We were right about Havana syndrome

ChrisArchitect

Related: 60 Minutes Havana Syndrome report finds U.S. government tested energy weapon https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47314335

PaulHoule

It's amazing that everybody who has a tendency for paranoia or an interest in weird knowledge knows about https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microwave_auditory_effect but that kind of person can't get a security clearance or get taken seriously by the State Department.

aa_is_op

These things happen next to Russian embassies and everyone goes... I wonder who could it be...

Beestie

Here is a 2019 study that supports the claims of actual injury: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2738552

isamuel

Very weird that clandestine imperial gophers start to feel anxious and have trouble sleeping after a while. must be a secret laser

cleaning

Reader's note: the author was a member of the CIA for 26 years

mnmnmn

The US government treats its employees like dog shit

gcanyon

Note: “We were right” here means “it’s a real thing,” but the article has almost nothing concrete to offer about what actually is going on or who is responsible.

stephbook

My feeling has always been that there was no interest in investigating this. The government can skirt medical help, can send the next batch of officers in without problems and doesn't need to confront an adversary that is politically.. difficult under Trump. It's certainly no coincidence that Russia would start using something like this in Cuba, a friendly state, and not say.. France. Where the local police and spy agencies could investigate and observe. Just imagine what would have to happen if someone acknowledged Havanah syndrome is real. Next up, burn pits cause lung damage and brain damage too.

Fraterkes

At the core of "Havana Syndrome" lies the idea that Cuba and/or Russia have managed to develop energy weapons so advanced that the American military command won't even entertain the thought of them existing. I'll let you draw your own conclusions.

PLMUV9A4UP27D

I put my bet on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_psychogenic_illness If the authorities have made the same conclusion, it would be very difficult to tell the affected individuals that. This is since there is a misconception that mass psychosis A) only happens to mentally "weak" persons. B) Symptoms are made up/"just in your imagination" But the symptoms are very much real, and it's not something that is easily treated. How mass psychosis can lead to actual medical illness is unknown, but the cause and effect is documented. For that reason it might appear as a cover up, when authorities avoid giving answers. Even though I'm familiar with the science behind mass psychosis illness, I would still probably have difficulties accepting that as an explanation if I were in a similar situation.

swayam-41

Even after serving 26 years, he has to left CIA.

leephillips

The article seems to have been written by an LLM and is illustrated by an AI-generated image. And it contains little or no new information.

vortegne

Not gonna lie, it's impossible to feel bad for someone who has been in the CIA for decades. A small-scale imperial boomerang. The gaslighting and other tactics coming to bite you in the ass for a change, instead of some nation where US has "interests".

apalmer

Didn't the US use some weapon that essential causes the same thing as Havana Syndrome?

jmyeet

Fentanyl has become a huge issue with street drugs. It's being laced in other drugs. It's an incredibly strong opiate and because the mixing is imprecise, it can be easy to overdose unintentionally. What's more interesting is the hysteria around fentanyl, which is completely made up and has no basis in fact, but is perpetuated by police unions and media outlets who are likely currying favor with police unions or just trading on the hysteria. In it's purest form, fentanyl can exist in a powder or liquid form. I could give you a massive quantity of either and you could handle them completely fine. How do I know this? Because health workers do this all the time. It's like handling talcum powder. I mean you would probably want to wash your hands and you wouldn't want to lick it but there are no fumes and you can't be poisoned or dosed just by being in the same room as fentanyl in any form. Yet this completely made up fear has caused law enforcement officers to believe they've suffered from fentanyl exposure. For example [1]: > Results > Nearly all leaders and officers interviewed wrongly believed that dermal exposure to fentanyl was deadly and expressed fear about such exposure on scene. Officers had a lack of education about fentanyl exposure and faulty or dubious sources of information about it. and [2]: > Police in the United States have told implausible stories about airborne fentanyl exposures for years. The real symptoms appear related to panic attacks and the psychological trauma of policing. So something that's completely made up can lead people to create their own symptoms. It also fits the narrative of people believing their jobs are more dangerous than they actually are. So, back to Havana Syndrome. I've always been convinced that it's completely fake. There are probably people who like the narrative because it makes the Russians or Cubans scary with some unknown tech. And that means you need to research your own versions, right? One possibility I might believe is that these people were exposed to something most likely from the CIA itself. You might say "the CIA wouldn't do this to their own". Think again [3]. So to believe any of this I want these people to release their medical records and have some independent medical analysis. Does the author really have TBI? Was there some other cause? Did this person suffer, say, an injury in a motor vehicle accident and is intentionally or unintentionally blaming it on Havana Syndrome? Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. [1]: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S09553... [2]: https://www.leidenlawblog.nl/articles/police-panic-and-fenta... [3]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MKUltra

rustyhancock

Havana syndrome appears to be a functional neurological disorder. Think shell shock of world war I. None the less the deserve support and careful ongoing research and investigations as appropriate. Fundamentally it is an occupational illness. FND isn't "making it up" or even "all in your head" but a complex interplay of mind, body and circumstances.

istillcantcode

I listen to a lot of conspiracy podcasts for fun. This is the one conspiracy that's so mundane it does not even make it on many of the shows. If someone brings it up everyone is like, "well yeah of course they have that shit". Its not cool enough for the conspiracy shows/grifts.