WEBVTT - S05 Episode 8 Extra: Setting the Tone

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Unexplained Extra with me Richard McClain Smith, where

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<v Speaker 1>for the weeks in between episodes, we look at stories

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<v Speaker 1>and ideas that, for one reason or other, didn't make

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<v Speaker 1>it into the previous show. In last week's episode, Sound

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<v Speaker 1>of the Overground, we looked at the extraordinary story of

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<v Speaker 1>the Warminster Thing. Over time, the Thing came to be

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<v Speaker 1>thought of as a supposed to UFO event that sparked

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<v Speaker 1>off a litany of strange sightings in the mid nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>seventies throughout the Warminster area in the English county of Wiltshire.

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<v Speaker 1>Everything from classic cigar shaped objects spotted in the sky

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<v Speaker 1>to the sighting of possible alien entities and even contact

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<v Speaker 1>were alleged to have taken place. Initially, however, the thing

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<v Speaker 1>was reported as little more than a mysterious, sinister sound

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<v Speaker 1>with no discernible origin. This sound was described variously as

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<v Speaker 1>oscillating between an ominous drone and a clattering racket, as

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<v Speaker 1>if nuts and bolts were being swished about in a

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<v Speaker 1>steel bucket. In March twenty nineteen, it was reported that

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<v Speaker 1>as many as four percent of people are plagued by

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<v Speaker 1>a mysterious, low pitched sound with no quantifiable source that

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<v Speaker 1>has become known as the HUM. I myself am one

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<v Speaker 1>of those people, although I suspect this might simply be

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<v Speaker 1>a case of tinatus after years of refusing to turn

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<v Speaker 1>down my earphones. In the UK, perhaps the most well

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<v Speaker 1>known version of this is the Bristol Hum, so called

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<v Speaker 1>after a spate of people there in the nineteen seventies

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<v Speaker 1>and then again in twenty sixteen, complained of being kept

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<v Speaker 1>awake by it. Also in twenty sixteen, just over seven

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<v Speaker 1>thousand kilometers away in Cuba, employees of the US embassy

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<v Speaker 1>in Havana also began complaining of being plagued by a

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<v Speaker 1>strange and ominous sound, in a plot that could have

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<v Speaker 1>been lifted straight from the most ludicrous spy novel. It

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<v Speaker 1>really is a story that has to be heard to

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<v Speaker 1>be believed. It was late afternoon in the western suburbs

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<v Speaker 1>of Havana, an area of mostly wealthy neighborhoods populated by

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<v Speaker 1>government officials and diplomats. US diplomats only recently installed in

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<v Speaker 1>the Cuban capital, were facing an uncertain few months ahead,

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<v Speaker 1>due firstly to the incoming President Donald Trump's unexpected election victory.

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<v Speaker 1>This was followed soon after on November twenty fifth by

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<v Speaker 1>the death of ex president and arguably the most iconic

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<v Speaker 1>and influential figure in Cuban history for Del Castro. That weekend,

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<v Speaker 1>one US diplomat recently moved to the city with much

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<v Speaker 1>to think on, was enjoying the tranquility of another warm

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<v Speaker 1>evening at home with his family. The man opened his

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<v Speaker 1>back doors to joyed the last of the evening sun

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<v Speaker 1>when he was suddenly confronted by a hideous din that

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<v Speaker 1>seemed to rattle around his skull. Closing the doors immediately,

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<v Speaker 1>with the sound still ringing in his head, he hurried

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<v Speaker 1>about the house, shutting every window he could find, but

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<v Speaker 1>it was only by turning the TV up that he

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<v Speaker 1>was finally able to offset the infuriating buzz. With the

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<v Speaker 1>noise having finally abated, a few days later, the diplomat

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<v Speaker 1>was back in the garden hosting a colleague in their

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<v Speaker 1>family from next door, when, at roughly the same time

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<v Speaker 1>as before, the noise started again. Hearing it for the

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<v Speaker 1>second time, the man apologized to his guests, speculating that

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<v Speaker 1>it was probably just insects, but the colleague was less sure. This,

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<v Speaker 1>he thought sounded different, more artificial. Somehow, What's more, he'd

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<v Speaker 1>been hearing it too in his home, sometimes for up

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<v Speaker 1>to an hour at a time. After speaking to the

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<v Speaker 1>embassy about it, maintenance workers were sent to investigate, but

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<v Speaker 1>no faulty electrics or any other obvious cause could be found.

