Merged US may close Cuba Embassy over 'health attacks'

[dann]

At long last: Actual photos of a perpetrator!

‘Lambs to the slaughter’ (Part 1) (The High Side on Substack, March 10, 2025)
It was about 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2017, and two CIA officers were sitting in the window of the Green Eggs Café at the corner of 13th and Locust Streets in downtown Philadelphia, catching up with each other and enjoying a leisurely breakfast.
Adam and Michael (not their real names, which the CIA forbids them to use) were in Philadelphia to receive treatment for a debilitating range of symptoms from which they – and about two dozen others – had been suffering since their service in 2016 and 2017 at the U.S. Embassy in Havana, Cuba.
(...)
“It’s just the restaurant window, with me and [Michael] in the window, and a plain concrete wall,” Adam said. Michael and Adam were sure that the man was there to photograph them, even though, Adam said, he tried to “obfuscate” that fact by sometimes pointing the camera away from them. “He was very much focused upon the two of us,” Michael said.

However, what "the man" is holding appears to be a camera, not a DEW, and much like in many of the other stories about the 'syndrome', the only thing that seems to connect the allegedly mysterious guy to DEW attacks seems to be the paranoia of the alleged victims of those alleged attacks:

The encounter alarmed the CIA officers. “Why would you go take pictures of a concrete wall, with just a window with two guys eating breakfast, and then immediately leave the country?” Adam said. “Something doesn’t add up.”
Although they had no evidence of malfeasance on the photographer’s part, to Adam and Michael the episode appeared to be the latest incident in an extraordinary campaign of harassment that made it clear someone was trying to intimidate them and other Havana Syndrome victims long after they had returned to the United States.

I don't know if 'Adam' is Patient Zero, the CIA officer who thought he was the victim of DEW attacks and recorded one of them and who has sometimes been referred to as Adam because he is allegedly not allowed to reveal his real name. Maybe it will become clear in part 2:

For this two-part series, The High Side spoke with several of the original CIA victims whose experiences in Havana first brought the “anomalous health incidents” phenomenon to the public eye, including some who have never spoken out before.

So far, it's a nothing burger - in spite of the two photos in the article.

 

[dann]

It really annoys that group of 'syndrome' fans, who were hoping that it would help start a war with Rusia, that Trump seems to be willing to start wars with anybody other than Putin! It is touching to see the never-dying hope of these MAGA hopefuls that Trump might help them start WW3:

How Trump fears and trusts Putin too much (Washington Examiner, Mar 12, 2025)
Putin hates the U.S. for defeating the Soviet Union and protecting pro-American democracies in Eastern Europe. Evincing as much, Putin has openly disrespected Trump, most recently by escalating his missile strikes on Ukrainian population centers in the immediate aftermath of Trump’s suspension of some intelligence sharing with Kyiv. The venom with which Putin despises America will soon become clear when the scandal of Russia’s role in the so-called “Havana Syndrome” attacks is made public.

It's almost as touching as their belief that the (still!) classified 'syndrome' documents contain proof that the alleged DEW attacks were real and Putin was the perpetrator.

 

[dann]

Serbian officials deny illegal sonic weapon attack on peaceful protesters (AP, Mar 17, 2025)
Footage from the rally show people standing during 15 minutes of silence for the rail station disaster while suddenly experiencing a whooshing sound that immediately triggered panic and a brief stampede.
An Associated Press photographer at the scene said people started scrambling for cover, leaving the middle of the downtown street almost empty as they started falling over each other.
Those exposed to the weapon experience sharp ear pain, disorientation and panic, military experts say. Prolonged exposure can cause eardrum ruptures and irreversible hearing damage.
“This act represents a blatant display of force and an attempt to incite chaos, aiming to delegitimize protests and criminalize peaceful citizens,” the group said.
(...)
Belgrade’s emergency hospital has denied reports that many people sought help after the incident and urged legal action against those who “spread untrue information

Not a single reference to anomalous health incidents or 'Havana syndrome'. In fact, a Google search didn't come up with anything linking the Serbian incident to the 'syndrome'.

