WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:07.580 You're about to listen to Havana Helmet Club. 00:08.140 --> 00:11.320 New episodes will be released weekly, wherever you get your podcasts. 00:11.800 --> 00:16.400 But if you're in the UK, you can listen to the latest episodes a week early on BBC Sounds. 00:17.000 --> 00:22.540 Just to let you know, this episode contains strong language and may not be suitable for all audiences. 00:22.540 --> 00:31.520 What is it about trying to figure out a sound when you're alone in your bed? 00:33.140 --> 00:35.160 Noises multiply mysteriously. 00:36.880 --> 00:38.840 Or lurk around corners. 00:44.540 --> 00:47.240 Can you even trust that you heard anything at all? 00:52.540 --> 01:02.260 U.S. State Department Building, Washington, D.C., August 9, 2017. 01:02.740 --> 01:04.180 Steve Dorsey from CBS News. 01:04.180 --> 01:04.360 Hi, Steve. 01:04.520 --> 01:06.420 Hi. Just a quick change in topic. 01:06.640 --> 01:11.200 Can you tell us about the incidents that have been going on in Havana affecting U.S. government workers there? 01:11.340 --> 01:16.400 Yes. So we are certainly aware of what has happened there. 01:17.220 --> 01:18.240 Give me one second here. 01:18.240 --> 01:20.780 It was the first summer of the first Trump administration. 01:20.780 --> 01:24.900 Reporters have been spending a lot of time in this stifling press room. 01:25.900 --> 01:28.880 Now, something seems to be going on in Havana, Cuba. 01:29.160 --> 01:30.760 We take this very seriously. 01:31.100 --> 01:31.780 What is this? 01:31.860 --> 01:34.680 An NBC journalist asks, what is this? 01:35.040 --> 01:36.520 This incident. This incident. 01:36.960 --> 01:38.480 And that's what we're calling it. 01:38.520 --> 01:40.780 We don't know exactly what... 01:40.780 --> 01:43.860 Since 2016, you don't know what this incident is? 01:43.860 --> 01:54.940 What this requires is providing medical examinations to these people initially when they started reporting what I will just call symptoms. 01:54.940 --> 02:05.940 Until that afternoon, it had been a closely held secret that in late 2016, in Cuba, American CIA agents and diplomats began to hear a sound they called the thing. 02:06.900 --> 02:11.080 When they heard the sound, they felt a strange pressure inside their heads. 02:11.800 --> 02:13.320 And then they started to get sick. 02:14.060 --> 02:15.980 The thing seemed to be attacking them. 02:15.980 --> 02:19.240 News reports sounded like science fiction. 02:19.960 --> 02:24.720 Embassy staff complaining of headaches, of nausea, of dizziness, of hearing loss. 02:24.780 --> 02:29.220 They say this was brought on by these blaring, grinding noises. 02:29.340 --> 02:36.760 It seems to have been inside or outside the homes, or if it was some sort of sound weapon fired from outside into inside. 02:36.760 --> 02:40.840 A recording of the otherworldly sound was posted on Twitter. 02:41.740 --> 02:47.760 At the time, we were on an all-consuming deadline for a podcast about an unsolved murder in West Cork, Ireland. 02:48.160 --> 02:50.700 But we were pulled in by this mystery sound. 02:51.180 --> 02:53.920 There was an audiograph, visualising the sound waves. 02:54.380 --> 02:59.700 I remember playing it over and over, gazing at the spikes, not really sure what I was meant to be looking for. 03:00.180 --> 03:01.440 The comments were full of jokes. 03:01.940 --> 03:04.200 Maybe it's an alien life form trying to communicate. 03:04.540 --> 03:06.120 A new piece by Yoko Ono. 03:06.120 --> 03:07.360 A ray gun. 03:09.680 --> 03:12.020 Only that last one wasn't a joke. 03:12.860 --> 03:17.540 A fabled weapon, dreamt of by the Americans and Russians for more than a century. 