All language subtitles for Historys+Greatest+Mysteries+S04E18+-+ENG

Tonight, a mysterious illness strikes
hundreds of government officials.

In the middle of the night, I woke up in
a room of spinning. I had a terrible

case of vertigo. I was frankly
terrified.

Ongoing investigations raise more
questions than answers.

It's causing a lot of confusion,
frustration, and really starting to feel

of like they're in some sort of bad spy
thriller.

Now, we reveal the top theories behind
this bizarre epidemic.

This could have been caused by something
that was already inside the embassy

staff quarters.

These chemicals have been used in some
of the most deadly chemical attacks on

the planet. Could some foreign power
have developed a masonic weapon?

What's behind the strange phenomenon
known as Havana?

November 2016,

Havana, Cuba.

As the sun sets on the island, a U .S.
diplomat and his wife are unwinding with

friends. This couple has just moved to
Cuba, and their names have been kept

anonymous in reports, but the diplomat
and his wife are living in an upscale

development called El Country Club.

They're having neighbors over for
drinks, and suddenly they hear this

it fills the air and sounds kind of like
cicadas, only it's a more piercing

metallic sound.

The noise persists through dinner.

At the couple's request, maintenance
workers check the property for insects

look for any electrical issues that
could be causing the racket, but they

nothing. The sound lingers for three
months, during which time...

The couple falls ill.

He and his wife have been feeling off
ever since shortly after the sounds

Kind of cloudy with difficulty
concentrating.

After a while, the diplomat shares his
experience with co -workers at the U .S.

Embassy. A colleague in his 30s says
that he also heard this high -pitched

and started to experience health issues.
And he plays some audio that he's

recorded of the incident.

It's the same noise the diplomat's been
hearing for months.

Days later, that diplomat and his wife
are examined by doctors in Miami and

diagnosed with concussion -like
symptoms.

Headache, fatigue, disorientation, and
balance issues.

More diplomats and others start
reporting exactly the same set of

Over the next two months, more than two
dozen officials in Havana are diagnosed

with the strange condition.

What's even worse is some of these
victims enter a second phase of the

where they have even greater cognitive
difficulty and trouble hearing or

It's really horrible. These symptoms
have just appeared, and there appears to

no treatment.

You have to wonder, what could cause
this in so many different people?

To try to learn why...

The U .S. government opens an
investigation in January of 2017.

The first group of embassy employees are
thoroughly examined in the United

States, and a report is published in the
Journal of the American Medical

Association in 2018.

Perhaps most seriously and notably, the
study concluded that the patients had

sustained widespread injury to brain
networks.

There's a clear physical change that has
happened to the brains of these

patients. It's visible in the MRIs. But
that change is minor compared to the

results of several neurological tests
that target memory, executive

and spatial orientations.

According to the study, these same
severe effects would occur after a

devastating car crash or explosion.

But none of these victims have
experienced that type of trauma.

At a loss, doctors dub the mysterious
illness Havana Syndrome.

Is some strange virus or infection
spreading through the American embassy?

This, of course, is a huge concern to
multiple government agencies.

For no apparent reason, their staffers
are suddenly dropping like flies. It's

not killing anyone, but it's making them
pretty much unable to function in their

jobs and sometimes in their daily lives.

In 2018, the U .S. government brings in
the CIA.

Defense Department, State Department,
and CDC to further investigate.

At the earliest onset of symptoms, these
victims are hearing a chirping, a

screeching, a clicking, and they're also
feeling a certain pressure in their

heads. They say they're hearing these
sounds.

in their homes or in their hotel rooms,
and there's a certain directionality to

the sensation, almost like it's coming
through a wall or in a specific part of

the room.

Based on the victim's testimony,
officials believe they have the answer.

Diplomats and CIA officers or spies are
the ones who are afflicted. This is not

affecting the general public.

So the U .S.'s first guess is that it
could be a covert sonic weapon.

In October 2017, President Trump holds a
news conference where he calls the

incident, quote, a very unusual attack.

He's going public with the idea that
this is a weapon.