Sonic Weapon Used In Serbia (Benn Jordan on YouTube, Mar 16, 2025 - 1:37 min.)
I got a lot of people asking me about this today, so here's a quick take. Feel free to browse my longform content for all your sonic weapon and science needs.

See discussion in the comments. LRAD (Wikipedia) is suggested as the source of the alleged sound.
Also here:

Serbia protesters claim police used acoustic weapons (BigNewsNetwork/RT.com, Mar 17, 2025)
Multiple video clips from the rally showed protesters reacting to a sudden whooshing sound, triggering a brief stampede as the crowd moved away from the center of the road. However, the demonstrators soon returned, visibly puzzled but seemingly unharmed.
The opposition Freedom and Justice Party (SSP) accused security forces of deploying a Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD), a crowd-control sound cannon that emits high-frequency sounds exceeding 160 decibels and can cause pain and disorientation.
The Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCSP), a Soros-backed and USAID-funded non-governmental organization, issued a statement on Sunday condemning "the unlawful and inhumane deployment of prohibited weapons, such as acoustic devices, against peaceful protesters."
Serbian authorities have denied using any form of sonic weaponry. The Ministry of Internal Affairs stated there was no evidence to support the claims, calling them "an attempt to destabilize the country."

A short video clip of protestors appearing to be scared by .... something. It's not apparent what that something might be:

Serbia denies using sonic weapon on protesters (South China Morning Post on YouTube, Mar 17, 2025 - 1:10 min.)
Serbian officials have denied that security forces used a military-grade sonic weapon against protesters at a huge anti-government rally in the capital Belgrade. Footage from the March 15, 2025, protest shows people standing during a 15-minute silence before a panic and brief stampede is triggered by what some described as a whooshing sound.

 

[dann]

Three links to short video clips on X of the Serbian incident in this Danish article:

I panik stormede de væk fra mystisk, øredøvende lyd: Nu vil demonstranterne have undersøgt, om et forbudt sonisk våben blev rettet mod dem (DR.dk, Mar 17, 2025)
Videoer af episoden kan ses på sociale medier, men det er ikke muligt for DR Nyheder at verificere optagelserne

It was described as the sound of an approaching vehicle, so the protesters may have feared that they were about to become the victims of a vehicle-ramming attack (Wikipedia).

 

[dann]

Deutsche Welle mentions the 'syndrome' in the context of the incident in Serbia:

Serbia protests: What are sonic weapons? (DW, Mar 18, 2025)
Serbian authorities deny they used sound cannon — a.k.a. sonic weapons — against Belgrade protesters. How would you know you had been hit?
(...)
Havana syndrome: Do LRAD always sound loud?
There have been rumors about the use of sonic weapons without audible sounds or with low-pitched sounds at a high frequency.In 2016 and 2017, US diplomats in Cuba's capital Havana reported health problems such as hearing damage, vertigo and trouble sleeping. Some of the embassy employees suffered concussions and a complete loss of hearing, according to US authorities. Among their list of possible explanations was an attack with a new type of sonic weapon.
Later, similar symptoms also occurred among US diplomats in other places, such as Vienna and Berlin. Investigations into so-called "Havana syndrome" never came to a clear conclusion, but an attack with sonic weapons is now considered unlikely.

I'm not an acoustics expert, but isn't it an oxymoron to talk about "low-pitched sounds at a high frequency"?
The article should have mentioned that the sound in Cuba was not only audible but was also recorded and analyzed, and the conclusion was pretty clear: .

 

[dann]

Pretty good odcast:

Havana Syndrome | Exploring the Science and Conspiracies of This Bizarre Phenomenon (Red Wave, Mar 24, 2025)
Exploring the science and conspiracy theories behind the phenomenon that gave dozens of diplomats concerning symptoms, Havana Syndrome.
Ad-free episodes & bonus content: redwebpod.com
In 2016, U.S. diplomats in Cuba began reporting strange symptoms—piercing headaches, dizziness, and an unexplained sense of pressure in their heads. Over time, more cases emerged, spreading beyond Cuba and fueling theories of high-tech weapons and espionage. Today, we explore the unsettling mystery of Havana Syndrome.