03:18.560 --> 03:22.080 Had someone finally figured out how to fire invisible bullets? 03:24.460 --> 03:25.900 A story took shape. 03:26.460 --> 03:29.260 This was a new weapon, deployed by an old enemy. 03:29.940 --> 03:33.600 And this thing that became known as Havana Syndrome spread around the world, 03:33.600 --> 03:37.400 infiltrating embassies on every continent, afflicting hundreds. 03:38.200 --> 03:43.300 American agents were falling over, blacking out, losing the ability to ever work again. 03:43.300 --> 03:46.540 Cases were identified in multiple other countries. 03:46.540 --> 03:52.220 Russia, Austria, Colombia, Serbia, India, Vietnam, the US and the UK. 03:53.000 --> 03:55.840 The problem was, no one could find the weapon. 03:57.140 --> 03:58.280 Doubt crept in. 03:58.280 --> 04:03.220 If you put a lot of pieces of evidence, it gives the appearance of a solid story. 04:03.440 --> 04:06.840 But once you start seeing if they do fit together, they don't. 04:07.320 --> 04:10.360 Most of these guys are intelligence operators in Cuba. 04:10.960 --> 04:13.460 Intelligence people engage in mendacity all the time. 04:13.520 --> 04:16.720 Just read any John Le Carre novel and you'll see. 04:16.720 --> 04:18.980 So, we're going to believe those guys? 04:19.380 --> 04:19.740 Come on. 04:20.100 --> 04:21.140 Who's patient zero? 04:25.820 --> 04:26.420 Hey. 04:26.560 --> 04:26.900 Hey, Sam. 04:27.220 --> 04:28.140 Hey, man. How are you? 04:29.060 --> 04:30.340 No, no, no. We're good, man. How are you doing? 04:30.540 --> 04:31.320 Patient zero. 04:31.760 --> 04:34.960 He's a British-American, former CIA agent. 04:35.760 --> 04:39.580 We met through a source on an encrypted messaging app called Wicca. 04:39.580 --> 04:44.760 To prove his identity, he sent a photo of himself standing with Mike Pompeo, 04:45.180 --> 04:47.140 director of the CIA at the time. 04:47.820 --> 04:51.600 Pompeo is presenting him with the exceptional service medallion 04:51.600 --> 04:54.360 in recognition of what happened to him in Cuba. 04:54.860 --> 04:57.320 It's like the CIA version of a purple heart. 04:57.860 --> 05:00.020 They give it to agents who were injured in the field. 05:00.800 --> 05:03.060 The CIA once treated him like a hero. 05:03.800 --> 05:07.020 Since then, things have become a lot more complicated. 05:07.020 --> 05:11.200 Today, he's at the center of a contested reality. 05:11.700 --> 05:13.820 To fellow sufferers, he's a whistleblower, 05:14.180 --> 05:19.280 refusing to allow his government to sweep an ongoing national security threat under the rug. 05:19.920 --> 05:22.860 For the people who dismiss Havana Syndrome as a myth, 05:23.400 --> 05:25.840 this man is that myth's creator. 05:26.600 --> 05:30.240 He uses an alias, Adam, as in the first man. 05:31.160 --> 05:33.540 He was the first spy in Cuba to speak up, 05:33.540 --> 05:37.660 to come forward with this story of a mysterious energy, 05:38.080 --> 05:41.320 so far undetectable, somehow on the attack. 05:43.240 --> 05:46.440 Yeah, it's easy to get in your own head sometimes and think that 05:46.440 --> 05:47.680 maybe this isn't real. 05:48.160 --> 05:48.960 Maybe they're right. 05:49.100 --> 05:49.940 Maybe this is psych. 05:50.020 --> 05:50.920 Maybe I am crazy. 05:51.320 --> 05:52.480 But that's gaslighting. 05:53.000 --> 05:55.280 And they've done that to us for years. 05:55.280 --> 06:03.520 From BBC Radio 4, this is Havana Helmet Club. 06:04.140 --> 06:04.980 I'm Sam Bungie. 06:05.600 --> 06:09.280 I'm Jennifer Ford, and this is Episode 1, Psychological Fortitude. 