Sound, like anything, can be and has
been weaponized. It's not something we

think about because we can't see it, but
at certain frequencies, It can cause

vomiting and internal distress and maybe
even death.

It's something the Nazis tried to
harness during World War II.

The Nazi regime had a team of scientists
working on wonder weapons, which they

claimed would revolutionize the war. And
their chief architect, Albert Speer,

develops one that's called the acoustic
cannon.

The idea is to kill or injure someone by
focusing or magnifying sound waves on a

reflective dish.

At a distance of around 600 to 1 ,200
feet, the sound is reported to cause

vertigo and nausea by vibrating
structures in the inner ear. At closer

it could even damage internal organs.

But this weapon has one serious flaw.

It's huge.

The reflector dishes are so big that
it's hard to maneuver, and any damage to

the dishes would render it entirely
inoperable.

While the Nazis' acoustic cannon was
never used in battle, it paves the way

modern versions.

In the early 2000s, the U .S. developed
a weapon that it called an LRAD, long

-range acoustic device.

These LRADs are capable of projecting
very powerful pulses or beams of sound

to two miles away.

And if you set it to emit high decibel
chirping or beeping sounds, it could

be used as a deterrent.

Nowadays, our military uses LRADs for
everything from crowd control to

pirates from cruise ships. At a high
enough decibel, LRADs can be used as

weapons. they're certainly capable of
creating pain, nausea, imbalance, and

permanent hearing loss.

It's a promising lead, but experts say
there's one problem with the sonic

theory.

LRADs are not subtle weapons. They are
definitely very, very loud. And given

that none of the patients in Havana
reported hearing a loud sound, their

are not really consistent with the use
of an LRAD. So the next question

Could some foreign power have developed
a new sonic weapon, one that somehow

produces the same effects by primarily
using sound outside the range of human

hearing? There's no evidence found in
Cuba, but in 2019, the Chinese Academy

of Sciences announces a prototype for
the first portable sonic gun.

The Chinese claim that they use focused
waves of infrasound. These waves

painfully vibrate the subject's
eardrums, eyes, and brain.

It may mess with the inner ear, causing
vertigo and imbalance.

Infrasound may also cause nausea,
vomiting, bowel spasms, and potentially

internal organs, like the heart. In
field tests, according to the Chinese

it produced extreme discomfort.

Of course, this thing had to have been
developed and tested years prior to

possibly even field tested covertly.

According to the South China Morning
Post, which first reported the story,

devices have been approved for mass
production by the Chinese government.

If that's the case, it's definitely been
in the works for quite a while.

Still, many doubt this technology is the
source of Havana Syndrome.

In the end, infrasound would be a poor
choice because it spreads in all

directions. It would be difficult to
target specific individuals.

Infrasound can't be easily focused.

It would also affect the user of the
weapon.

probably more so than some of the
targets, since they're closer to the

And frankly, the effects from an
infrasonic weapon would probably be more

annoying than debilitating.

In February of 2022, the Office of the
Director of National Intelligence and

CIA state that there's still a
possibility that this could be a sonic

Havana, but it would need to be placed
extremely close to the target, meaning

against a wall or through a window.

In some of these Havana cases,

The victims were in secure facilities,
away from public access.

So is it possible that this was a sonic
weapon? Sure.

But is it probable?

No.

In 2016, after more than two dozen
American diplomats develop

a mysterious illness called Havana
Syndrome, some government officials

an ultrasonic weapon.

But computer security engineer Dr. Kevin
Fu has a more surprising theory.

My laboratory uses analog signals to
break into computer systems with lasers,

acoustics, and sound waves.

In other words, Dr.

Fu specializes in hacking some of our
most sensitive electronics to identify

security flaws and protect against them.

A few of the examples include...
creating a homemade radio transmitter to

fatal heart rhythms in a defibrillator.
We have used laser pointers over

hundreds of feet to take over voice
-controlled assistance.

We have also turned hard drives into
listening devices through some of the

mechanisms on the inside of the spinning
discs.

So when Dr. Fu first hears about Havana
Syndrome, he realizes, hey, this sounds

kind of like a phenomenon I've
encountered before.

