemed to imply that U.S. embassy staff were the victims of sonic or microwave attacks or any other kind of directed-energy weapon. They also indicated that the 'syndrome' sufferers were improving.

However, this is not how targeted individual Len Ber describes the study. He claims that it:
... dismantles the Functional Neurological Disorder Hypothesis of this non-kinetic brain injury. It shows utilization of the same neuroimmune and neurotransmission regulatory pathways associated with mTBI. Plus, specific markers pointing to pulsed electromagnetic injury. Nothing to see here. The torture continues.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37965360/
Len Ber MD (Twitter/X, Dec 4, 2023)


Wikipedia about FND:
Functional neurologic disorder or functional neurological disorder (FND) is a condition in which patients experience neurological symptoms such as weakness, movement disorders, sensory symptoms, and blackouts. As a functional disorder, there is by definition no known disease process affecting the structure of the body, yet the person experiences symptoms relating to their body function. Symptoms of functional neurological disorders are clinically recognisable, but are not categorically associated with a definable organic disease.
Functional Neurologic disorder
And Len Ber is adamant that his disorder was/is caused by physiological damage to the brain caused by a 'neurostrike'.

However, the dismantling of any "Functional Neurological Disorder Hypothesis" alleged by Len Ber isn't mentioned anywhere in the study, and as for the alleged continued torture, it seems to say the exact opposite as mentioned above. The text to Figure 5 even says:
Predicting the current course of illness. The decisional logic rules that allow the regulatory network to support the symptom severity and functional profiles observed in the N = 6 subjects implicitly determine the profiles that must have preceded the current cross-sectional observation as well as the next state to which the network is expected to progress. As in subject 4 (above), severity scores decrease monotonically, with exception of suicidal ideation score and apathy, with function improving or remaining high suggesting a trend towards a slow partial recovery in this group.
(monotonic in principle means steady, Monotonic function (Wikipedia), i.e. never increasing, in this case.)

I have no idea how reliable this kind of study is, but it doesn't seem to say anything that backs up Len Ber's interpretation.
I used to think that he was misled but basically in good faith, but I am beginning to suspect that he may have grown too fond of his status as a TI celebrity to let go of it, i.e. to prefer to "be "locked in" persistent illness" instead of being "engaged in a slow recovery trajectory."
 
In post 2,024, I mentioned that Targeted Individuals had identified Mitch McConnell and Andrea Merkel as prominent members of the TI community.

Here's another one. This time, it's the president of Azerbaijan:
#TargetedIndividuals
#HavanaSyndrome
#テクノロジー犯罪 #ハバナ症候群
Mohammad @Mohamma45740142 Dec 3
Another visible effect and symptom of the bioelectrical weapon (Havana syndrome) is inflammation of the sinuses, drooping of the eyelids above the eyes and abnormal lines around them. Another symptom is puffiness under the eyes and abnormal lines around the eyes.
Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan
マー○アル🐣SOS (Twitter/X, Nov 5, 2023)


I remember many a Sunday morning waking up with the symptoms of the bioelectrical weapon.
And as we have learned, the symptoms are real! :)
 
This is not the first time I have come across articles about the 'syndrome' that appear to be have been AI-generated. See post 2,018.

But this one, Symptoms of Havana Syndrome: Understanding the Health Condition (EnergyPortal.eu, Dec 6, 2023), even has an AI-generated illustration! The building appears to be a mixture of Hotel Nacional and the US Capitol or the Capitolio de la Habana. Maybe there's even a bit of Mar-a-lago in there as well, I'm not sure.

The building is surround by bits of weird text, e.g. "Changes of auritalal perseption," "Henercy issues," "Memory isse expeeirced." (And these are some of the less weird ones!)

And then there's this:

Which is about as useful as Sources: The internet! would be.

There was a link to the article here:
"Though initially reported among diplomats and government officials, there have been instances of civilians, including tourists and individuals working in various professions, reporting similar symptoms." #havanasyndrome
Mark McCarron (Twitter/X, Dec 8, 2023)


A reply to the tweet from a TI says simply: "Fact" :D
 
Thank you Dann, for continuing this thread. As the sister of a self-appointed "TI", who is now, unfortunately, teaching her teenage daughter this conspiracy theory, this is the most informative deep dive into Havana Syndrome that I've seen. I know my arguments won't change her mind, but at least I have a resource I can turn to when I myself have questions.

