The Havana Syndrome

A thread to talk or argue or share news about this

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Havana_syndrome

Please not another syndrome, I am still dealing with the lingering effects of Andromeda

best theory I've heard is that of unintended consequences - like the Russians or someone are using some crazy eavesdropping technology that also happens to produce splitting headaches

if my job was making me sick I would just quit.

lots of people hiring rn I keep seeing everyone from Fox to PBS concern trolling about biz owners not being able to find people to work

Havana laugh.

What if your job was making other people sick?

Havana Syndrome left me cigared for life

Dirty Dancing: Havana Syndrome

Venis mecha

If I had a magic headache ray, I would absolutely use it on people working in the Cartagena embassy rather than the White House or Pentagon.

Havana Syndrome? damb homie go work at Amazon. At least then a medical doctor can actually determine what’s wrong with you (urinary tract infection from holding pee)

I liked this article on the topic:

Havana syndrome fits the pattern of psychosomatic illness – but that doesn’t mean the symptoms aren’t real

The credulity of the media on the directed microwave theory has been pretty hilarious.

it’s legit and I’ll leave it at that

Why delete this banger pic.twitter.com/u6KuuMU8oG

— yoshi 🎃 (spooky arc) (@NotBanned_) October 21, 2021

The credulity of the media on the directed microwave theory has been pretty hilarious

Given their role to breathlessly reprint any press release about cops or troops, it just follows that they’d worship spooks, too.

tbf those are the only three things the richest nation the world has ever known is allowed to spend money on

Will repost what I wrote on the main politics thread:

I haven't done a deep dive into Havana Syndrome, but I've read articles in credible publications (for instance, this New Yorker article from a few months ago) that basically take the stance of "huh, this is really weird, and there still doesn't seem to be a good explanation for it." So that's basically where my head is at, and I don't really understand the jump to "this is obviously fake," regardless of how one feels about the CIA. (That said, I also don't think that individuals who work for the CIA are inherently and objectively bad or untrustworthy or undeserving of sympathy.)

― jaymc, Wednesday, October 20, 2021 11:10 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

I think there is an interesting discussion to be had around this, but it clearly isn't going to happen here.

i don't know what inherently and objectively bad means (i mean i think the CIA is objectively bad and no one should choose to work there but this isn't CIA workers: C/D) but being untrustworthy is what the CIA is, for that reason i believe this differs from the fibromyalgia thing.

I already look like a total ass enough of the time that I don't need to make myself look like more of an ass by coming down hard on either side of this issue I barely know anything about. If some kind of invisible headache ray existed and enemies of America wanted to use it to destabilize domestic or foreign policy, it seems like diplomats and CIA workers would be a solid choice in terms of access if nothing else. And that people thinking they were crazy for going public with weird + inexplicable symptoms would just be a fringe benefit. But also if monkeys were able to fly, they might fly out of my butt. So I'll maintain my agnosticism.

it's reasonable to be agnostic. i don't think there's any way to get valid information on topics relating to the CIA as the events are going on. for the TRUTH you have to wait 50 years for a small press to put out a weird book on it that sells 2000 copies!

To be clear, I think there are plenty of reasons to be skeptical of the CIA as an institution and of any public claims that it puts forward. I don't think that people who choose to work there are irredeemably bad people.

Yeah, it's a shitty org and I'm certainly no defender but the fact that you even need to say that is more about the increasing insistence 'round these parts that everyone pass some sort of Manichaean purity test than anything else.

Sorry, what I meant to say is that that person who's working as an entry-level receptionist for the CIA is going to burn in the literal fires of hell.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6UlXZxch-A

Heh, DO U SEE?

If not:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFFr2BIft-c

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71+eKpVNkxL._SY445_.jpg

I have no idea if any of this is true, but I think it's only being taken so seriously due to diplomats and CIA people being the "victims". Most other people would have just gotten a "ha ha bullshit" response, like with gang-stalking.

for me, initially, it didn’t help that it sounded concocted in a tv writers room specifically to give Morning Jocephus and Zbigniew Brzezinski’s bird-brained kid the vapors

The USA being the country that spends more on defense (i.e. offense) than any other country by orders of magnitude, if anyone has an invisible headache gun, it's us.

We overinvested in wet-the-bed rays

the increasing insistence 'round these parts that everyone pass some sort of Manichaean purity test than anything else.

How? Absolutely no one has been taken to task for being more amenable to the potential goodness of CIA spooks or caring about them.