My whole job is to glitch out
electronics, and maybe that's what this

glitch.

Dr. Fu believes the Havana Syndrome
conditions could have occurred without

massive secret weapon.

This theory states that this could have
been caused by something that was

already inside the embassy staff
quarters.

According to Fu, there's a good chance
the afflicted American officials were

under surveillance while in Cuba, a
detail he thinks is key.

to solving this puzzle.

I believe that some kind of
unintentional accident with

eavesdropping devices may have caused
the sensations that the witnesses

reported.

When Fidel Castro comes to power in
1959, American diplomats are unwelcome

Havana for nearly 20 years.

But in 1977, the United States reopens a
limited diplomatic relationship to work

with Cuba on areas of mutual interest.

From then on, the Cubans keep a pretty
close watch on any American diplomats in

their country.

As a State Department official, you'd
come home and maybe you'd see the TV on

the window open. And you might be
thinking, what's happening? And then you

realize that Cuban spies want you to get
this message, that if you think you're

being watched, you probably are.

It's almost like a game sometimes.

There are reports of things like an
undercover CIA agent finding his tires

punctured or maybe his family pet is
poisoned.

Eventually in 2015, an American embassy
reopens in Cuba.

One year later, the first cases of
Havana syndrome are reported.

This is one reason why the sonic weapon
theory never made sense.

Why would the Cuban government initiate
a brazen attack on American officials at

the very moment when they were reopening
diplomatic relations?

It just doesn't add up. That doesn't
mean the Cubans quit spying on

Of course not. Everybody spies on each
other, and we find their devices

frequently. So when we looked at what
the witnesses were reporting about the

sensations in Havana, we started
brainstorming about all sorts of

kinds of conditions that could make an
eavesdropping device produce the same

signals that the witnesses heard.

If you're going to conduct a spying
operation, you can't just hook up a

camera to Wi -Fi.

You've got to do it in a way that will
go completely undetected.

And we know that one way spy devices
secretly transmit information is through

the ultrasonic frequency range.

Ultrasound technology is most commonly
used in health care applications, motion

detectors, and pest repellents. It's
generally considered harmless.

But Dr. Fu's team has discovered a
scenario where ultrasonic transmitters

become dangerous.

There's an interesting phenomena when
two signals interfere with each other to

create a third tone.

It's called intermodulation distortion.

So although ultrasound is not audible,
and it's designed not to be audible, if

two ultrasonic transmitters come
together and cross paths in the air,

produce a byproduct that is quite
audible to the human ear.

Dr. Fu's team is able to replicate this
phenomenon.

creating the same metallic chirping
sound recorded by American diplomats.

If you listen to the audio recordings of
some of the incidents and the sound

from our experiments in the laboratory,
we found that the two signals were

essentially identical.

But could these sounds actually make
people sick?

According to Dr. Fu, it's possible.

We don't know if these particular sounds
caused harm because our experiments

were all confined to the laboratory, not
involving human subjects. But we do

know that sound can cause harm. It can
cause nausea, internal distress.

It can even cause harm to the human body
at intense enough frequencies.

But not everyone's convinced.

It doesn't make any sense as an
intentional act, at the very least.

If you're spying on somebody...

You do not want your devices that you're
using for surveillance to drive away

the people that you're trying to spy on,
which is exactly what happened. The

reason why Dr. Fu and many others have
researched this is because there's no

answers to what is causing the Havana
syndrome. The U .S. government hasn't

able to figure it out. At least Dr.

Fu has replicated the noise, and that's
more than most people have accomplished.

Part of the scientific process is about
exploring many different hypotheses,

some of which may turn out to be
incorrect or less likely. But we hope

research done in my laboratory is
helping us come closer as a community to

conclusion to solve this mystery.

Initially, the mysterious Havana
Syndrome only impacts U .S. diplomats in

But by March of 2018...

Diplomats at another embassy in Havana
fall victim.

It starts happening to the Canadian
embassy staff.

This is very strange because the
Canadian embassy is about three miles

the U .S. embassy, so it's not like
they're adjacent or anything.