I'm glad you have this excellent resource. It's a pity in a way that the forum isn't really high in Google search results but then, we also dont get TIs arguing or spreading misinformation.
 
I'm happy with the more than 300,000 views the thread has had so far. I would also have been happy with TIs joining the fray, but then it might have been necessary to split the thread and place much of it in Conspiracies and Conspiracy Theories.

The reason why I would have been happy with TIs participating is that Twitter/X's #HavanaSyndrome, #NeuroStrike, #TargetedIndividuals and probably many other ### have turned into echo chambers where TIs rile each other up and get all the wrong answers when they give 'advice' about how to self-diagnose 'attacks' or worry about yet another alleged sign that they are being 'targeted'. Recent case in point.

As mentioned in post 2,093, sometimes they actually appreciate corrections. Anxiety isn't fun.
 
Last edited:
The 'syndrome' in pop culture: This time with Julia Roberts

:shocked:
The most recent one was mentioned in post 2,087. The trope appears to be gaining popularity among writers of sci-fi horror.
It’s then in a moment of terror, a painfully shrill noise blasts over the island and overpowers everyone around.
Eventually everyone comes to, seemingly unharmed.
(...)
G.H. takes Clay and Archie to Danny, a survivalist, for medication. Danny suggests that Archie's teeth falling out and the painful noise that everyone has experienced is the result of a microwave weapon. He also points out that Russia had recently recalled their staff from Washington D.C., suggesting America’s enemies had prior knowledge of the impending events.
Leave the World Behind (Wikipedia)


I wouldn't have known about the movie if it weren't for this tweet, recommending that people who have watched this new Netflix movie also listen to Adam Entous and Jon Lee Anderson's VICE podcast series:
Anyone who has watched this needs to listen to this fantastic podcast… #HavanaSyndrome
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/havana-syndrome/id1661362245
Gru (Twitter/X, Dec 11, 2023)
(I don't know about the rest of you, but I can no longer watch Gru's tweets: "You’re unable to view this Post because this account owner limits who can view their Posts.")

The movie is based on Rumaan Alam's novel (Wikipedia) from 2020, which also includes the weird noises but doesn't seem to mention microwaves - at least not in Wikipedia's summary:
Rose, Archie and Clay return to the house after hearing loud noises, which crack the glass doors. (...) More loud noises ring out (from planes), and bats fall to the ground.


Both book and film got favorable reviews. It the context, it makes sense to make use of a sound like the one from old modems, which always reminded me of crickets:

Content warning: :flamingo::flamingo::flamingo: (the film, not the trailer) & deer. (Why don't we have an emoji for deer?!)


ETA: I haven't heard "teeth falling out" mentioned as a symptom of 'Havana Syndrome'!
 
Last edited:
The 'syndrome' in pop culture, continued

They didn't allude to 'Havana syndrome' inadvertently:

What is “the noise”?
In the latter half of the film, the chaos ramps up, including a grating, screeching noise that echoes through Long Island. “When I read that in the book, I immediately got excited and spoke to my sound designer who I’ve worked with since the first season of Mr. Robot, Kevin Buchholz,” Esmail says. “Before we shot a frame of the film, we were trying to dial in this sound. We took elements of Havana Syndrome, which is a mysterious sound that they still have not gotten to the bottom of that has been causing people to have ailments.”
(...)
In the film, the noise seems to lead to some horrifying symptoms (see below), but in real life Esmail was the only victim. “My sound engineers, rightfully so, always put earplugs in every time that section came up [in the editing room]. I stupidly did not because I said, ‘Well, I want to hear what the audience is going to hear,’ ” Esmail recalls. “And I ended up actually losing a little bit of hearing in my right ear.” With this in mind, Esmail lowered the sound a bit in the film’s final mix. You’re welcome.
The One with the Apocalypse: Inside the Leave the World Behind Ending (Netflix, Dec 11, 2023)


Yes, they have! But what's the point?!