Also on YouTube:
Exploring the Science and Conspiracies of This Bizarre Phenomenon | Havana Syndrome (Red Wave on YouTube, Mar 24, 2025 - 56:52 min.)
YouTube has the advantage of subtitles, but for people with normal hearing (or even subnormal like me) won't have a problem understanding the podcast.

Unlike many recent podcasts and TV shows, they are aware of both the cricket recordings and MPI.

 

[dann]

In the summer of 2023, cases of 'Havana syndrome' were mentioned in India. See posts 1,985, 1,986 and 1,995.
Now, a plea for an inquiry into the 'syndrome' filed by what appears to be a 'targeted individual' has been dismissed:

Petition seeking Havana Syndrome inquiry dismissed (Times of India, Mar 23, 2025)
B. Boopalan, the petitioner, alleged he could feel high-frequency microwave radiations across his body, including impacts on spinal area, harm to eyes, tongue, and nose, electric shock to teeth, brain impacts, headaches, chills, itching, unusual smells, and heating from infrared rays causing severe aches. He attributed these 'radiations' to Havana syndrome.
Responding to the plea, the Union govt submitted that by using this technology, one can track every moment of his life, even when he is inside a building. Those targeting him with the help of this radiation can also increase or decrease the intensity of the radiation with ease, and increased radiation will give him a severe headache.
However, in this regard, the petitioner did not attach or produce any evidence in support of these statements and does not even know who is targeting him, the authorities said.

The government referred to the 2018 FBI report. I guess referring to all of the many reports about the 'syndrome' (Wikipedia*) would have been overkill.
Also here, but paywalled:

"Beyond Territorial Jurisdiction": Madras High Court Dismisses Ex-Serviceman's Plea Seeking Inquiry Into Havana Syndrome In India (LiveLaw, Mar 24, 2025)
The Madras High Court recently dismissed a plea filed by an ex-serviceman who claimed that the Defence Space Agency was targeting him with the help of 'radiation' which caused severe health conditions and sought an inquiry into the 'Havana Syndrome' in India. A division bench of Justice SM Subramaniam and Justice K Rajasekar noted that the man did not produce any medical records to...

* Wikipedia's page about the 'syndrome' has improved somewhat over the years. At one point, it considered David Relman's NASEM report to be the truth. However, it still pays too much attention to the 'investigation' by 60 Minutes, The Insider and Der Spiegel.
It also hasn't been updated with the confirmation of the ODNI report on Jan 10, 2025 (see post 2,351).

 

[dann]

Trump administration task force to consider declassifying COVID-19 origins materials (WWLP, April 10, 2025)
Known as the Director’s Initiatives Group, the panel will study how intelligence agencies can cut costs in line with recent executive orders from President Donald Trump, the department said Tuesday in a statement announcing the creation of the task force.
The group also will examine ways intelligence agencies have become politicized or weaponized, the department said.
Among its other duties, the panel will review efforts to prevent unauthorized disclosures of classified material and examine whether the government should declassify material regarding the origins of COVID-19 and other issues of public interest, including federal efforts to influence online speech and investigations into mysterious health symptoms reported by some U.S. diplomats and government employees that were once dubbed “Havana syndrome.”

It still seems to be dubbed "Havana syndrome." Otherwise, they would have called it anomalous health incidents.

 

[dann]

Here we go again:

Catherine Herridge on X, April 20, 2025
Uncovering an intelligence scandal.
Our biggest release of the year drops next week.

Catherine Herridge on X, April 21, 2025
SCOOP
In response to our new investigation into Havana Syndrome or Anomalous Health Incidents (AHIs) @DNIGabbard said "the Biden Administration's assessment of the cause of AHIs was incomplete and in some cases contradictory."
@DNIGabbard “I am committed to initiating a new investigation into Anomalous Health Incidents and making the findings public."Our investigation “Legacy of Suffering” drops Tuesday @X