Canadian diplomats and their families
are reporting exactly the same kinds of

symptoms U .S. embassy staff had
reported.

Disorientation, nausea, dizziness.

Ultimately, 40 Canadian diplomats fall
ill. And so the Canadian government ends

up pulling its diplomats out of Cuba.

By 2019, Canada's workforce in Havana is
reduced by half.

This illness, whatever it is, is
severely limiting their ability to

diplomatic relations in Cuba.

That same year, Canadian officials
launched their own investigation.

At this point, the Americans are
probably glad to have the help. We've

clear motive.

No clear means and no good suspects.

It's causing a lot of confusion,
frustration, and really starting to feel

of like they're in some sort of bad spy
thriller.

Among the Canadian researchers is Dr.
Alon Friedman, who works at a highly

regarded brain research center in Nova
Scotia.

Dr. Friedman is a neuroscientist who
studies the blood -brain barrier, and in

particular, the chemicals that can cross
that barrier, which typically protects

your brain from most chemical attacks.

Although some researchers have looked at
the causes being maybe sonic or

physical, Dr. Freeman is looking to see
if it may be a chemical characteristic.

While the blood -brain barrier does
protect against a lot of chemicals, it

out that the number of chemicals that
can cross that blood -brain barrier is

still very large.

And so Dr. Freeman wants to look at
every possibility.

It's not even really finding a needle in
a haystack. It's looking at a haystack

and not knowing.

if there are any needles inside.

Dr. Friedman conducts brain scans and
MRIs on 23 Canadian diplomats and

their families.

Initial evaluations confirm the
Canadians have damaged brain tissue just

the Americans.

In addition, Dr. Friedman conducted a
range of blood tests as well as

called mass spectrometry.

fingerprint for a chemical, allowing you
to tell exactly what is there and how

it's comprised.

Specifically, he was on a search for
neurotoxin, because all the symptoms are

consistent with some sort of damage or
effect on the nervous system.

Turns out, they find neurotoxins. They
find them in every single symptomatic

patient that they test.

Well, everyone has some toxins in their
body, but based on this study, it

appears that the Havana syndrome could
have been caused by a chemical weapon.

The pattern of brain injuries in the
patients from Havana were consistent

regular low -dose exposure to a class of
neurotoxins called cholinesterase

inhibitors. These chemicals have been
used in some of the most deadly chemical

weapons attacks on the planet.

Now, cholinesterase inhibitors, as the
name suggests, inhibit cholinesterase

from working. This chemical is crucial
for the communication between the brain

and the muscles.

If your brain cells cannot talk to each
other, then you have problems thinking.

Some cholinesterase inhibitors have been
weaponized.

One famous example is Farin, originally
developed by Hitler's Nazi Germany.

It was so devastating that even Hitler
was scared to use it.

Another variant of this chemical is
called Novichok. This was a chemical

was found in the bloodstream of Russian
opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who

was poisoned in 2020.

Obviously, cholinesterase inhibitors can
be very dangerous, even deadly. And so

Dr. Freeman wants to find out exactly
what kind of cholinesterase inhibitor is

affecting these patients.

After further testing, Dr. Friedman's
team is able to identify the chemical.

It isn't as nasty as sarin or Novichok.
It is something else called temaphose.

Temaphose is not particularly lethal,
but regular exposure can cause symptoms

such as dizziness.

Disorientation, sensitivity to sound,
symptoms that align with what was

in Havana syndrome.

When the Havana syndrome first hits the
news, a lot of people are saying, this

sounds a lot like a weapon.

But there's also a less sinister
possibility.

Tamifoat is used widely throughout the
world as an agent to control mosquitoes.

It attacks the nervous system of the
larva, preventing them from turning into

adults, and therefore helping stop the
spread of mosquito -borne illness.

It is, in a sense, a pesticide.

Dr. Freeman concludes that these
diplomats and their families have been

to pesticides.

Could high levels of pesticide actually
be responsible?

In March of 2015, Zika is officially
detected in Brazil.