A film review:
In New York, leaflets reading Death to America in Arabic attack people. In California, the leaflets appear to come from North Korea. But wherever the leaflets come from, they confuse people into thinking they’re under attack by something.

This explains so little you might think I’m being facetious to which I can only say- disbelieve me and watch Leave the World Behind anyway at your own risk. The closest thing we get to an alternate explanation is Kevin Bacon as a doomsday prepper bribed with hard currency, that thing doomsday preppers definitely believe will be useful to them in the post-apocalypse. He also somewhat confusingly believes in Havana Syndrome and Russian/Cuban brain melting lasers. I describe this as confusing because while people consider this crank science today, it wasn’t in the long-ago time of 2020 when the novel on which the movie is based originally came out, so I have no idea if this was supposed to qualify as an actual explanation for why the kid’s teeth fall out, or why the deer are swarming, or why self-driving Tesla cars are trying to escape to the expressway.
Respect Our Society…Or Else (Book and Film Globe, Dec 12, 2023)


That Kim Jong-un appears to have been made the perpetrator this time instead of Castro, Putin and/or Xi is new! Who's next?!
 
Last edited:
EnergyPortal.eu tries again - still AI-generated

This is not the first time I have come across articles about the 'syndrome' that appear to be have been AI-generated. See post 2,018.

But this one, Symptoms of Havana Syndrome: Understanding the Health Condition (EnergyPortal.eu, Dec 6, 2023), even has an AI-generated illustration! The building appears to be a mixture of Hotel Nacional and the US Capitol or the Capitolio de la Habana. Maybe there's even a bit of Mar-a-lago in there as well, I'm not sure.

The building is surround by bits of weird text, e.g. "Changes of auritalal perseption," "Henercy issues," "Memory isse expeeirced." (And these are some of the less weird ones!)

And then there's this:
Sources:
– CNN
– NPR
– BBC News

Which is about as useful as Sources: The internet! would be.


And it isn't any better this time.
Not only does the illustration still appear to be AI-generated. Notice the letters on the building, for instance. Not any language I'm familiar with. And it has nothing whatsoever to do with the 'syndrome'.

And then there's this:
Sources:
– [Source 1](https://www.example.com)
– [Source 2](https://www.example.com)
Havana Syndrome Symptoms: What You Need to Know (EnergyPortal.eu, Dec 12, 2023)


Maybe some day they'll make it look like something written by actual writers and illustrators. By the way, this time they've used another name:
By Alan Caldwell
Alan Caldwell is a respected authority and prolific writer on the subject of urban renewable energy systems in American cities.
 
And it isn't any better this time.
Not only does the illustration still appear to be AI-generated. Notice the letters on the building, for instance. Not any language I'm familiar with. And it has nothing whatsoever to do with the 'syndrome'.

And then there's this:



Maybe some day they'll make it look like something written by actual writers and illustrators. By the way, this time they've used another name:

Intrusions from the multiverse. There is informational leakage at the quantum level so expect to see more documents from other universes appearing on the www.
 
I thought those leaks only occurred in the shape of old 8mm films.


It's worse than I ever imagined.
 
https://socom.mil/care-coalition/SiteAssets/Cota - AHI_Acute Assessment Training_2023.02.14 Cota.pdf
Authoritative discussion of evaluating AHI (Havana syndrome) pts. Note:
“No evidence-based, AHI-specific clinical tool exists that can discriminate presenting symptoms from other medical conditions…alternative …diagnoses” should be considered.
Kenneth Foster (Twitter/X, Nov 30, 2023)