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<v Speaker 1>It was a few weeks later when a second younger

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<v Speaker 1>colleague in his thirties turned up at the embassy's medical

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<v Speaker 1>clinic suffering from headaches and hearing problems. The man explained

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<v Speaker 1>that he'd been at home alone when he began experiencing

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<v Speaker 1>discomfort from an unusual sound that seemed to be vibrating

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<v Speaker 1>right inside his head. Whenever he moved from certain spots,

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<v Speaker 1>the sound would disappear, only to reappear again when he

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<v Speaker 1>news of these peculiar incidences began filtering through the embassy,

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<v Speaker 1>some began to wander if these were not, in fact

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<v Speaker 1>deliberate sonic attacks being directed at the embassy employees. Certainly,

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<v Speaker 1>given the nature of the job, the US Cuban Embassy chief,

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<v Speaker 1>Geoffrey de Laurentis, had little choice but to take them seriously.

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<v Speaker 1>Being a veteran of US diplomatic missions, he was more

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<v Speaker 1>than familiar with the many underhand tactics often employed by

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<v Speaker 1>the various secret services of nations to unsettle diplomatic staff

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<v Speaker 1>an occupation or hazard, especially considering that many diplomatic staff

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<v Speaker 1>are often assumed with good reason to be spies, as

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<v Speaker 1>detailed in a twenty eighteen pro Publica article written by

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<v Speaker 1>Tim Golden and Sebastian Roteller titled The Sound and the

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<v Speaker 1>Fury Inside the Mystery of the Havana Embassy. Such tactics

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<v Speaker 1>might traditionally include withholding food parcels for embassies, to simply

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<v Speaker 1>puncturing diplomats car tires. Often it might be something as

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<v Speaker 1>subtle as breaking into their homes just to rearrange furniture

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<v Speaker 1>or leave a window open, a gentle reminder that they

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<v Speaker 1>were always being watched. As Golden and Rotella went on

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<v Speaker 1>to explain, for De Laurentis, it wasn't out of the

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<v Speaker 1>question that some embassy staff were being harassed in this way,

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<v Speaker 1>but as for being targeted by a sophisticated sonic weapon,

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<v Speaker 1>he was less sure, since diplomatic relations had only been

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<v Speaker 1>reinstated the year before, having been non existent since nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>sixty one, Unless it was a rogue agent, which he

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<v Speaker 1>considered unlikely that the Cuban government would sanction such actions

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<v Speaker 1>seemed equally unlikely. Then, in February twenty seventeen, it happened again,

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<v Speaker 1>this time effecting the wife of an embassy employee in

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<v Speaker 1>the coastal neighborhood of Flores. Furthermore, having heard a strange sound,

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<v Speaker 1>she claimed then to have looked out of her window

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<v Speaker 1>to see a van speeding away from the scene. With

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<v Speaker 1>evidence mounting, the US State Department presented a note of

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<v Speaker 1>protest to the Cuban government, formally acknowledging their concern that

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<v Speaker 1>embassy staff were coming under attack. In response, Cuban President

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<v Speaker 1>at the time, Raoul Castro, claimed no knowledge of any

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<v Speaker 1>such attack, and even took the unusual step of allowing

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<v Speaker 1>the FBI to fly to Havana and carry out an

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<v Speaker 1>investigation of their own. As news spread of the apparent

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<v Speaker 1>sonic attacks, more and more embassy staff came forward to

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<v Speaker 1>share their own unusual experiences. Accounts ranged from the general

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<v Speaker 1>hearing of insect like buzzing noises, to more concentrated beams

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<v Speaker 1>that seemed to fix on them, to even just the

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<v Speaker 1>feeling of something gently vibrating in the ear. Many also

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<v Speaker 1>claimed to have suffered serious side effects from the attacks,

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<v Speaker 1>from vomiting to severe loss of hearing. By the end

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<v Speaker 1>of April twenty seventeen, eighty members of embassy staff and

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<v Speaker 1>their family had come forward after being sent to a

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<v Speaker 1>team of medical specialists in Miami led by a doctor

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<v Speaker 1>Michael Hoffer. Twenty four were eventually determined to have been

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<v Speaker 1>significantly harmed by the mysterious threat, and soon the effects

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<v Speaker 1>of the mysterious sound were being felt by Canadian embassy