And by 2016, the World Health
Organization has declared it a public

emergency. The Zika virus is transmitted
by mosquito bites.

Countries are spraying for mosquitoes
like crazy.

Tropical and semi -tropical places like
Cuba are using vast quantities of

Temafos. And the timing seems to fit.

Cuba reports its first outbreak of the
Zika virus in March of 2016.

The first American diplomats report
symptoms of the Havana syndrome about

months later.

Canadian records confirm that in 2017,
the Canadian embassy and its grounds

increased the use of Temafos pesticides.

which roughly coincides with symptoms in
their embassy workers.

In fact, the EPA has actually outlawed
Temaphos as a residential pesticide

because of its neurological effects.

But not everyone's convinced Friedman's
solved the mystery.

Temaphos was being used all over the
place throughout the Americas, not just

diplomatic residences.

It was in Cuban government offices,
Cuban homes, and dozens of other places

where Havana syndrome didn't occur.

What about Brazil?

What about Colombia?

If Temafos caused this illness, you'd
have seen it affect a much larger group

worldwide.

Regardless, Dr.

Friedman still believes a chemical could
be the cause.

This doesn't mean that it couldn't be a
neurological agent of some kind at play.

Friedman couldn't test for everything.

He tested for a handful of likely
candidates, and it's possible that there

something else at play that he didn't
test for.

In the end, we can't rule out that the
Havana syndrome may have been caused by

chemical exposure.

Is there another chemical weapon out
there that we don't yet know about?

Hopefully not, but maybe.

As growing fears about the mysterious
Havana syndrome threaten relations

the U .S. and Cuba, the Cuban government
launches its own investigation.

In 2018, Cuba's officials announced
their findings.

and identify a surprising new culprit.

From very early on, the United States
has believed that Cuba is behind Havana

syndrome somehow.

I mean, you give it that name, the
president goes on live television to

the Cubans. This is a very bad look for
them.

Some in the White House are actually
calling this an act of war, so the

are very anxious to clear their name.

The Cuban government interviews about
300 neighbors of these diplomats.

They say that they've gone to the living
quarters of embassy staffers, that

they've analyzed air and oil samples,
and that they've conducted dozens of

medical examinations to see if people in
the surrounding area were afflicted.

And they say they find nothing.

The Cubans are saying there's simply no
known form of energy that can

selectively damage the brain the way the
doctors describe.

They're even doubtful that there's a
syndrome at all.

Instead, they offer an alternative
explanation.

for both the sounds and the symptoms.

The Cuban government in their report
theorized that this was not caused by

weapons and the chirping noise heard by
everyone was crickets.

The rest of the symptoms, the Cuban
government says, could be caused by

After all the hours investigating,
evacuating diplomats, conducting

medical tests, to suggest that maybe
people were just worn down by the sound

crickets? That feels like an insult.

Two biologists, UC Berkeley's Alexander
Stubbs and the University of Lincoln's

Fernando Montealegre Zapata, research
Cuba's claim.

To them, that metallic chirping noise
recorded in Havana sounds vaguely

familiar. These biologists had a massive
database of the sounds of different

kinds of insects. They're mating calls.

And what the biologists found is that
the sounds that were recorded in

matched precisely that of one particular
kind of insect, the Indies cricket.

And moreover, this particular Indies
cricket is resident in Cuba.

For confirmation, they use state -of
-the -art audio technology.

Forensic audio analysis can be
incredibly specific these days.

Sound wave patterns can be kind of like
fingerprints.

They can even be used to convict
killers.

So what's interesting is that when you
apply some of these acoustic forensic

techniques to what was recorded in Cuba,
it's an exact match of the cricket

mating call.

Obviously, crickets aren't as menacing
as a sonic weapon or a deadly

But this isn't your garden variety
cricket.

The Indies cricket can chirp at 100
decibels, the same volume as a subway

You can imagine that if you had a couple
in your residence, that could be a

really rough night.

Especially if you're not habituated to
the sound.

If you're from another country and this
is the first time you've ever heard it,

that could be extremely disruptive.