The last part of the same paragraph is also interesting:
AHI Acute Assessment Overview
No evidence-based, AHI-specific clinical tool exists that can discriminate presenting symptoms from other medical conditions AHI Acute Assessment (DHA Form 244) should be utilized on all who meet criteria of both a sensory event and associated onset of symptoms
 AHI is akin to traumatic brain injury (TBI) in terms of reported symptoms, assessment findings, and effective treatments delivered
 Therefore, many sections of the tool are adopted/modified from TBI-specific evaluations
 Since many individuals who have been treated immediately after an event have improved, prompt medical evaluation and care is paramount
 DHA Form 244 should be administered within 7 days of sensory event
 Evaluation should include strong consideration of alternative explanatory diagnoses for patient symptoms (e.g., stroke, migraine, infection, head trauma, vestibular neuritis, acute anxiety disorder, labyrinthitis, etc.)Anomalous Health Incident (AHI) Acute Assessment Training (Defense Health Agency - Department of Defense, Feb 14, 2023)



As is the list of AHI symptoms, but we have seen similar lists several times before:
• Reported sensory events
 Loud sounds
- unilateral or bilateral
- chirping, screeching or clicking
 Pressure
 Heat
 Vibrations

• Reported symptoms
 Immediate or gradual onset
 Persistent or recurrent
- Dizziness
- Headache
- Nausea
- Fatigue
- Impaired balance
- Impaired concentration
- Impaired memory
- Sleep disturbance
- Depression
- Irritability
- Nervousness
- Heightened emotions
- Visual disturbance
- Hearing changes


Especially in comparison with the symptoms of MPI:
(The numbers are "Percent reporting")
Headache 67
Dizziness or light-headedness 46
Nausea 41
Abdominal cramps or pain 39
Cough 31
Fatigue, drowsiness or weakness 31
Sore or burning throat 30
Hyperventilation or difficulty breathing 19
Watery or irritated eyes 13
Chest tightness/chest pain 12
Inability to concentrate/trouble thinking 11
Vomiting 10
Tingling, numbness or paralysis 10
Anxiety or nervousness 8
Diarrhea 7
Trouble with vision 7
Rash 4
Loss of consciousness/syncope 4
Itching
Mass psychogenic illness: Common symptoms (Wikipedia)
 
The 'syndrome' in pop culture, continued ...

... from posts 2,104 and 2,105.

This hasn't made conspiracy nuts and conservative racists-pretending-to-be-antiracists less inclined to think the Illuminati is behind the film:
Leave the World Behind's Surprising Obama Connection - The former president executive-produced the apocalyptic drama, but director Sam Esmail says he also influenced the plot. (Men's Health, Dec 12, 2023)

The apocalyptic thriller “Leave the World Behind,” an adaptation of Rumaan Alam’s critically acclaimed novel, the No. 1 film in the U.S. on Netflix this week. It is the first feature film from High Ground, the production company founded by former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama, in 2018, and it success has predictably attracted the ire of some conservative critics who remain fixated on the Obamas and are resentful of their popularity.
(...)
Conservatives fixating on a character’s distrust of white people as a “gotcha” moment either misunderstand the intense or layered film, or, more likely, haven’t bothered to watch it and are looking for a reason to attack the Obamas. Even more, they are looking for an opportunity to undermine a story about how we might transcend our racial antagonisms, preferring that we stay ensnarled in them.
Conservatives fixate on one line in ‘Leave the World Behind’ and miss the point (MSNBC, Dec 14, 2023)
 
Mark McCarron (post 2,100 and 2,102) is still trying to promote his idea that the 'syndrome' was caused by BCI (Wikipedia), and he is still linking to AI-generated articles, but this time he has found a study that appears to be genuine research:

"Likewise, the elevated IL-10 predicted by the current model is consistent with the literature documenting the immunomodulatory influences of pulsed electromagnetic fields (PEMF) and pulsed radiofrequency energy (PRFE)." #havanasyndrome
]Mark McCarron (Twitter/X, Dec 18, 2023)


He doesn't include a link or the title of the publication, but it is this one:
A regulatory pathway model of neuropsychological disruption in Havana syndrome (NIH, Oct 27, 2023)
I already mentioned the study in post 2,098 after TI Len Ber had referred to it as proof that "The torture continues." Len Ber's claim was that the study "dismantles the Functional Neurological Disorder Hypothesis of this non-kinetic brain injury."