Full Statement below:
"American intelligence professionals around the globe face constant targeting from adversaries. Ensuring their health and safety is a top priority, and I am committed to investigating the threats they face, including potential causes of AHIs. Unfortunately, the Biden Administration's assessment of the cause of AHIs was incomplete and in some cases contradictory. This is unacceptable, as is the mistreatment and dismissal of those who have been impacted by AHIs. I am committed to initiating a new investigation into Anomalous Health Incidents and making the findings public. This is an Administration of maximum transparency, and the American people deserve to know the truth." - DNI Gabbard

I guess this is supposed to be the dropped scoop:

Catherine Herridge on X, April 22, 2025
BREAKING: Top US Neuroscientist & Military Advisor Confirms Reports Are ‘Credible’ That Directed Energy Weapon Attacks Have Happened on US Soil And Targeted US Personnel Abroad; Exclusive New Records Reveal Exposure to “Microwave Weapon” After Intel Officer Discovered Secret Op.
“These are weapons of maximum disruption…It allows you to get in fast, hit hard, get out, and only then will the effects begin to be known.”
1:50 Reports of DEW Attacks on US Soil Are Credible
2:50 Different Types of DEWs: Sonic & Scalable, Directable Microwaves
3:30 Retired Counterintelligence Officer Mike Beck Now In Assisted Living Following DEW Attack
4:50 DEW Attack Happened After Beck And His Partner Discovered Operation Targeting USA By Hostile Country
6:40 How DEW Attacks Disrupt & Destroy Brain Networks
7:30 DEW Attack Aftermath: Brain Cell Death & The Domino Effect
8:20 Big Three: USA, Russia & China Have DEW Capability
9:05 Why Beck’s Case Stands Out And The Legacy of Suffering
10:20 CIA Whistleblower ‘Alice’ Targeted by DEW in Africa
11:00 Exclusive New Medical Records Document Beck’s Microwave Weapon Brain Injury
11:55 US Government Denied Beck Workers’ Compensation Multiple Times Before Approving It
12:10 US Government Currently Three Months Behind ($25,000+) On Payments for Beck’s Assisted Living
13:00 Beck: US Government Has Critical Evidence About Attacks & Weapons
14:20 Directed Energy Weapon Attacks Started in 2016: False
14:50 Trump Administration Openly Addresses Havana Syndrome: Secretary Rubio
15:50 Beck’s Request for President Trump

It includes a 17:15-minute-long video with an interview with James Giordano talking about WMDs, "Weapons of Maximum Disruption." He claims that there are three kinds: "Two forms of sonic weapons" and a third, which is "the use of scalable and directable microwaves."
Another interviewee is retired counterintelligence officer Mike Beck, a Parkinson's patient, who thinks that his early-onset Parkinson's was caused by a DEW attack in a "hostile country" in the 1990s.
DEW attacks aren't mentioned as a cause of Parkinson's disease on Wikipedia's page about the issue.

Catherine Herridge on X, April 24, 2025
For The Reporter:
@CommunityNotes Is ReaI Time Feedback And Real Time Fact Check.
@x Delivers Real Time Results. Our Havana Syndrome investigation posted Tuesday morning and by the afternoon @RepRickCrawford got involved seeking accounting.
@lindayaX

 

[dann]

Continued from post 2,389 above:

Catherine Herridge on X, April 22, 2025
EXCLUSIVE: This letter from a top Parkinson’s expert concludes “Mr. Beck has a much more clearly documented exposure to a microwave weapon as well as a much more clearly documented brain injury than those (Havana Syndrome) patients described in either the literature or the media.”
The evidence is there.
The receipts are undeniable.

https://x.com/C__Herridge/status/1914790024794792313/photo/1
However, DEW attacks aren't mentioned as one of the causes of the "so called secondary Parkinsonism":
Secondary parkinsonism due to drugs, vascular lesions, tumors, trauma, and other insults (NIH PubMed, Nov 21, 2019)

 

[dann]

Two articles in Skeptical Inquirer, May/June, 2025, Vol 49, No. 3:

Benjamin Radford: Latest Havana Syndrome Reports Support Mass Sociogenic Illness Explanation
As 2025 began, the U.S. government issued two reports about the origins and nature of Havana Syndrome, both supporting a psychosocial—not a military—explanation for the mysterious phenomenon. Beginning in 2016, spies and diplomats in Cuba, and later elsewhere, reported hearing an unexplained noise or feeling a change in air pressure followed by nausea, headaches, dizziness, …