06:09.280 --> 06:28.340 When Adam first heard the thing, he was alone in his apartment, 06:28.600 --> 06:31.280 three miles back from the glorious Havana seafront. 06:31.280 --> 06:35.220 The Cubans control what houses the US Embassy can rent. 06:35.560 --> 06:37.620 So they control the entire environment. 06:38.560 --> 06:42.040 Adam's place was in a modest neighbourhood of whitewashed apartment buildings. 06:42.720 --> 06:44.720 This was his first posting as a field agent, 06:44.880 --> 06:46.240 and he was the new kid on the block. 06:46.440 --> 06:48.860 I wasn't in one of the Cuban McMansions, unfortunately. 06:49.120 --> 06:49.740 I wish I was. 06:50.300 --> 06:51.480 Some of my colleagues got that. 06:51.540 --> 06:54.320 I got the short end of the stick, and so I got this little crap hole. 06:55.360 --> 06:55.860 It didn't matter. 06:56.380 --> 06:57.920 It did what I needed it to do. 06:57.920 --> 07:02.080 It was Christmas 2016, and most of the staff at the embassy 07:02.080 --> 07:04.400 had gone home to spend it with family in America. 07:05.200 --> 07:06.920 On the evening of December 29th, 07:07.720 --> 07:10.220 Adam was on his bed watching a sitcom on his laptop. 07:10.980 --> 07:13.640 That's when he first got the notion that something was wrong. 07:16.100 --> 07:18.300 All the dogs started barking at once, 07:18.520 --> 07:21.680 and then a loud sound kind of just came into the room, 07:21.880 --> 07:23.520 just really filled the room. 07:24.380 --> 07:25.840 It felt like my head was in a vice, 07:25.840 --> 07:27.540 and someone was just, like, turning it. 07:27.920 --> 07:29.560 This excruciating ear pain, 07:30.440 --> 07:33.160 this jarring, disorienting pain. 07:34.700 --> 07:36.000 Adam got out his phone 07:36.000 --> 07:38.580 and started texting his brother back home in the US. 07:39.580 --> 07:41.580 My head feels like it's going to explode. 07:42.600 --> 07:44.060 My head is fucking spinning. 07:44.060 --> 07:49.900 And then it just ramped up to a level where I started blacking out. 07:51.840 --> 07:54.340 Then that tunnel started kicking in, 07:54.540 --> 07:56.480 and I realized that if I went out in this, 07:56.520 --> 07:58.420 I didn't know if I'd come back from it. 07:58.420 --> 08:02.600 He rolled off the side of his bed and let himself drop to the floor. 08:03.340 --> 08:04.860 He wanted to get out of his bedroom. 08:06.200 --> 08:09.300 Something was present fully in that room, 08:09.420 --> 08:10.680 but was only in that room. 08:11.200 --> 08:12.700 He managed to make his way downstairs 08:12.700 --> 08:14.400 and spent the night on the sofa. 08:15.400 --> 08:17.320 And was in quite a lot of pain. 08:17.780 --> 08:19.040 I didn't really sleep that night. 08:24.340 --> 08:26.900 I can't tell you how happy I was to see the sun coming up. 08:26.900 --> 08:30.920 That morning, Adam headed straight to the US Embassy 08:30.920 --> 08:32.480 to get a medical check-up. 08:33.240 --> 08:35.460 I want to rule out natural occurrences. 08:35.960 --> 08:37.560 And he's like, well, you didn't have a stroke. 08:37.800 --> 08:38.480 What's going on? 08:38.500 --> 08:39.760 And I explained to him the sound 08:39.760 --> 08:41.200 and how it was uncomfortable and the pain. 08:41.300 --> 08:44.100 And he goes, well, that happened to me about a month ago. 08:44.580 --> 08:45.460 I go, shit, okay. 08:45.640 --> 08:46.940 Well, I feel a little less crazy. 08:47.720 --> 08:50.300 You know, no one wants to come forward with a story like this. 08:50.880 --> 08:51.580 You know, what happened? 08:51.660 --> 08:53.100 And he tells me his whole story. 08:53.680 --> 08:54.460 The doctor himself? 08:54.580 --> 08:55.280 Yeah, yeah. 08:55.540 --> 08:56.420 I don't want to say his name, 08:56.420 --> 08:57.660 but he was the Embassy Medical Officer. 