According to the Cuban report, the
crickets may be magnifying stress that

diplomats are already experiencing.

The Havana syndrome has some classic
telltale signs of psychogenic illnesses.

There are studies that show that people
who have been exposed... to long -term

stress have similar brain scans as the
Havana victims.

That stress might be self -perpetuating.

After the news of a possible weapon hits
the media, the diplomats are put on

alert. They're told that someone could
be watching them at home. They're told

not to sleep or to stand near their
windows and to report any strange

They're afraid for their families.

They can never feel safe.

But those suffering from Havana syndrome
strongly disagree.

Several people got sick before there was
an alert, before it reached headlines,

and people went into panic mode. The
first four cases were CIA officers.

These are people who are trained to deal
with massive amounts of stress.

With opinions split over the cricket
theory, the U .S. government calls in an

elite scientific team to conduct its own
analysis.

The federal government has a semi
-secret advisory board known as Jason.

It was originally called Project Sunrise
and was later changed to the name Jason

from Greek mythology.

It was formed in the aftermath of the
Soviet Sputnik launch in 1960.

Jason attracts the nation's most elite
scientists to advise on defense matters,

kind of like what we saw in World War II
with the Manhattan Project.

when Einstein and Oppenheimer were
researching nuclear energy and weapons.

Today, there are between 30 and 60 of
our country's best scientists involved

Jason. And they're only activated when
there's a particularly difficult task at

hand. And at this point, the U .S.
government sees Havana syndrome as such

difficult matter that then they turn to
Jason.

Through a Freedom of Information Act
request, Jason's top secret 2018 report

released to the public. And while much
of it is redacted, the Jason signs

that the noises on the Havana recordings
are crickets.

While they agree on the source of the
sound, they don't agree on the source of

the illness.

The report goes on to say, quote, it
cannot be ruled out that the perceived

sounds, while not harmful, are
introduced by an adversary as deception.

so as to mask an entirely unrelated mode
of causing illness in diplomatic

personnel. Basically, they're saying
these crickets could be a distraction to

hide another form of attack.

And suddenly, the Cubans blaming the
crickets seems really convenient.

Maybe the Cubans are involved, maybe
not. Either way, once again, we're left

with no idea what's making our people
sick.

December 2017,

Moscow, Russia.

CIA operative Mark Polymeropoulos is
asleep in his hotel room when he is

awakened by a strange sound.

In the middle of the night, I woke up
when the room was spinning. I had a

terrible case of vertigo. I couldn't get
up. I was falling over.

I had tinnitus, which is ringing in my
ears. I had a splitting headache in the

back of my head.

And overall, there was just this
incredible feeling of being disoriented.

frankly terrified.

At the time, Mark believed he had a bad
case of food poisoning.

I'd been in Iraq and Afghanistan, been
shot at a whole bunch of times, but I

flat out scared.

A veteran operative.

Mark's been posted on covert missions
all over the world.

I was the deputy chief of operations of
the Europe and Eurasia Mission Center

that entailed oversight over all CIA's
clandestine operations from Dublin

to the farthest regions of Russia, which
encompasses 11 time zones.

So my position at the time was the
equivalent of a three -star general.

It was a routine trip where I'm talking
to my counterparts in the Russian

security services.

Mark's symptoms subside for a few days.

I was eating at a very fancy restaurant
in Moscow.

And the symptoms came back, particularly
the vertigo. I remember clearly that

the room started spinning again.

The headaches came back even more
severe, the tinnitus, the ringing in my

And I had to get back to my room, and in
effect, for the last couple days of my

trip, I didn't really do much. The
vertigo was so disorienting, and I kind

crawled up the stairs of the airplane to
finally make my way back to the United

States, hoping that, you know, these
symptoms would get better.

As time goes by, however, his symptoms
only get worse.

I proceeded to go to multiple doctors.

And these included allergists,
infectious disease specialists, multiple

neurologists, pain doctors. And for
months and months, they could find no

alleviate my symptoms. But still, there
was a mystery to them what had occurred.

One year later, news breaks of a similar
illness affecting diplomats in Havana.