It also sounds like real solid research, doesn't it? Who, other than real researchers or maybe MDs, know what IL-10 is, right?!
However:
Recent studies from our laboratory indicate that psychological stress is a potent inducer of the anti-inflammatory cytokine interleukin (IL)-10, raising the possibility that the IL-10 family of cytokines may be key mediators of stress-induced immunosuppression.
Psychological stress increases expression of IL-10 and its homolog IL-19 via β-adrenoceptor activation: Reversal by the anxiolytic chlordiazepoxide (ScienceDirect from Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, Volume 23, Issue 3, March 2009, Pages 371-379)


So once again, something that can be induced by psychological stress is seen as proof against "the Functional Neurological Disorder Hypothesis," as Len Ber claims, or as the study puts it, much more modestly, a raised level of IL-10 "is consistent with" a ray-gun attack.
Yeah, right!
 
Simon Wessely has been mentioned a couple of times in the thread, most recently in a quotation from The Guardian in post 2,078.
Wessely is one of the authors of a new article, Health Scares: Tracing Their Nature, Growth and Spread.

The abstract doesn't mention 'Havana Syndrome', but I assume that it appears in the article as an example of (imaginary) malicious intent: evil adversaries with directed-energy weapons. I hope that antivaxxers and anti-maskers are analyzed in the category public health interventions.

Background:
Health scares are highly publicised threats to health that increase public concern and protective behaviours but are later shown to be unfounded. Although health scares have become more common in recent times, they have received very little research attention. This is despite the fact that health scares often have negative outcomes for individuals and community by affecting health behaviours and causing high levels of often unnecessary anxiety.
Method: In this paper we undertook a review and analysis of the major types of health scares as well as the background factors associated with health scares and their spread.
Results: We found most health scares fell into seven main categories; environmental contaminants, food, malicious incidents, medical treatments, public health interventions, radiation from technology and exotic diseases. For most health scares there are important background factors and incident characteristics that affect how they develop. Background factors include conspiracy theories, trust in governmental agencies, anxiety, modern health worries and wariness of chemicals. Incident characteristic include being newly developed, not understood or unseen, man-made rather than natural and whether the incident is out of personal control. We also identified the aspects of traditional and social media that exacerbate the rapid spread of health scares.
Conclusion: More research is needed to identify the characteristics of media stories that intensify the levels of public concern. Guidelines around the media’s reporting of health incidents and potential health threats may be necessary in order to reduce levels of public anxiety and the negative public health impact of health scares.
Health Scares: Tracing Their Nature, Growth and Spread (Clinical Psychology in Europe, Vol. 5 No. 4 (2023), Dec 22)
 
I guess this was lawyer Mark Zaid's Christmas :present1: for his clients in the 'Havana syndrome' cohort, but a couple of TIs have embraced it, too:
Interesting that @CIA denies Anomalous Health Incidents (#AHI) exist, yet it patents ways to study it.
We know the truth.
Mark S. Zaid (Twitter/X, Dec 23, 2023)
 
Great! Thanks!

I wouldn't describe the 'syndrome' as localized since it spread to all continents with the exception of Antarctica, but the authors of the article are from Germany, New Zealand and the UK, which might explain why they wouldn't be particularly interested in U.S. diplomats and spies or even TIs, but the reason they aren't mentioned is probably another: It's a paper about health scares, not about MPI.

This is Wikipedia's definition of a health scare:
A health scare can be broadly defined as a social phenomenon whereby the public at large comes to fear some threat to health, based on suppositions which are nearly always not well-founded.


The (very short!) Wikipedia article mentions these examples from an ABC News article:
Swine flu (H1N1)
Bisphenol A (BPA)
Lead paint on toys from China
Trans fats*
Bird flu (H5N1)
Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)
Hormone replacement therapy (HRT)
Anthrax
Cell phones.


* Wikipedia's article about trans fats mentions this example:
It is hypothesized that the Danish government's efforts to decrease trans fat intake from 6 g to 1 g per day over 20 years is related to a 50% decrease in deaths from ischemic heart disease.


And in the USA, the "ban is believed to prevent about 90,000 premature deaths annually," so some health scares are rational, but the new paper focuses on irrational health scares.

