The Sounds That Haunted U.S. Diplomats in Cuba? Lovelorn Crickets, Scientists Say

[Judi Lynn]

Diplomatic officials may have been targeted with an unknown weapon in Havana. But a recording of one “sonic attack” actually is the singing of a very loud cricket, a new analysis concludes.

By Carl Zimmer
Jan. 4, 2019

In November 2016, American diplomats in Cuba complained of persistent, high-pitched sounds followed by a range of symptoms, including headaches, nausea and hearing loss.

Exams of nearly two dozen of them eventually revealed signs of concussions or other brain injuries, and speculation about the cause turned to weapons that blast sound or microwaves. Amid an international uproar, a recording of the sinister droning was widely circulated in the news media.

On Friday, two scientists presented evidence that those sounds were not so mysterious after all. They were made by crickets, the researchers concluded.

That’s not to say that the diplomats weren’t attacked, the scientists added — only that the recording is not of a sonic weapon, as had been suggested.

More:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/04/science/sonic-attack-cuba-crickets.html

Science:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/122861593

[Beakybird]

1. Isn't it possible that the recording device doesn't cover

the subsonic range of this hypothetical weapon?