Once they appear in one person, moreover, they can spread in a group sharing the same conditions - say, among officials in a hostile setting. The basic idea is that a reaction to some form of stress or trauma can cause a variety of symptoms that cannot be explained by any other disease or condition.

Among the most celebrated findings was that recordings of the buzzing noises reported in several of the Havana incidents were actually the mating call of a particularly loud cricket, Anurogryllus celerinictus.ДЄnother possibility raised is an outbreak of what used to be called mass hysteria but now goes by less offensive-sounding names like mass psychogenic illness, conversion disorder and functional neurological disorders. So far, despite many efforts to explain the вЂњanomalous health incidentsвЂќ - the bureaucratese assigned to the phenomenon by the government, scientists and investigative journalists - no one has come up with anything conclusive.ДЄ variety of theories have been proposed, generally along the lines of some form of targeted beams or sonic weapons using microwaves or ultrasound, only to be disproved or deemed inconclusive. So is this another consequence of nerves frayed by the invisible eyes and ears of a secret surveillance apparatus? Or is it caused by some dastardly new weapon deployed by AmericaвЂ™s enemies - Russia? - to eavesdrop on or harass spies and diplomats? TheyвЂ™re every bit as real as my twitching eye and, according to the reports, considerably more debilitating. The symptoms are indisputable and serious - theyвЂ™ve included headaches, nausea, impaired balance and hearing loss. These memories have resurfaced as IвЂ™ve followed the saga of вЂњHavana syndrome,вЂќ the neurological symptoms that American diplomats and spies, and some Canadians, started reporting in Cuba in 2016 and have reported in several other places since, most recently Colombia. вЂњJust because youвЂ™re paranoid doesnвЂ™t mean youвЂ™re wrongвЂќ was the watchword. One colleague got freaked out by suspicious flashes of light through the night, until he realized they were sparks from MoscowвЂ™s antiquated trolley buses, which drew power from overhead wires. Everyone had a story of KGB surveillance, like listening devices falling out of chandeliers or recording equipment spotted behind a closed door.

I took him to mean that it was a nervous reaction to the novel stress of finding oneself in a hostile state, secretly watched and listened to.

Blood ravens bolt down everything