It mentions vaccine scares. It also mentions EHS:
Scares involving radiation from technology centre on the perceived harm of invisible electromagnetic fields, such as those from mobile phones, Wi-Fi or 5G, which do not have a physical effect no health (Rubin et al., 2010). A previous study has shown that when highly anxious participants are shown a television documentary about the possible health effects of Wi-Fi they are more likely to report symptoms after exposure to a sham Wi-Fi signal and to decide they were sensitive to electromagnetic fields (Witthöft & Rubin, 2013).
 
A TI linked to this (pretty old) article:
"The phenomenon is tunable in that the characteristic sounds and intensities of those sounds depend on the characteristics of the RF energy as delivered," the report explains. "Because the frequency of the sound heard is dependent on the pulse characteristics of the RF energy, it seems possible that this technology could be developed to the point where words could be transmitted to be heard like the spoken word, except that it could only be heard within a person´s head. In one experiment, communication of the words from one to ten using ´speech modulated´ microwave energy was successfully demonstrated. Microphones next to the person experiencing the voice could not pick up these sounds. Additional development of this would open up a wide range of possibilities."
Pentagon report investigated lasers that put voices in your head (phys.org, Feb 18, 2008)


It seems to confirm what I wrote two years ago in post 1,040:

It just occurred to me that there was another inconsistency in the NBC News interview with the two diplomats (?) from the U.S. embassy in Havana.
From my transcription in post 1,023:

Journalist: In the winter of 2016, diplomats Kate Husband and Doug Ferguson were working at the U.S. embassy in Havana, Cuba. Their nights at home interrupted by a piercing noise coming form the backyard.
Ferguson: I'll just play it for you so you can hear it. (Plays recording of sound on cell phone)Husband: It was a lot worse.
Husband: It was persistent. Kind of at the same level all the time. Very, very loud. It's nothing you could sit with.
Journalist:Kate, did anyone else in your neighborhood have this experience at their homes?
Husband:Yeah, on our right was another embassy family. And then the people on our left, across the street from us, were both Canadian embassy families. And in the end, all four households were diagnosed.


These people and their lawyers should consider which theory they are going for:

1) If they insist that they were the victims of sonic attacks, they can continue to play the cricket tapes as evidence, but no expert will believe that it is anything other than the sound of crickets, and crickets can't cause brain damage or impair your hearing unless, as one of the experts put it, you take the cricket and stuff it into the ear canal of the victim.

2) If they insist on the Frey effect (Wikipedia), i.e. that they were harmed by pulsated microwave energy weapons, they will have to give up on the tapes since their recordings don't rhyme with the Frey effect:
In 1961, the American neuroscientist Allan H. Frey studied this phenomenon and was the first to publish information on the nature of the microwave auditory effect. The cause is thought to be thermoelastic expansion of portions of the auditory apparatus, although competing theories explain the results of holographic interferometry tests differently.


They probably haven't considered this, but the Frey effect is all in your head. Not as a hallucination. It is not a psychological phenomenon, but it is a 'sound' in your head, literally, not coming from your backyard, and thus it can't be recorded using your cell phone as a recording device. (Nor can it probably be recorded using any other kind of device.)

This is the reason why you never hear about recordings of the Frey effect. You only hear about how it is perceived by people who are exposed to microwaves and experience it.
 
Sergio Della Sala wrote about a commentary by the two Roberts, Baloh and Bartholomew, that hasn't been published yet but soon will be in the International Journal of Social Psychiatry.

Two other texts about the 'syndrome' in the same issue:
Della Sala: Politics dictating on science is like a gunshot in a concert (published online Oct 27, 2023)
Mitchell Valdes-Sosa: When politics obstructs self-correction in science (published online Oct 31, 2023)


The new issue of the International Journal of Social Psychiatry has now been published. It also contains Robert Baloh and Robert Bartholomew's review article, "Havana Syndrome": A post mortem (Sage Journals, International Journal of Social Psychiatry, Dec 25, 2023), and R. Douglas Fields' editorial, Why the Havana Syndrome Happened (Sage Journals, International Journal of Social Psychiatry, Dec 25 2023).