(Whereas you are basically equivalent to racist doctors if you think the idea of a headache cannon aimed at an organization dedicated to doing evil is something to joke about.)

"the idea of a headache cannon aimed at an organization dedicated to doing evil"

Definitely approaching it with an open mind, I see.

lol literally anyone who works for the cia is a fucking piece of shit, come on, we dont need to ted lasso this one

your mom works for the cia

Definitely approaching it with an open mind, I see.

You got me, I do not have an open mind as to the merit and morality of the CIA.

cia is cool if you just ignore everything they've ever done

The last 70 years were an aberration.

it's a very hard manichaean purity test to pass: just don't work at the torture/assassination place

they're just trying to teach people how to cook, what's so evil about that?

"I am unapologetically me. I want you to be unapologetically you, whoever you are. Whether you work at #CIA, or anywhere else in the world. Command your space. Mija, you are worth it."

lol i have been thinking of that for the past 24 hours

So some CIA officers were in tears during the torture sessions. That's not weakness. It's humanity. Too bad others didn't share it.

— Nicholas Kristof (@NickKristof) December 9, 2014

goddamn i'd almost forgotten about that

xpost

You got me, I do not have an open mind as to the merit and morality of the CIA.

― papal hotwife (milo z), Thursday, October 21, 2021 3:44 PM (twelve minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

But we're not talking about "the merit and the morality of the CIA" as an institution. We're talking about """"""Havana Syndrome."""""

Which is being promoted by the CIA with the stated cause being foreign enemies with headache cannon, yes.

If it was black mold in the torture showers or high-VOC paint it wouldn’t be news. If it was just a “huh, that’s interesting that a bunch of spooks have headaches” it would be a single blog post on Foreign Policy and not legislation for sanctions and giving the CIA more money.

As such, the idea of “Havana Syndrome” is not worth taking seriously, no.

If you don’t think Russia has a headache cannon, then you also disagree with the existence of Havana Syndrome.

yeah it was weird, as soon as the History channel came on, my bowels evacuated.

I tried to apologize but they just assured me they'd have the spaghetti luncheon on Thursday instead

60 Minutes is doing a report on Havana Syndrome right now. Turns out Russia did it.

Details on the 60 Minutes story.

I’m skeptical! 😂

https://assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com/hub/i/r/2024/03/31/11c1df63-cf41-402d-a138-7d61004dac26/thumbnail/1240x698/18fce29c6f81c421f6d18f00eb7a49c5/targeting-americans-video.jpg?v=3d62f4cc0092e6eb151a9685301ed284

Does she have to wear that wig because the Russian mystery ray made her head swell up, or something?

She has Patricia Arquette Syndrome

At the same time, she said, the battery in her phone began to swell until it broke the case.

So the cricket ray is blowing up batteries now?

A battery swelled! I’m convinced!

so if none of this is true does Russia even want to make a denial about this err no

I'm not going to read a bunch of suggestive theories. Are they explaining it through voodoo or have they discovered a cause that has some respectable physics behind it?

One guy supposedly found a Russian ledger line where they paid a guy a consulting fee for something so clearly the headache ray is real and Putin done did it.

My poke place has 60 Minutes on every Sunday I’ve been in, not sure what stories they run anymore beyond China or Russia fearmongering.

Has their reporting been off?

Well, their big story tonight being complete conspiracy-addled nonsense points to “not great” on the reporting side. Depends on how often you check under the bed for Red Chinese operatives undermining America I guess.

I've seen enough "blow things up in a microwave" youtube to know that Li-ion batteries burst into flames when bombarded with microwaves. Swollen battery syndrome is apparently rare, but can be related to not fully discharging the battery enough and overcharging it. I still think this is a load of bollox.

cockney putin: "just havana bubble mate"

hergé was a mole:

https://i.imgur.com/zK9aBu5.png

Meanwhile, a new study apparently contradicts the brain injury findings from 2018.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/people-with-havana-syndrome-show-no-brain-damage-or-medical-illness/

Battery swelling is increasingly rare, but it was relatively common when this occurred.

I’d also bet that most swelling comes from manufacturing defects rather than discharging.

yeesh that 60 minutes article… is George Noory on the case?

"There is, in my view, without a doubt, evidence of a cover up. Now, some of that cover up is not necessarily that, 'oh, we found a weapon,'" Zaid said. "What I've seen more so is, 'we see lines of inquiry that would take us potentially to answers we don't want to have to deal with, so we're not going to explore any of those avenues.'"

This is the most incredible motte-and-bailey.