08:58.160 --> 08:59.480 What did he say had happened to him? 08:59.740 --> 09:00.560 Compared to what happened to him? 09:00.560 --> 09:03.340 So with him, he'd been home with his girlfriend at the time. 09:03.480 --> 09:05.380 They'd been watching TV downstairs 09:05.380 --> 09:08.680 and a very loud sound filled up their living room 09:08.680 --> 09:10.080 and was very uncomfortable. 09:10.640 --> 09:12.100 He went outside and looked around 09:12.100 --> 09:15.060 and that seemed to have stopped at that point. 09:15.420 --> 09:17.040 But he hadn't really thought anything more of it 09:17.040 --> 09:19.120 because it wasn't necessarily painful for him. 09:19.220 --> 09:20.440 It was more uncomfortable and loud. 09:20.820 --> 09:22.600 And so I asked his permission. 09:22.740 --> 09:25.280 I'm like, well, can I go and tell your story to the RSO, 09:25.280 --> 09:26.520 the regional security officer 09:26.520 --> 09:29.700 who's in charge of security for all American diplomats. 09:29.920 --> 09:30.780 He goes, sure, that's fine. 09:31.260 --> 09:32.700 So I went upstairs to see him 09:32.700 --> 09:35.200 and as it progressed the story, 09:35.460 --> 09:38.200 you could see him kind of having this little realisation 09:38.200 --> 09:39.480 happen in his face. 09:40.020 --> 09:40.960 He goes, that happened to me. 09:40.960 --> 09:43.200 My wife was very sensitive to noise 09:43.200 --> 09:44.900 and she was screaming on the other side of the house 09:44.900 --> 09:46.020 and whatever was going on. 09:46.520 --> 09:49.620 And I go, well, I think we've got a problem now. 09:49.620 --> 09:56.380 We reached out to both officials for their stories. 09:56.940 --> 09:58.380 The RSO didn't want to talk. 09:58.820 --> 10:00.660 The medical officer we didn't hear back from. 10:01.220 --> 10:03.780 But Adam's saying there were now three people in the embassy 10:03.780 --> 10:06.640 sharing experiences of the same mysterious sound. 10:08.040 --> 10:09.740 The others may have had little choice 10:09.740 --> 10:11.660 but to shrug it off as a curiosity. 10:12.300 --> 10:13.860 But as a trained spy in Cuba, 10:14.360 --> 10:16.120 Adam navigated a different realm 10:16.120 --> 10:18.460 and he was already connecting dots. 10:22.160 --> 10:23.980 From an intelligence standpoint, 10:24.380 --> 10:26.220 the Cubans are pound for pound 10:26.220 --> 10:28.680 probably one of the best services in the world. 10:29.020 --> 10:30.220 Russia's the drunk frat boy. 10:30.500 --> 10:32.120 You know, they kick your door and punch you in the face. 10:32.480 --> 10:33.520 China will pick your pocket 10:33.520 --> 10:35.280 and then steal your social security number 10:35.280 --> 10:36.560 and run up credit card debt. 10:36.960 --> 10:38.220 The Cubans do both 10:38.220 --> 10:40.460 and then make you think that it never happened. 10:40.800 --> 10:43.340 What does a poor Caribbean island nation 10:43.340 --> 10:45.720 want with such a world-class spy operation? 10:46.700 --> 10:48.420 Well, it has a lot to do with the fact 10:48.420 --> 10:49.840 that America has been obsessed 10:49.840 --> 10:51.820 with trying to defeat its red neighbour. 10:52.820 --> 10:55.780 Ever since Fidel Castro came to power in 1959, 10:57.180 --> 10:59.520 America shut Cuba out of the global economy 10:59.520 --> 11:01.560 and secretly used the CIA 11:01.560 --> 11:03.300 to try to overthrow the government, 11:03.780 --> 11:06.340 dreaming up literally hundreds of plots to kill Castro. 11:06.340 --> 11:09.780 Even JFK conceded it made America look, 11:09.980 --> 11:10.220 quote, 11:10.320 --> 11:11.240 slightly demented. 