Robert Bartholomew: The Politics of Havana Syndrome
Benjamin Radford has provided an excellent overview of the ongoing controversy surrounding the origin and nature of Havana Syndrome (see “Intelligence Agencies: ‘Havana Syndrome’ Not Attack” in the July/August 2023 SI and the accompanying article). It is worth remembering that government officials under the first Trump administration, including Donald Trump himself, initially concluded that a …

 

[dann]

Iatrogenesis, the Canadian version:
New Brunswick revisited

Canada medical mystery takes twist as study finds no evidence of brain illness (TheGuardian, May 8, 2025)
Researchers link suspected cases in New Brunswick to known diseases, suggesting ‘misdiagnosis and misinformation’

New Brunswick has no mystery neurological disease, scientific study concludes (CBC News, May 7, 2025
Report published in U.S. medical journal reassessed 25 of 222 patients diagnosed with unknown syndrome
A new scientific study has found no evidence of a mystery brain disease in New Brunswick, says a report published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, known as JAMA.
Instead, an independent reassessment of 25 of 222 patients diagnosed by Moncton neurologist Alier Marrero as having a "neurological syndrome of unknown cause" concluded that all of the cases were attributable to well-known conditions.
These include common neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, functional neurological disorder, traumatic brain injury, and metastatic cancer, says the report.
Despite the small sample size, "when we did the statistics … the chances of any of those other individuals having a mystery disease was less than one in a million," said Dr. Anthony Lang, a senior neurologist and neuroscientist in Toronto, and one of the 13 co-authors.
"So the numbers are pretty staggering and, I think very, very convincing."

However, Marrero doesn't give up. He is still busy creating more patients:

In March, the New Brunswick government launched the "data analysis phase" of its investigation into undiagnosed neurological symptoms Marrero says are now affecting hundreds of people in seven provinces and whether environmental substances are a factor.
(...)
In addition, an oversight committee made up of six neurologists in February 2022 found "potential alternative diagnoses" for 41 of an original cluster of 48 patients, including Alzheimer's disease, Lewy body dementia, post-concussion syndrome and cancer.
"No such syndrome exists," Dr. Jennifer Russell, the then-chief medical officer of health, said at the time.
(...)
The researchers said only 14 patients had accepted independent re-evaluation by another neurologist, while 52 refused, choosing instead to remain with Marrero — "the [one] neurologist who originally made and continues to promote the diagnosis of a mystery disease."
Because of the complex nature of some neurological disorders, patients would have benefited from a second, independent evaluation, the JAMA article says.

The study:
Clinical and Neuropathological Evaluations of the New Brunswick Neurological Syndrome of Unknown Cause (JAMA, May 7, 2025)

 

[dann]

Much like the 'Havana syndrome' page on Wikipedia, the Wiki's New Brunswick neurological syndrome of unknown cause page now also has a list of investigations. It is not yet as long as the AHI list, but the New Brunswick 'syndrome' is also a few years younger.
I also get the impression that the investigative apparatus set in motion in Canada is more modest than in the USA.
I wonder what the differences in scope means for the % (or ‰?) of the population that become targeted individuals.

The phenomenon exists in Canada, but this article is from 2018, i.e. before the 'syndrome' in New Brunswick really got going, but after U.S. and Canadian diplomats had come down with the 'Havana syndrome':

'Organized stalking' ads on Vancouver transit a mental health concern, experts say (CBC.ca, Sep 11/Sep 16, 2018)
Mental health experts are troubled that a "delusional" belief system — which leads believers to fear they are constantly being watched or harassed and has even been linked to mass shootings — is now advertised on Vancouver's public transit system.
The ads are about beliefs called "organized stalking" or "gang stalking". It holds that conspirators, perhaps dozens of them, are stalking and harassing "targeted individuals" by damaging their personal property in subtle ways or spreading rumours about them.
Some targeted individuals also believe they are victims of "electronic assaults": torture via weapons from sci-fi movies like microwave rays and body-implanted microchips often with mind-control powers.

