5 ms·

Errant high-power microwave signals still seem to be the #1 likely scenario in my book. It was covered here previously: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1

Errant high-power microwave signals still seem to be the #1 likely scenario in my book. It was covered here previously: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15332122 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15332122 While I tossed out the idea in that thread that it could be related to pest control, I think the most likely explanation would be an improperly aimed high-powered microwave antenna. I can't imagine any ultrasonic signal being at such a power level as to cause physical damage at a distance, let alone through walls. In fact, I'm not sure that's ever been shown to be possible. We know for a fact; however, that high powered microwaves can be highly damaging and in combination with the microwave auditory effect, would explain it quite well.

IntronExon 9y ago
You could also get unexpected results using two beams of microwaves which constructively interfere. A simple misalignment could shift the intersection and lead to cooked noodles. Microwaves are as capable of that as sound waves, and more likely to be generated by relatively compact devices, while causing brain damage and auditory effects. I can also imagine that it’s the kind of “sources and methods” talk our government doesn’t appreciate.
walrus01 9y ago
high power microwave/millimeter wave can also be focused pretty tightly, down to 1.5 degrees central beam width... Telecom grade point to point millimeter wave stuff (71-86 GHz) can be +19 dBm into a 52dBi gain 60cm antenna. But if you're not actually trying to communicate and just want to flood the spectrum with shit at high powers, it's totally feasible to build something that has a power of like +30 fed into a 56dBi gain directional parabolic antenna. one possible explanation is that they were trying to do a more "modern" version of the famous battery-free bug that was found in the US moscow embassy, where the listening apparatus and its transmitter were powered passively by receiving RF: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thing_(listening_device) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thing_(listening_device)
- morsch 9y ago
  Who's they? Absent other evidence, it seems to me the most likely people to be emitting microwaves at an American embassy would be... Americans.
  - walrus01 9y ago
    the weird part is that a number of people reported these phenomena not while they were at an embassy, but it's staff members and people who live in privately rented accommodation offsite. Various Canadian diplomats in Havana experienced the same thing and they live in random rented apartments/townhouses around the city. Mostly the phenomena were reported while people were asleep or in bed at locations other than the embassy.
  - IntronExon 9y ago
    That’s certainly possible, and in fact it could have been part of a routine sweep for unpowered bugs that went wrong. It would also help to explain the impressive range of bullshit “explanations” that keep getting printed. Mass hysteria? Really?! https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/12/cuba-mass-hysteria-sonic-attacks-neurologists https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/12/cuba-mass-hyst... Give me a break.
    - TeMPOraL 9y ago
      Did someone debunk the STD hypothesis? That sounded the most plausible to me when first reported (didn't involve any conspiracy, just humans being humans - plus was shameful enough to justify spinning stories about sonic attacks).
      - IntronExon 9y ago
        Well the info from the doctors who examined them debunks it, but that assumes that as you say, it isn’t being spun. I think the truth is that we just don’t know, and may never be in a position to know.

IntronExon 9y ago

You could also get unexpected results using two beams of microwaves which constructively interfere. A simple misalignment could shift the intersection and lead to cooked noodles. Microwaves are as capable of that as sound waves, and more likely to be generated by relatively compact devices, while causing brain damage and auditory effects. I can also imagine that it’s the kind of “sources and methods” talk our government doesn’t appreciate.

walrus01 9y ago

high power microwave/millimeter wave can also be focused pretty tightly, down to 1.5 degrees central beam width... Telecom grade point to point millimeter wave stuff (71-86 GHz) can be +19 dBm into a 52dBi gain 60cm antenna. But if you're not actually trying to communicate and just want to flood the spectrum with shit at high powers, it's totally feasible to build something that has a power of like +30 fed into a 56dBi gain directional parabolic antenna. one possible explanation is that they were trying to do a more "modern" version of the famous battery-free bug that was found in the US moscow embassy, where the listening apparatus and its transmitter were powered passively by receiving RF: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thing_(listening_device) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thing_(listening_device)

morsch 9y ago
Who's they? Absent other evidence, it seems to me the most likely people to be emitting microwaves at an American embassy would be... Americans.
- walrus01 9y ago
  the weird part is that a number of people reported these phenomena not while they were at an embassy, but it's staff members and people who live in privately rented accommodation offsite. Various Canadian diplomats in Havana experienced the same thing and they live in random rented apartments/townhouses around the city. Mostly the phenomena were reported while people were asleep or in bed at locations other than the embassy.
- IntronExon 9y ago
  That’s certainly possible, and in fact it could have been part of a routine sweep for unpowered bugs that went wrong. It would also help to explain the impressive range of bullshit “explanations” that keep getting printed. Mass hysteria? Really?! https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/12/cuba-mass-hysteria-sonic-attacks-neurologists https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/12/cuba-mass-hyst... Give me a break.
  - TeMPOraL 9y ago
    Did someone debunk the STD hypothesis? That sounded the most plausible to me when first reported (didn't involve any conspiracy, just humans being humans - plus was shameful enough to justify spinning stories about sonic attacks).
    - IntronExon 9y ago
      Well the info from the doctors who examined them debunks it, but that assumes that as you say, it isn’t being spun. I think the truth is that we just don’t know, and may never be in a position to know.