Douglas Fields describes Baloh and Bartholomew's conclusion as "a well-sourced and clearly articulated argument" and finds it unfortunate that "similar arguments have been made before, beginning with thorough investigations by Cuban authorities and the FBI immediately after the first announcement in 2016 that US embassy personnel in Havana had suffered traumatic brain injury from a new type of sonic weapon. The thorough Cuban investigation was dismissed as not credible because of an apparent conflict of interest to cover up the scandal, but the FBI's investigation also found the fear to be baseless."

A loss of credibility in medical professionals and scientists is what launched the misdiagnosis and perpetuated it, but why? It has never been adequately explained why the US embassy in Havana sent their personnel with health concerns to an ear nose and throat doctor in private practice in Miami who has a checkered past (Department of Defense Office of Inspector General, 2011), rather than availing itself of the renowned medical resources available to the federal government. That Miami physician and his compatriots concluded that all the patients they examined with various health complaints were suffering from the same disorder. Moreover, that all the patients had experienced traumatic brain injury, not natural disease, from a clandestine sonic weapon, the likes of which the world has never seen.


Even though no name is mentioned, I can't help thinking that the "Miami physician" with the checkered past might be none other than the Miami doctor who diagnosed TIs with the 'Havana syndrome'.
The 'checkered past' is a reference to this link: Assessment of Allegations Concerning Traumatic Brain Injury Research Integrity in Iraq (Redacted) (Mar 31, 2011)

One of problems mentioned in the report is that "patients were exposed to possible coercion and undue influence," which I find interesting considering this from the Baloh & Bartholomew article: "Keywords: iatrogenesis, mass psychogenic illness, somatoform disorders"
 
Last edited:
Additional symptoms of 'Havana syndrome'

Since post 2,099, we know that "puffiness under the eyes" is a symptom of 'Havana syndrome'.

A couple of new symptoms have been added to the list since then: stomach rumble and twitching muscles.

Pulsed EMF in the stomach or intestines may induce vibrations in gas bubbles, causing internal pressure changes and turbulence. This phenomenon could explain audible gurgles in the digestive tract when hit with directed energy weapons.
#TargetedIndividuals #HavanaSyndrome
Targeted Individuals U.S.A (Twitter/X, Dec , 2023)


Other TIs have posted footage of their twitching muscles, claiming that it's a symptom of DEW attacks.
They tend to block me when I tweet about the most likely cause of twitching muscles: benign (!) fasciculation syndrome!
 
The new issue of the International Journal of Social Psychiatry has now been published. It also contains Robert Baloh and Robert Bartholomew's review article, "Havana Syndrome": A post mortem (Sage Journals, International Journal of Social Psychiatry, Dec 25, 2023), and R. Douglas Fields' editorial, Why the Havana Syndrome Happened (Sage Journals, International Journal of Social Psychiatry, Dec 25 2023).

Douglas Fields describes Baloh and Bartholomew's conclusion as "a well-sourced and clearly articulated argument" and finds it unfortunate that "similar arguments have been made before, beginning with thorough investigations by Cuban authorities and the FBI immediately after the first announcement in 2016 that US embassy personnel in Havana had suffered traumatic brain injury from a new type of sonic weapon. The thorough Cuban investigation was dismissed as not credible because of an apparent conflict of interest to cover up the scandal, but the FBI's investigation also found the fear to be baseless."


Even though no name is mentioned, I can't help thinking that the "Miami physician" with the checkered past might be none other than the Miami doctor who diagnosed TIs with the 'Havana syndrome'.
The 'checkered past' is a reference to this link: Assessment of Allegations Concerning Traumatic Brain Injury Research Integrity in Iraq (Redacted) (Mar 31, 2011)

One of problems mentioned in the report is that "patients were exposed to possible coercion and undue influence," which I find interesting considering this from the Baloh & Bartholomew article: "Keywords: iatrogenesis, mass psychogenic illness, somatoform disorders"


Curious development: Len Ber requests that R. Douglas Fields retract the review article by Baloh and Bartholomew:
Here is my letter sent to the editor @rdouglasfields1 requesting a retraction of the article by Dr. Robert Bartholomew
https://lenbermd.substack.com/p/my-letter-to-the-editor-of-the-international
Len Ber MD (Twitter/X, Dec 28, 2023)