The Sep 16 date is due to an email CBC.ca got from Freedom For Targeted Individuals after the publication of the first version of the article.

Text from the ad on Vancouver transit:

Victims of Organized Stalking & Electronic Assaults Suffer in Silence
Inform yourself. Share. Demand change.
These Growing Crimes Are Not Being Changed

Post-publication, the author of the article delved more into the world of targeted individuals:

Sarteschi ["a criminology and social work professor at Chatham University in Pittsburgh, who has researched organized stalking"] said organized stalking beliefs thrive in internet echo chambers on websites and social media that reinforce beliefs and dissuade each other from getting mental heath treatment.

It's a good article about targeted individuals.

 

[Gord_in_Toronto]

At least this one has an explanation.

Bylaw officers with the City of Victoria are once again investigating a high-pitched noise machine designed to deter loitering near Mayfair Shopping Centre, two years after complaints were initially filed.

Residents and workers at Muncey Place, a supportive-housing complex just south of the mall, reported in 2023 that a shrill noise was audible from their rooms and offices.

https://www.timescolonist.com/local-news/noise-emitting-devices-again-under-investigation-in-victoria-after-complaints-10808153

 

[dann]

They all have an explanation! In fact, some of the others have several.
The reason why it has been ongoing in Victoria for at least a couple of years even though the source is known and deliberate seems to be that the victims aren't VIPs like diplomats or CIA officials but instead undesirables.

Noise-emitting devices again under investigation in Victoria after complaints (TimesColonist, June 15, 2025)
In 2020, the City of Winnipeg cancelled the use of four noise-emitting devices it had installed under a bridge to deter campers after facing a backlash.

And since the source is a business ...

Grainger, an industrial supply company on Government Street at Pembroke, has set up two of the devices in the past few months, according to outreach workers who work in the area and residents.
Kieran Bowes, an unhoused person who lives near the store, said the noise has been happening every night for around two months, from about 8 p.m. to 7 a.m.

... everybody else is sympathetic even when they are personally affected:

Outreach worker Erika Lai said she hears the noise during her nightly shifts on Pembroke, describing it as “agitating.”
“I find it hard to hold a conversation sometimes when I can just hear this incessant beeping in the background,” she said.
“I can sympathize with the business owners as well — I’m sure they are also facing their own sets of challenges — but I have been working in that area for eight years now, and we consistently try to be good neighbours.”

When I googled "outreach worker Erika Lai", I got this:

Log into Facebook

Log into Facebook to start sharing and connecting with your friends, family, and people you know.

www.facebook.com

 

[dann]

The syndrome in fiction - Jeffrey James Higgins' novel The Havana Syndrome revisited
This post is from Jan 21, 2025:

It sounds like the kind of novel FBI and CIA agents, Targeted Individuals and MAGA conspiracy nuts will love. Based on the description, I fear that it's much too easy to predict the 'truth' that Nathan Burke is going to uncover:
Expected date of publication, June 17, 2025.

Of the ten Amazon reviews of the novel so far, some of them very generic, this four-star review is the only one that doesn't give it five stars:

Good story, a little slanted
Reviewed in the United States on June 17, 2025
This one is a little complicated. On one hand, there is a really good story in here about the Havana Syndrome and its causes and effects. But, it’s also full of right wing screed about the government and laws. I almost DNF, but I’m glad I hung in, as big parts of it were very enjoyable.
So if you like the right wing perspective, you’re in business. If not, try to choke down the writing and finish it, the story deserves attention.

I was hoping that this video would give a a better impression of the novel, but unfortunately it is one of an increasing number of YouTube videos with very misleading titles. It's not about the reality of the 'Havana syndrome', and it's not about the novel The Havana Syndrome at all!

Jeffrey James Higgins—THE HAVANA SYNDROME (Authors on the Air Global Radio Network on YouTube, June 16, 2025 - 20:36 min.)
Today in the interrogation chair, it's Jeffrey James Higgins, author of HAVANAH SYNDROME, out from Severn River on 6/17/25. In this episode, we discuss how Jeff went from a being Supervisory Special Agent with the DEA, to opening the field office in Bagram Afghanistan, and now as a full-time author how he hosts other writers at his restaurant in Old Town Alexandria, VA. There's some great stuff ahead, so stick around and enjoy The Dossier Podcast!