I still was having these symptoms. I
still was feeling incredibly ill. When I

heard about what had happened to
officers at the U .S. Embassy in Havana,

actually at the time thought I could
have experienced the same thing.

Convinced there's a connection, Mark
takes his complaint to the CIA's Office

Medical Services.

I went and I asked the CIA doctors there
to take a look at me. But in about a 10

-minute quick interview and exam, they
thought I did not look like the U .S.

officials who were afflicted by Havana
syndrome.

But really what was interesting and
pretty alarming is that officers that I

knew, would stop by my office and they'd
say, hey, something happened to me.

Their symptoms were very similar.

They had an event occur, usually in a
hotel room.

It was the same thing such as vertigo,
splitting headaches.

Like myself, they were all involved in
Russian operations.

Unfortunately, there still was a lot of
resistance from inside the Office of

Medical Services, but really in that
time frame, I started suffering from

fog and had about several weeks where I
lost my long -distance vision.

Ultimately, the result of all this, I
couldn't perform my duties.

And in mid -2019, I made the decision
that I would retire.

Pauli Moropoulos believes he may be one
of the first to experience Havana

syndrome outside of Cuba.

In June 2018, nearly a dozen diplomats
are evacuated from Guangzhou, China,

similar symptoms.

Since then, even more possible cases
have popped up in Georgia, Poland,

Australia, and the list goes on.
Colombia, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and

Cases have even been reported.

On American soil.

At least two cases of Havana syndrome
have been reported in the United States,

including one on the south side of the
White House.

We don't know if these cases are linked.
We don't have any idea of the cause.

But some doctors have dubbed it the
immaculate concussion.

Now that Havana syndrome is happening
outside of Cuba, it opens up a

array of possibilities.

It doesn't have to be caused by
something developed in Cuba.

But it does have to be something small
enough to be smuggled into Cuba and into

other countries.

And I'd say that if these many attacks
in various countries are connected, that

pretty much rules out the accidental
theories like pesticides or poorly

calibrated listening devices.

It seems more likely that this is
originating from a country with more

than Cuba.

I don't think they have the capability
to pull off so many incidents in so many

countries across the world.

So the question becomes, is there a
weapon that could possibly fit the bill?

Something small, portable, and in the
hands of a government connected enough

global politics to get an advantage from
causing that kind of panic.

When cases of Havana Syndrome start
surfacing worldwide in 2018,

U .S. officials can't find a definitive
cause.

But former spies like Mark
Polymeropoulos believe that they know

Obviously, I wasn't there in Cuba, but
when talking to the victims, it is very

similar with what I felt at that hotel
in Moscow in 2017.

Polymeropoulos thinks he's the victim of
a unique deadly weapon.

Of course, you've heard the word
microwave before.

Most of us have microwave ovens to heat
food.

The difference with a microwave weapon
is not the fundamental kinds of waves

it's producing. They're still
microwaves.

It's that they're producing them at
much, much higher energy. In other

you've supersized the system.

There's a small device on the inside of
the microwave that emits tiny, tiny

radio frequency signals. And these tiny
radio frequency signals heats up

molecules. In the case of a microwave
weapon, you're not simply heating up a

of coffee.

but you're actually heating up human
tissue.

A high -powered microwave weapon may
explain the symptoms, the nausea, the

vertigo, the headaches, even the
reported sounds.

It can really do a number on the electro
-neurological functions of the brain.

Unlike a sonic weapon, which are very
difficult to focus into a narrow area,

microwaves are very easy to direct.

You point a microwave one way, and
that's the way it goes. It will not hit

person who's firing it or impact the
surrounding neighborhood.

Microwave technology has been rapidly
advancing recently.

Is it possible that a weapon has been
developed that can target a single

individual, fit in a suitcase, and be
deployed from a few hundred yards away?

Well, the U .S. has already created
something pretty close.

In 2004, the U .S. Marine Corps
commissions the development of a

weapon codenamed Medusa.

Medusa, or mob excess deterrent using
silent audio.

This was basically a non -lethal
microwave ray gun that could be

people, and it could potentially
incapacitate them.

