Havana Syndrome: The Invisible Illness That Split American Intelligence
It began with a sound. In late 2016, American diplomats and intelligence officers stationed in Havana, Cuba, started reporting something bizarre: a piercing noise or a sensation of intense pressure, often seeming to come from one direction, sometimes confined to a single room. What followed was worse. Dizziness, crushing headaches, ringing ears, trouble with balance, memory and concentration. Some officers were flown home for treatment. The US government eventually settled on a deliberately neutral label, anomalous health incidents, but the world came to know the affliction by the city where it surfaced: Havana Syndrome.
The reports did not stay in Cuba. In 2018, American personnel in Guangzhou, China, described similar experiences. Cases followed in Vienna, in Washington and at postings around the world. By early 2023, roughly 1,500 reports had been filed by US government employees and family members, a number that turned a diplomatic curiosity into a full-blown national security question.
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