However, I did learn that Higgins is a self-described libertarian.

Someday, I hope to read a novel about the wife of a CIA agent in Havana who hears a strange noise that she thinks is an attack. So the agent and his colleagues go rogue and start hunting down a clandestine cabal of (Russian and/or Chinese and/or Iranian) microwaving villains only to discover that the real culprit was the PsyOp branch of their own agency spreading false rumors about the perceived enemies of the USA.
Now that's a novel I'd like to read - instead of this ◊◊◊◊ from the announcement of the book signing at the Spy Museum on July 19, 2025:

When devotion and duty collide, FBI Agent Nathan Burke must uncover a global conspiracy to save his wife…and the nation. (...) As more American spies and diplomats fall prey to this unexplained phenomenon, and terrorist attacks increase at home and abroad, Nathan unearths evidence of high-energy weapons and a conspiracy that threatens the very fabric of national security.

The story of this new piece of fiction is old hat. The narrative has already been told far too many times:

Havana and the Global Hunt for U.S. Officers (TheCipherBrief, Oct 24, 2021)
EXPERT OPINION — More than 200 U.S. officers have been hunted around the globe and targeted by an adversary using a mysterious weapon that causes permanent brain injury. It's time to get serious about fighting back.

 

[dann]

A new podcast series - this time from the BBC:

BBC Sounds unveils new investigative podcast, Havana Helmet Club (BBC, June 10, 2025)
With meticulous research and gripping storytelling, Jennifer Forde and Sam Bungey - the duo behind the critically acclaimed podcast, West Cork - utilise their expertise in investigative audio journalism to explore the origins, victims, and global ramifications of Havana Syndrome. Listeners hear from those who claim to have been affected, as well as sceptics. Set against the backdrop of strained US-Cuba relations, as well as taking audiences through decades of Cold War tensions, covert operations, and scientific mysteries, this is at its core a story for our time about alternative truths, disinformation, and the fracturing of society.
(...)
“We were fascinated by the unsettling nature of Havana Syndrome - how it seems to exist in a space between science, politics, and human perception,” says Jennifer Forde, co-creator of the series. “We’ve spoken to key figures, whistleblowers, and those directly affected to uncover what might be behind this mystery.”
Havana Helmet Club launches first on BBC Sounds; episode 1 will be available on podcast platforms from 17 June and will be available a week early from 10 June on BBC Sounds, with new episodes dropped weekly. Havana Helmet Club will also broadcast weekly on Radio 4 from Tuesday 1 July.

So far, I have only listened to the two-minute teaser, which does what teasers do best, i.e. intrigue, titillate, but not reveal too much.
But it's promising that they will listeners hear from skeptics, too. It's something that many previous podcast series about the 'syndrome' failed to do. The teaser + episodes one and two: Psychological Fortitude (28 min.) and Old Habits (39 min.)

 

[dann]

I mentioned Dan Taberski's podcast series Hysterical in posts 2,285, 2,295, 2,315 and 2,316.

In 'Hysterical,' a podcaster unpacks a mysterious contagious illness among teen girls (NPR, June 18, 2025)
Dan Taberski won a "Podcast of the Year" award for his investigation of a 2011 outbreak of tics and spasms in one high school. He's also the creator of the "Missing Richard Simmons" podcast.

The NPR article is the introduction to an interview with Dan Taberski (36 min.).

It comes with a transcript:

TABERSKI: I mean, that was part of what was interesting about it in the first place, was comparing Havana syndrome to what was happening in Le Roy and how people were reacting to what happens when - you're right. It's, like, CIA agents. It's, like, people who - you know, like, they do secret ops. They - like I say in the podcast, they know how to neutralize things. Like, these are serious, potentially scary people who are trained to deal with the stress of, if not combat, close to it. And so many people weren't willing to countenance the possibility that mass psychogenic illness could happen to people like that, or it could happen to men, period.
And to watch how quickly the conversation became about, quote-unquote, it's all in your head, for the girls, compared to the diplomats and the CIA agents, I just thought was really interesting and really telling about women and girls and belief in terms of their medical conditions and their medical experiences, right or wrong. And, you know, I'm not saying it wasn't - they both could be mass psychogenic illness. They both might not be. But it was just interesting how hesitant people were to question the men and how quick they were to write off the girls.

