# What's with all this Cuban "sonic" shit going down? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 15, 2017, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-this-cuban-sonic-shit-going-down/796402 "2017-09-15T14:19:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2017, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-this-cuban-sonic-shit-going-down/796402/21 "2017-09-18T15:39:58Z")
The thing is, if it’s actually some sort of sonic or microwave weapon, there’s no way that they could aim it so precisely that only the American & Canadian diplomats were affected. If it’s a weapon, then it has to be: a) mobile b) run without any obvious external power source c) targeted so precisely that only certain diplomats are affected, not any staff or Cuban people who just happened to be going about their lives d) mostly soundless e) small enough to not be noticed I kind of lean towards a seafood poisoning or parasite, myself. Or possibly some sort of neurotoxin. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2017, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-this-cuban-sonic-shit-going-down/796402/22 "2017-09-18T16:04:29Z")
> [@John\_Bredin](#): > > Why the Canadian diplomats, then? 😕 Canada isn’t the “traditional enemy.” I doubt Castro’s secret police is so stupid as to confuse Canadians with Americans more than maybe once. No idea, and it makes me wonder if maybe there isn’t really an attack going on. But if there is, I’ll fanwank that the Canadians aren’t likely to retaliate, so if the US does, it makes the Americans look that much more isolated. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2017, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-this-cuban-sonic-shit-going-down/796402/23 "2017-09-18T16:23:45Z")
Also possible in this sort of case is “industrial accident,” by which I mean some misunderstood or unknown consequence of some industrial process. A small number of industrial or engineering disasters worldwide have come to our attention through a similar process of vague reports of poorly-defined symptoms. It can take a long time to identify a cause and figure out the whole story. This hypothetically _could_ be unintended side effects due to subsonics produced by some industrial or construction process, or an inadvertent/undetected chemical release, or what have you. While unlikely, I’d wager an undiscovered/unmonitored safety issue is slightly more likely in Cuba than in, say, the U.S. or European countries. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2017, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-this-cuban-sonic-shit-going-down/796402/24 "2017-09-18T21:15:08Z")
> [@sweat209](#): > > Why would Russia do that? What would they lose out by US and Cuba relations?:eek::eek: > [@friedo](#): > > They would lose influence over a client state in the Western hemisphere as Cuba becomes closer to the US. You remember that whole missile crisis thing? That. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2017, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-this-cuban-sonic-shit-going-down/796402/25 "2017-09-19T12:40:29Z")
People assume that a one-party dictatorship is somehow monolithic. They really aren’t. There are people and groups at odds with each other all the time, trying to undermine others, etc. There could well be a group in the Cuban security/military branches that doesn’t want to see improved relations with the US and are trying to create an incident between the two countries. Note that if you bombard a point with specially set sound waves from several angles, where they intersect you can get a strong signal at some other frequency. And objects can really resonate to amplify things locally. ---
**Author:** ![sweat209](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@sweat209](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweat209)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2017, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-this-cuban-sonic-shit-going-down/796402/26 "2017-09-19T20:56:34Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > People assume that a one-party dictatorship is somehow monolithic. They really aren’t. There are people and groups at odds with each other all the time, trying to undermine others, etc. > > There could well be a group in the Cuban security/military branches that doesn’t want to see improved relations with the US and are trying to create an incident between the two countries. > > Note that if you bombard a point with specially set sound waves from several angles, where they intersect you can get a strong signal at some other frequency. And objects can really resonate to amplify things locally. That makes no senses why would part of the Cuban government or part of the Cuban military want no relations with US and Cuba? ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2017, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-this-cuban-sonic-shit-going-down/796402/27 "2017-09-19T21:15:36Z")
> [@Eddie The Horrible](#): > > Maybe not the most mundane topic, but fuckall if I know where else to post this… > > [At least 5 Canadian diplomats and families hit by mysterious 'sound attacks' in Cuba, source says | CBC News](http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/cuba-sonic-sound-attacks-canadian-diplomats-1.4289996) > > Wow - loud grinding/high-pitched chirping/vibrations that resulted, for some, in temporary hearing and speaking problems (Canadian diplomats), while others (the US diplomats…HUH?) are _still_ afflicted? > Huh? > > Can’t return to this thread for another seven or so hours - curious to see what befuddled speculations there can be. Just a guess, but someone other than the cubans might be trying to hack an air gapped computer. Directing sounds into the mic input on a laptop or desktop. The dips might have been collateral casualties. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2017, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-this-cuban-sonic-shit-going-down/796402/28 "2017-09-19T21:20:48Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > Also possible in this sort of case is “industrial accident,” by which I mean some misunderstood or unknown consequence of some industrial process. A small number of industrial or engineering disasters worldwide have come to our attention through a similar process of vague reports of poorly-defined symptoms. It can take a long time to identify a cause and figure out the whole story. > > This hypothetically _could_ be unintended side effects due to subsonics produced by some industrial or construction process, or an inadvertent/undetected chemical release, or what have you. While unlikely, I’d wager an undiscovered/unmonitored safety issue is slightly more likely in Cuba than in, say, the U.S. or European countries. It may be some unintended effect of some sort of espionage technology rather than an industrial process. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2017, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-this-cuban-sonic-shit-going-down/796402/29 "2017-09-20T11:25:34Z")
Cuba This is how we Sonic ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2017, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-this-cuban-sonic-shit-going-down/796402/30 "2017-09-21T20:00:42Z")
> [@sweat209](#): > > That makes no senses why would part of the Cuban government or part of the Cuban military want no relations with US and Cuba? Because ideology sometimes beats rationality. Cuba, like N. Korea and Iran, has maintained stability for so long primarily by using The Evil United States to divert attention from the internal problems. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2017, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-this-cuban-sonic-shit-going-down/796402/31 "2017-09-21T23:08:05Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Note that if you bombard a point with specially set sound waves from several angles, where they intersect you can get a strong signal at some other frequency. And objects can really resonate to amplify things locally. > [@Merneith](#): > > The thing is, if it’s actually some sort of sonic or microwave weapon, there’s no way that they could aim it so precisely that only the American & Canadian diplomats were affected. There are also various ways of generating a focused, directional beam of sound, so there is no reason a sonic (or microwave) weapon could not be aimed to affect a precise target, if someone wanted to do such a thing. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2017, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-this-cuban-sonic-shit-going-down/796402/32 "2017-09-22T04:38:39Z")
Perhaps a Sonic screwdriver? Who else? 😃 What ever it is. There’s a waveform that instruments can pick up and it can be traced back to it’s source. For example, I could use a frequency generator to create a 26 khz signal and broadcast it with a PA system throughout my neighborhood. Every dog would be howling in agony. People won’t hear it. That signal would easily be picked up by a meter and the source found. I suspect a very low frequency weapon in Cuba. There’s been research on them for decades. Can’t be heard, but our bodies react to them. This Popular Science article is very interesting. > **[Could A Sonic Weapon Make Your Head Explode?](https://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2012-11/acoustic-weapons-book-excerpt/)** > > Infrasonic sound can have very unusual non-auditory effects on the body. But does it kill? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-this-cuban-sonic-shit-going-down/796402.md?page=1)