His Substack argument is based on this alleged quotation:
biomarkers associated with mild traumatic brain injury and concussion, called neurofilament light chain (NfL) protein and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), have been found to be elevated in patients with AHI. Levels return to normal within a few weeks, which matches the time-course of said biomarkers following mTBI, indicating damage to the BBB (Blood-Brain Barrier) and neural injury.
My Letter To The Editor of The International Journal of Social Psychiatry, Dr. R. Douglas Fields (Len Ber on Substack, Dec 28, 2023)


However, even though I don't remember ever hearing about NfL or GFAP before (if I have, it would have been in this context), it didn't take me long to find this:
Highlights
• Plasma NfL, GFAP and p-tau181 were measured using highly sensitive Simoa technology.
Plasma levels of NfL and GFAP were increased in patients with exhaustion disorder.
Patients had normal levels of NfL and GFAP at long-term follow-up.
(...)
In Sweden, stress-related mental disorders have increased the most, and among these, exhaustion disorder (ED) is the most common diagnosis (Försäkringskassan [The Swedish Social Insurance Agency], 2020). ED is a stress-induced disorder characterized by physical and mental symptoms of exhaustion, markedly reduced mental energy, memory impairment, sleep disturbance, emotional instability, and intolerance to stress (National Board of Health and Welfare, 2003). The symptoms of ED and burnout are overlapping and most patients with ED also report high burnout scores (Jonsdottir et al., 2009). In addition, comorbid anxiety and depression are common (Glise et al., 2012). The diagnostic criteria were established by the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare in 2003 and ED was assigned the code F43.8A in the Swedish version of ICD-10.
Biomarkers of brain injury in patients with stress-related exhaustion: A longitudinal study (ScienceDirect/Psychoneuroendocrinology, Volume 146, December 2022)


For some reason, microwaves, DEWs, Havana syndrome and NeuroStrike don't appear in the study at all. Neither does Len Ber's new name for the 'syndrome', "NKBI (Non-kinetic Brain injury, formerly Havana Syndrome)."
 
Last edited:
The 'Havana Syndrome' and mental illness

A TI posted this:

Another person claiming to be targeted by #havanasyndrome commits an act of murder
https://yakimaherald.com/news/north...cle_88cadefd-478c-5e56-ade2-ca5f7d5d928a.html
#TargetedIndividuals
Targeting Must End (Dec 27, 2023)


From the linked article:
At one point, Davis became convinced he was suffering from "Havana Syndrome."The syndrome refers to a mysterious series of symptoms with no clear cause that has sickened U.S. career diplomats, intelligence officers and others serving in federal embassies.
Davis never worked in an embassy, but he believed he had been targeted by government agents who were committed to "turning him into a terror cell," according to the state report.
(...)
He said he believed he was targeted with an ultrasonic weapon by either Russia, China or United States agents. He believed they wanted to make the pain bad enough that he would lash out.
"I believe that a lot of people are in on the take, knowing full well I'm being targeted by the government," he wrote in a letter to the psychologists. "I never mentioned a number of these issues for fear of coming across as crazy."
Alexander Patterson, the psychologist hired by Davis' defense attorney, previously found that Davis' schizophrenia prevented him from understanding that his actions were wrong.
Patterson concluded that "his specific recollections of his mental health on the day in question were fragmented and vague, but he recalled believing he was being subjected to 'ultrasonic poisoning,'" according to the state's report.
'I've murdered children.' Man accused of killing Pasco bus driver left a chilling note (Yakima Herald-Republic, Dec 22, 2023)


Unfortunately, the TI community encourages this line of thinking. TIs on Twitter/X confirm each other's stories and back up the delusion that this particular TI believed in, i.e. that he was "being targeted by the government."

It is impossible to know if attempts to make him see reason would have have stopped him from killing the bus driver. I don't think that any TIs would have encouraged him to do so, but they support his delusion, the idea that "he was targeted with an ultrasonic weapon."
 
Back
Top Bottom