 

[dann]

More 'syndrome' in fiction - this time on the stage:

‘The National Pastime’ swings for the fences at Syracuse Stage (Review) (Syracuse.com, June 14, 2025)
“It’s redacted.” With a friendly smile, Val, our guide through “The National Pastime” by Rogelio Martinez, now at Syracuse Stage, reminds us as the outset that there are blacked out spaces in our understanding of events of great importance. There are things that the public might never know. But there are also things that the participants in those events will never understand.
Val, played by Cherry J. Davis, is Cultural Liaison at the American embassy in Cuba in the interregnum between the Obama and first Trump administration. What unfolded at that embassy is still a mystery. The thoroughly engaging “The National Pastime” doesn’t try to give us any easy answers to that mystery or to the mysteries of human relationships it also explores.
The play tells parallel stories of the mysterious Havana Syndrome that hit American diplomats in Cuba in 2016 and 2017 and of the life journey of Yuri (Jorge Sánchez Díaz) a Cuban baseball player who has defected to the U.S.
(...)
The play doesn’t set out to solve the mystery of Havana Syndrome, about which we still get contradictory explanations and dodges. The syndrome instead functions symbolically as the noise and pain between the U.S. and Cuba and the distance that can be present between father and son.

It sounds like an interesting play. However, Copenhagen is more than 6,000 kilometers from Syracuse.

 

[dann]

A new podcast series - this time from the BBC:
So far, I have only listened to the two-minute teaser, which does what teasers do best, i.e. intrigue, titillate, but not reveal too much.
But it's promising that they will listeners hear from skeptics, too. It's something that many previous podcast series about the 'syndrome' failed to do.
The teaser + episodes one and two: Psychological Fortitude (28 min.) and Old Habits (39 min.)

I have listened to the first episode, Psychological Fortitude (BBC Sound, release date June 10, 2025)
It is mainly based on interviews with Patient Zero, who was also interviewed in many previous podcast series. Other Americans affiliated with the U.S. embassy in Havana are also interviewed.
Like in other podcasts and articles, we hear Americans describe the harassment that they claim to have been exposed to in Havana, some of which may be true, but some of which may also be fairly everyday stuff that is interpreted as harassment in a paranoia-inducing environment like the spy business. The BBC people deserve praise for being skeptical of the anecdote about a glass "exploding" when somebody at a party picks it up. As they say, you can find several cases on the internet of something similar happening.

Watch the Shocking Moment Pint Glass Mysteriously Explodes in a 'Haunted' Pub (New York Post, April 26, 2023 - 33 sec.)
Surveillance video captured the moment a half-drank pint glass randomly exploded at an English bar — and now the owners believe it’s evidence they own a paranormal pub.
The potentially poltergeist activity happened on Monday at Coniston Tavern in Nuneaton, England.
In the video, a workman in a hi-vis jacket is seen drinking a beer and chatting with two friends at lunch in the pub north of London.
Then, seemingly out of nowhere, the half-filled beer mug spontaneously combusts, spewing beer and glass all over the table and diners.

And it happens to tempered glass, too: Why tempered glass randomly explodes (WMAR-2 News on YouTube, Feb 3, 2015 - 4:20 min.)

Depending on the context, incidents like these are interpreted differently. In an English pub it's blamed on ghosts. At a U.S. embassy party in Cuba, it's blamed on the dirección de inteligencia. Some of my Cuban friends might blame it on Eleggúa and ask if we forgot to give him his share of the last bottle of rum we opened.
Most of the interviewed American agents seem to consider harassment to be nothing more than an ordinary 'trick of the trade'. One mentions that Cuban diplomats/agent in the USA may be accused of shop lifting, which is a kind of harassment I haven't heard mentioned in previous podcasts.