Havana Syndrome

Overview

Havana Syndrome refers to a series of unexplained symptoms reported by United States and Canadian Embassy staff, first in Havana, Cuba, and later other countries. These include hearing a strange grating sound or feeling a vibration coming from a specific direction that is not present to others in the room. There is no known cause for the symptoms, leading to speculation from government officials that they could be a form of attack from a foreign military. Online, critics have dismissed the attack theory as alarmist thinking, judging that Havana Syndrome is likely a psychosomatic illness, if it's real at all. Alarmism about the symptoms has inspired the snowclone "Yeah, I Got Havana Syndrome," in which people will then use "Havana" as a pun on the words "havin' a", i.e. "Yeah, I got Havana Syndrome… I'm Havana 'nother beer!"

Background

In August of 2017, news outlets first reported that two Cuban diplomats were expelled earlier in the year after Americans at the U.S. Embassy in Cuba began having unexplained medical symptoms.^[1] In the fall of 2016, U.S. diplomats in Cuba reported suffering hearing loss. At the time, U.S. officials concluded that the diplomats must have been attacked with an advanced sonic weapon.

Developments

In 2018, the FBI found no evidence of a sonic attack.^[2] In 2019, Canada announced it was removing diplomats from Cuba after over a dozen officials there experienced similar symptoms.^[3] Initial hypotheses that Havana Syndrome could've been caused by the Cuban government or a group operating in Cuba were dispelled when cases were reported in other global locations, including Russia, Poland, Austria, Georgia, Taiwan, Colombia, China, Kyrgyzstan, the United Kingdom, and Uzbekistan.^[4] The Trump and Biden administration have suspected Russia could be behind sonic attacks, but there is no evidence to back the claim. The American Senate Intelligence Committee is investigating the attacks, looking into Russian spy unit the GRU as a potential suspect.^[8]

In June of 2021, the United States Senate unanimously passed the Helping American Victims Afflicted by Neurological Attacks (HAVANA) Act, which will provide compensation to federal employees suffering from brain injuries.^[11] The bill was mocked online due to general disbelief in Havana Syndrome. Redditor uouter1 called the bill the "too hungover to work today" act in /r/GenZedong.^[12]

Potential Causes

There have been numerous theories as to the cause of Havana Syndrome, but none have been proven. The "sonic attack" theory took a serious blow when, on September 30th, 2021, Buzzfeed News^[6] reported on a declassified State Department report that concluded it was "highly unlikely" the symptoms were caused by microwaves or ultrasound beams. In addition to the sonic attack theory, different investigators have suggested it may be the result of chirping crickets^[5]—Buzzfeed's report also revealed the State Department's investigation concluded at least eight of the first 21 cases were caused by insects.

Others have suggested Havana Syndrome may be a form of mass hysteria,^[7] citing a lack of physical bodily injury and the unlikely possibility of a sonic attack. Some researchers have suggested stress at the United States Embassy with the reopening of diplomatic relations between Cuba and the U.S. may have caused symptoms to be distorted by anxious diplomats.

"Yeah, I Got Havana Syndrome" Puns

Amidst alarmism about Havana Syndrome, doubters on social media took to making jokes about the illness, often in the form of the snowclone, "Yeah, I got Havana Syndrome… Havana X!" Similar to the I'm a fan of Dune snowclone, "I got Havana Syndrome" uses "Havana" as a pun on "havin' a" (examples^[9][10] shown below).

2024 NIH Report And 60 Minutes Report

In the Spring of 2024, two major reports came out that reignited interest in Havana Syndrome. The first was a March report from the NIH that found none of the sufferers of Havana Syndrome symptoms showed any sign of brain damage, leading them to conclude that the "illness" was a mass psychosis event "tied to previous injuries, stress, environmental concerns and 'social factors' such as group psychology, in which illness symptoms reported by one individual in a community can spread serially among its members."

Two weeks later, CBS' 60 Minutes ran a report highlighting the evidence that links the symptoms to a Russian attack. This included the fact a Russian military unit had been rewarded for their work related to the development of "non-lethal acoustic weapons." Also, those who had suffered from Havana Syndrome reportedly had a "Russia nexus," in that they had been involved in cases surrounding Russia while in Cuba. Still, U.S. officials described it as "very unlikely" that Havana Syndrome symptoms were caused by a foreign adversary.

Search Interest

External References