11:12.400 --> 11:15.460 Yet somehow the regime Castro set up is still there, 11:16.060 --> 11:18.100 an itch that America just can't scratch. 11:19.000 --> 11:20.460 Cuba's own intelligence service 11:20.460 --> 11:22.900 confused and countered CIA infiltration 11:22.900 --> 11:24.720 by learning from the best, 11:25.300 --> 11:25.880 the KGB. 11:27.140 --> 11:28.900 According to one senior defector, 11:29.440 --> 11:31.760 Soviet intelligence had a particular MO. 11:31.760 --> 11:36.380 They wanted to change the way Americans perceive reality. 11:39.380 --> 11:42.560 We were there from 1988 to 90. 11:43.420 --> 11:45.340 We discovered that the Cubans 11:45.340 --> 11:48.280 had an amazing double agent programme. 11:48.280 --> 11:51.700 This is former CIA agent Suzanne Matthews. 11:52.040 --> 11:55.140 They would throw their officers at us 11:55.140 --> 11:57.920 and allow their officers to be recruited. 11:58.640 --> 12:02.360 So there was a huge expose right before we moved to Cuba 12:02.360 --> 12:05.580 because most of the agents that the agency had 12:05.580 --> 12:06.540 were double agents. 12:06.540 --> 12:11.800 In 1989, the Berlin Wall came down 12:11.800 --> 12:12.960 and the world moved on. 12:13.620 --> 12:15.640 But Cuba and America did not move on. 12:16.200 --> 12:17.360 They were frozen in time. 12:17.500 --> 12:20.040 The Cold War mindset baked into the relationship. 12:21.500 --> 12:24.040 Fulton Armstrong, a former CIA analyst. 12:24.320 --> 12:26.540 Everybody who's chosen for a post like Havana, 12:26.960 --> 12:29.640 whether you're State Department, CIA, or anything else, 12:29.860 --> 12:32.480 you should be vetted for your psychological fortitude 12:32.480 --> 12:34.660 and your ability to rise above things 12:34.660 --> 12:38.720 and not overreact and not see shadows that aren't there. 12:45.460 --> 12:48.540 Adam can't tell us much about his recruitment or training. 12:49.260 --> 12:51.380 But the CIA must have seen qualities in him 12:51.380 --> 12:53.360 that showed he was cut out for the job. 12:54.020 --> 12:55.480 He's medically retired now 12:55.480 --> 12:57.780 on account of whatever happened to him in Cuba. 12:57.780 --> 13:02.660 He lives on a property in the US 13:02.660 --> 13:04.820 where he built a home shooting range. 13:06.120 --> 13:08.860 This is the sound of Adam doing target practice. 13:10.360 --> 13:12.280 He sent me the video not long ago. 13:13.100 --> 13:14.200 He's wearing ear defenders 13:14.200 --> 13:16.680 and emptying a clip from a large pistol 13:16.680 --> 13:19.060 dinging the little steel targets with every bullet. 13:19.060 --> 13:26.300 The CIA can train you to use lethal force like this, 13:26.600 --> 13:27.600 but what they can't teach, 13:27.840 --> 13:29.160 and what they apparently saw in Adam, 13:29.700 --> 13:31.020 is a willingness to use it. 13:31.900 --> 13:33.280 In order for my job, 13:33.440 --> 13:35.460 you get way more additional psych screening 13:35.460 --> 13:36.780 to make sure you can handle 13:36.780 --> 13:39.060 what the Cuban government is about to throw at you. 13:39.840 --> 13:41.580 There's a profile they have found 13:41.580 --> 13:44.060 that works psychologically for certain roles, 13:44.060 --> 13:45.360 especially for my role. 13:45.680 --> 13:48.520 I think they want people right on the line of sociopathic 13:48.520 --> 13:51.300 or the ability to get to that line if they need to. 13:51.640 --> 13:53.060 This is probably why I was getting up my job 13:53.060 --> 13:54.420 and why I got hired, frankly. 