These microwaves stimulate the parts of
the inner ear and mimic an actual audio

signal. This gets interpreted by the
brain as sound. This is what's called

fray effect.

Medusa can make you feel like you're
hearing different kinds of sounds, even

recognizable sounds like voices inside
your head.

This could be the source of the sounds
reported by those experiencing Havana

syndrome. Although the U .S. has been
toying with these weapons for about 20

years, we know of another country that
has been using them for longer.

The Russians deployed a microwave weapon
against the U .S. during the Cold War.

Starting in 1953 and continuing until
1976,

Soviet authorities... Aim a near
constant microwave beam at the U .S.

in Moscow.

Their goal was to interfere with
communications inside the U .S. Embassy.

Intelligence officials called it the
Moscow signal.

Although they detected it early on
during routine checks, American

kept it quiet.

It's only when the American ambassador
to Russia, Walter Stoffel, threatens to

resign in 1975 that members of his staff
are informed.

The embassy officials get tested, and
many of them have elevated white blood

cell counts. And Walter Stossel, like
two of three ambassadors before him,

of cancer.

Stossel had a severe form of leukemia
that reportedly caused his eyes to

Over 100 employees filed for damages
against the U .S. for exposure to the

Moscow signal.

But a State Department study found there
was no convincing evidence of adverse

health effects.

Now the lawsuits are dropped, and it
basically fades from public view until

these afflictions, these mysterious
cases arise in Havana.

Could Havana Syndrome be the next phase
of a decades -old covert operation?

In my view, what happened to my
colleagues at the U .S. Embassy in

and what's happened to myself and some
others is absolutely a continuation of

what the Soviets were doing to us at the
U .S. Embassy in Moscow.

That said, we do have other adversaries.
We have the Chinese.

We have the Iranians. And it is entirely
possible that more than one country is

doing it.

Polymeropolis isn't the only spy who
believes this.

There's actually another account that is
more shocking than his.

In 1996,

NSA officer Mike Beck suffers sudden
severe fatigue while on assignment in a

classified foreign country.

This predates Palmaropolis and the
Havana syndrome cases by about 20 years.

Beck and his attorney believe it's all
related.

Beck cannot reveal what country he was
in, but his attorney stated it was a

hostile nation that was not China or
Cuba.

Beck's job was to go to a diplomatic
building and make sure that it wasn't

bugged. And while there with his
partner, he does find a suspicious

The very next day, they both get
symptoms that are now associated with

Havana syndrome.

Beck fully recovers. But ten years
later, both he and his partner develop

the same form of Parkinson's disease.

Beck is certain this isn't a
coincidence, so he files a claim for

compensation, something that people do
every day.

Only Beck's employer is the NSA, and his
claim relies on top -secret

information.

Incredibly, as part of his claim, the
NSA actually provides Beck with a

declassified document, which may finally
prove what happened to him.

The memo Beck was given states, There is
intelligence information from 2012

associating the hostile country to which
Mr.

Beck traveled in the late 1990s with a
high -powered microwave system weapon.

that may have the ability to weaken,
intimidate, or kill an enemy over time

without leaving evidence.

It goes on to say this.

Intelligence information indicated this
weapon is designed to bathe a target's

living quarters in microwaves, causing
numerous physical effects, including a

damaged nervous system.

Is this proof of the Havana syndrome?

Well, no, but it does prove what
happened to Beck may be the same thing

happened in Havana.

But at the very least, we now have
confirmation that such a weapon exists.

And if we ever find evidence that that
weapon is in Cuba or some other country,

it may explain everything.

Meanwhile, though we can't say why it's
happening, we know this illness is real.

And on October 8th, 2021, Congress
passed the Havana Act to compensate

government officials who've experienced
brain injuries as a result of Havana

syndrome.

So far, 1 ,000 people have come forward.

claiming injuries related to the so
-called Havana Syndrome.

And while the investigation remains
active, no concrete evidence has been

that a U .S. adversary is responsible.

I'm Lawrence Fishburne. Thank you for
watching History's Greatest Mysteries.