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<v Speaker 1>staff too, with twenty seven individuals who claimed to have

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<v Speaker 1>suffered headaches, nausea, and even nosebleats said to have sought

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<v Speaker 1>treatment for it. Over the course of May twenty seventeen

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<v Speaker 1>to February twenty eighteen, the FBI made at least four

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<v Speaker 1>trips to Cuba, interviewing countless embassy staff and Cuban government

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<v Speaker 1>officials in their efforts to find the culprit. The CIA's

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<v Speaker 1>Directorate of Science and Technology, as well as the Pentagon's

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<v Speaker 1>Defense Advancement Research Projects Agency also looked into it, but

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<v Speaker 1>none found anything to account for the reports, not least

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<v Speaker 1>of all, any evidence that people were being targeted by

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<v Speaker 1>some kind of sonic device. By then, however, reports had

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<v Speaker 1>filtered into the media, and the urge to talk up

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<v Speaker 1>the potential return of Cold War eraspy tactics complete with

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<v Speaker 1>James Bond's style sonic weapons, was too good to refuse.

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<v Speaker 1>The US military had long been trying to develop a

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<v Speaker 1>device just like it of their own. Similar weapons have

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<v Speaker 1>in fact already been developed, such as the mob excess

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<v Speaker 1>deterrent using silent audio or meduceth short, which is designed

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<v Speaker 1>to break up large mobs or as a deterrent to pirates.

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<v Speaker 1>They had nothing, however, that was capable of conducting such

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<v Speaker 1>seemingly covert and concentrated attacks, and as more apparent victims

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<v Speaker 1>came forward, experts were left increasingly baffled as to what

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<v Speaker 1>an Earth was causing it. One State Department led medical

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<v Speaker 1>investigation was left concluding that despite any physical evidence to

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<v Speaker 1>explain why some individuals had clearly been left with sustained

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<v Speaker 1>injury to widespread brain networks. The lack of evidence linking

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<v Speaker 1>the apparent sonic attacks to the Cuban government didn't stop

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<v Speaker 1>the Trump administration in retaliating, and kind having already been

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<v Speaker 1>intent on rolling back the Obama administration's efforts to try

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<v Speaker 1>and bring the nations closer together and keen to foster

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<v Speaker 1>a more uncompromising image on the international stage, they maintained

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<v Speaker 1>the line that US embassy staff were under attack and

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<v Speaker 1>the Cuban government were responsible. In late September twenty seventeen,

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<v Speaker 1>twenty four or forty seven diplomats assigned to Havana were

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<v Speaker 1>ordered home by the State Department, while fifteen Cuban diplomats

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<v Speaker 1>were sent packing the other way. Before long, however, some

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<v Speaker 1>were beginning to wonder if there'd been an attack at all.

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<v Speaker 1>A number of experts noted similarities between the way things

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<v Speaker 1>had unfolded in Havana and something known as conversion disorder.

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<v Speaker 1>The disorder has been described in the International Journal of

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<v Speaker 1>Social Psychiatry as the rapid spread of illness, signs and

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<v Speaker 1>symptoms among members of a cohesive social group for which

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<v Speaker 1>there is no corresponding organic origin, otherwise known as mass hysteria.

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<v Speaker 1>As some experts speculated, rather than being the side effects

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<v Speaker 1>of a sonic weapon, perhaps all these ailments that embassy

0:12:43.160 --> 0:12:47.200
<v Speaker 1>staff were suffering were in fact perfectly normal medical issues

0:12:47.520 --> 0:12:51.520
<v Speaker 1>reframed as something nefarious, due entirely to the US State

0:12:51.559 --> 0:12:57.240
<v Speaker 1>departments unfounded and perhaps politically motivated insistence that something underhand

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<v Speaker 1>was going on. Under the circumstances, such a possibility would

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<v Speaker 1>be perfectly understandable. After all, when your own leaders are

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<v Speaker 1>telling you, despite the lack of all evidence to the contrary,

0:13:10.080 --> 0:13:13.439
<v Speaker 1>that what they say is taking place, why wouldn't you

0:13:13.520 --> 0:13:20.360
<v Speaker 1>believe them? If you enjoy Unexplained and would like to

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<v Speaker 1>Unexplained The book and audiobook, featuring ten stories that have

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<v Speaker 1>the show's music, are produced by me Richard McClain smith.

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