13:54.860 --> 13:55.980 But you're dealing with life and death, 13:56.220 --> 13:57.720 and you need to be able to make 13:57.720 --> 14:00.180 pretty cold, calculated decisions 14:00.180 --> 14:01.520 when it comes down to it. 14:01.560 --> 14:03.120 You can't be emotional and get all upset. 14:07.300 --> 14:09.160 There are mind games that go on. 14:09.480 --> 14:11.940 You need to understand that mind games happen. 14:11.940 --> 14:14.680 That's Fulton Armstrong again. 14:15.140 --> 14:16.480 He was posted to Cuba back 14:16.480 --> 14:17.920 during the Clinton administration. 14:18.540 --> 14:20.640 I had headlights smashed on my car 14:20.640 --> 14:24.620 and two flat tires at a time numerous times, 14:24.860 --> 14:27.800 and yelling at me and my daughter and my wife 14:27.800 --> 14:29.880 when we're taking Sunday afternoon walks. 14:30.120 --> 14:30.340 Yelling? 14:30.900 --> 14:31.380 Yeah, yeah. 14:31.440 --> 14:32.300 What would they yell? 14:32.820 --> 14:33.340 Threats. 14:33.560 --> 14:35.800 They would drive by and wave their fists like this. 14:36.460 --> 14:37.340 Harassment happened, 14:37.580 --> 14:39.760 and inappropriate stuff, undiplomatic stuff, 14:39.760 --> 14:41.960 and we did stuff to them up here. 14:42.460 --> 14:44.520 He means to his opposite numbers in Washington. 14:45.800 --> 14:47.800 We would do fun things like 14:47.800 --> 14:49.860 Cuban diplomat would go into a store 14:49.860 --> 14:51.920 and somebody would come up 14:51.920 --> 14:53.540 and accuse them of shoplifting 14:53.540 --> 14:54.640 just for harassment. 14:55.100 --> 14:57.000 They would have to explain themselves 14:57.000 --> 14:59.140 and be embarrassed in front of other people 14:59.140 --> 15:01.260 and hustled around and things like that. 15:01.620 --> 15:02.780 That's part of life. 15:03.440 --> 15:06.000 Obviously part of life if you happen to be a spy. 15:06.000 --> 15:09.180 That life is a long way from where Adam had been 15:09.180 --> 15:10.360 just three years earlier, 15:10.920 --> 15:13.740 working as a cop in an American seaside town. 15:14.420 --> 15:15.900 When Adam first agreed to meet, 15:16.460 --> 15:18.220 I pictured some furtive encounter 15:18.220 --> 15:19.700 in a crowded public place. 15:20.440 --> 15:22.340 Instead, he invited me to his parents' house 15:22.340 --> 15:24.160 in the north of England where Adam was born. 15:24.700 --> 15:25.520 Oh, you all right? 15:25.640 --> 15:26.680 We can close that door if you want. 15:26.760 --> 15:27.700 Sure, OK, great. 15:28.480 --> 15:30.660 I don't think I really imagined secret agents 15:30.660 --> 15:32.700 even having a life before they became spies. 15:32.700 --> 15:35.940 Yet here I was in Adam's parents' living room 15:35.940 --> 15:37.820 looking at his family photographs. 15:38.820 --> 15:39.660 Yeah, that's music, huh? 15:39.980 --> 15:42.400 Wow, there you are, with your own cruiser and everything. 15:42.660 --> 15:45.040 In the photograph, Adam looks tall and stocky 15:45.040 --> 15:46.820 with a boyish open face. 15:48.480 --> 15:50.420 Adam's family moved to the US for work 15:50.420 --> 15:51.380 when he was still a kid. 15:52.140 --> 15:53.540 He went through American high school 15:53.540 --> 15:55.080 and then took a job in the summers 15:55.080 --> 15:56.520 with the hometown police force. 15:56.980 --> 15:58.780 There was no dramatic tap on the shoulder 15:58.780 --> 16:00.120 from a CIA recruiter. 16:00.120 --> 16:03.260 Adam was just in his mid-twenties and restless. 16:04.300 --> 16:06.540 PD was great and I loved it to death, 16:06.720 --> 16:08.700 but my goal was to find my limits. 16:08.960 --> 16:10.680 It's always been to find my limits. 16:10.880 --> 16:13.400 Like, that's why I've done everything I've ever done. 16:13.640 --> 16:14.960 So he started carpet bombing 16:14.960 --> 16:16.900 law enforcement agencies with his resume. 