"There's a cover-up." "By that I mean that someone somewhere isn't taking something seriously."

"Pentagon bought device through undercover operation some investigators suspect is linked to Havana Syndrome"
https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/13/politics/havana-syndrome-device-pentagon-hsi?cid=ios_app

The Defense Department has spent more than a year testing a device purchased in an undercover operation that some investigators think could be the cause of a series of mysterious ailments impacting US spies, diplomats and troops that are colloquially known as Havana Syndrome, according to four sources briefed on the matter.

A division of the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, purchased the device for millions of dollars in the waning days of the Biden administration, using funding provided by the Defense Department, according to two of the sources. Officials paid “eight figures” for the device, these people said, declining to offer a more specific number.

The device is still being studied and there is ongoing debate — and in some quarters of government, skepticism — over its link to the roughly dozens of anomalous health incidents that remain officially unexplained.

Breaking: They've released a photo of the purchased device.

https://exhibits.museum.state.il.us/exhibits/athome/1950/objects/largejpgs/vacuum.jpg

I hope the seller gave the Pentagon a guarantee of 'full satisfaction or your money cheerfully returned'.

props to those sellers for making millions selling the US government old spare parts

https://www.digitec.ch/Files/3/3/5/4/5/6/4/3/pulp_fiction_briefcase_content_diner_scene_002_web.jpg

the first thing that came to mind was this thing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ADE_651

Researcher skeptical of 'Havana syndrome' tested secret weapon on himself
https://www.msn.com/en-us/science/general/researcher-skeptical-of-havana-syndrome-tested-secret-weapon-on-himself/ar-AA1Wl61Z

Working in strict secrecy, a government scientist in Norway built a machine capable of emitting powerful pulses of microwave energy and, in an effort to prove such devices are harmless to humans, in 2024 tested it on himself. He suffered neurological symptoms similar to those of “Havana syndrome,” the unexplained malady that has struck hundreds of U.S. spies and diplomats around the world.

The bizarre story, described by four people familiar with the events, is the latest wrinkle in the decade-long quest to find the causes of Havana syndrome, whose sufferers experience long-lasting effects including cognitive challenges, dizziness and nausea. The U.S. government calls the events Anomalous Health Incidents (AHIs).

The secret test in Norway has not been previously reported. The Norwegian government told the CIA about the results, two of the people said, prompting at least two visits in 2024 to Norway by Pentagon and White House officials.

Those aware of the test say it does not prove AHIs are the work of a foreign adversary wielding a secret weapon similar to the prototype tested in Norway. One of them noted that the effects suffered by the Norwegian researcher, whose identity was not disclosed by the people familiar, were not exactly the same as in a “classic” AHI case. All spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the subject’s sensitivity.

But the events bolstered the case of those who argue that “pulsed-energy devices” — machines that deliver powerful beams of electromagnetic energy such as microwaves in short bursts — can affect human biology and are probably being developed by U.S. adversaries.

I hope they are. Please use them on our current president!!

what if someone already did and further efforts will just make him more Like That

this whole thing is utterly stupid - people are fearful of cellphone usage on the human body. this is the exact same thing but amplified.

yeah the reporting on the above Norway thing is “I heard from a friend of a friend”

Guys I have this, ama

guys, i have spent my entire professional career working in the RF engineering industry, ama

daniel are you a radio frequency if so can I pick you up on my shsortwave

powerful beams of electromagnetic energy

oh no!!

such as microwaves in short bursts

..oh.

I dunno... if folks want to stick their head in a microwave who am I to keep them from finding out

there's a power substation next to the 49ers stadium and some idiots think it's causing player injuries lol

https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/san-francisco-49ers/news/49ers-injury-levis-stadium-substation-explained/3e859010f02c17c29e90a108

yes! that is an extremely stupid theory!

there's been electromagnetic modeling software that's existed for at least 20 years and especially with the massive increases in phones near/around a human body, these software models have included them in greater detail. if anyone wants to cite some IEEE papers feel free.

<3

I fuckin love it when random ilxors bring the hard core expertise

signed, someone who knows what IEEE means

still wouldn't stick my head in a microwave tho

<3 we save that for the gremlins

or James Incandenza

nice IJ ref

sorry I never replied, I died from the havana syndrome

So is this shit real now?

i just read a crime novel written in 1961 where inaudible sonic waves were used as a murder weapon.

given that the first reportage of havana syndrome turned out to be crickets and the subsequent reportings had no sound element, i highly doubt anything was used in cuba.

Crickets of Mass Destruction