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

[Eugene]

Source: New York Times

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

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.

-snip-

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

[Anon-C]

1. Crickets!

[Me.]

2. Not Buying It

It wasn't just Havana as far as I remember

Added:
“GUANGZHOU, China — A crisis over a mysterious ailment sickening American diplomats and their families — which began in Cuba and recently appeared in China — has widened as the State Department evacuated at least two more Americans from China on Wednesday.

The Americans who were evacuated worked at the American Consulate in the southern city of Guangzhou, and their colleagues and family members are being tested by a State Department medical team, officials said. It is unclear how many of them are exhibiting symptoms, but a State Department spokeswoman said Wednesday evening that “a number of individuals” had been sent to the United States for further testing.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/06/world/asia/china-guangzhou-consulate-sonic-attack.html

[flying_wahini]

3. It's funny but the cricket sound they give in this link sounds just like a brain melting sonar!

I'm not buying it either. People showed real brain damage. I think it's the Russians.
No good reason, but I do.