16:17.460 --> 16:18.740 I was just looking for a different job 16:18.740 --> 16:19.840 in this one call and I was like, 16:19.880 --> 16:20.820 well, that'll be different. 16:21.980 --> 16:23.380 Adam got called for an interview 16:23.380 --> 16:24.880 with the CIA in Boston. 16:25.720 --> 16:26.920 He'd felt like the odd one out 16:26.920 --> 16:27.980 among the new prospects, 16:27.980 --> 16:29.780 like the only one who hadn't come 16:29.780 --> 16:30.700 from an elite college 16:30.700 --> 16:32.260 or a high-end law firm. 16:33.060 --> 16:34.280 There weren't many people 16:34.280 --> 16:35.360 that were like me, 16:35.720 --> 16:36.820 kind of more blue-collary. 16:37.440 --> 16:39.440 But he says he impressed his assessors, 16:39.760 --> 16:40.900 breezing through several rounds 16:40.900 --> 16:42.820 of interviews and psych examinations. 16:43.600 --> 16:44.620 After I got hired, 16:44.700 --> 16:45.800 you can meet with the docs 16:45.800 --> 16:48.020 and basically go through your hiring packet 16:48.020 --> 16:49.220 while you're testing and shit. 16:50.200 --> 16:52.360 Adam says he did well on his skills tests. 16:53.020 --> 16:54.860 In particular, he was off the charts 16:54.860 --> 16:55.960 for spatial reasoning, 16:56.600 --> 16:57.600 which apparently can mean 16:57.600 --> 16:58.560 you're gifted at anything 16:58.560 --> 16:59.560 from map reading 16:59.560 --> 17:01.340 to efficiently packing a suitcase. 17:02.280 --> 17:03.120 If you're in the CIA, 17:03.620 --> 17:04.720 it helps you figure your way 17:04.720 --> 17:05.780 out of tight spots. 17:06.480 --> 17:07.580 Adam's mum confirmed 17:07.580 --> 17:09.040 this is something he's pretty good at. 17:09.540 --> 17:11.300 This is the one that keeps life entertaining 17:11.300 --> 17:12.780 all the time. 17:12.840 --> 17:13.960 Oh yeah, even before this. 17:13.960 --> 17:14.580 Oh yeah. 17:14.760 --> 17:17.460 We won't go into all that. 17:18.140 --> 17:18.580 What? 17:18.880 --> 17:19.340 What do you mean? 17:19.520 --> 17:20.600 I do adventure stuff, 17:20.800 --> 17:20.980 you know, 17:21.100 --> 17:22.040 go climbing Nepal. 17:22.560 --> 17:23.280 Back when he was in 17:23.280 --> 17:24.560 the small-town police force, 17:25.160 --> 17:26.340 Adam had found an outlet 17:26.340 --> 17:27.660 in overseas travel. 17:28.320 --> 17:29.960 He saved up to go on long trips 17:29.960 --> 17:30.980 during the winter months 17:30.980 --> 17:32.160 and kept searching 17:32.160 --> 17:33.900 for more extreme experiences. 17:34.640 --> 17:35.800 He persevered through bouts 17:35.800 --> 17:37.660 of dysentery in Hungary and India, 17:38.100 --> 17:39.600 a case of pulmonary edema 17:39.600 --> 17:40.660 while mountain climbing 17:40.660 --> 17:41.800 in the Himalayas. 17:42.140 --> 17:42.660 Australia. 17:43.000 --> 17:43.200 Yeah. 17:43.200 --> 17:44.680 In the decompression chamber 17:44.680 --> 17:46.000 because of the dive initially. 17:46.200 --> 17:46.960 It's a long story. 17:47.120 --> 17:47.820 Like the climb, 17:48.200 --> 17:49.180 the dive went wrong. 17:49.800 --> 17:50.940 We got washed out to sea, 17:51.220 --> 17:52.500 floated off into shipping lanes. 17:53.160 --> 17:54.420 These experiences find me, 17:54.620 --> 17:55.640 or I find them. 17:55.780 --> 17:57.280 Always, always. 17:57.640 --> 17:58.900 It doesn't seem like a pattern, 17:59.000 --> 18:00.320 but when you put it all in one go, 18:00.400 --> 18:01.380 it does, I guess. 18:02.760 --> 18:04.120 Adam didn't tell his parents 18:04.120 --> 18:05.060 he joined the CIA, 18:05.580 --> 18:06.340 not straight away. 18:06.980 --> 18:08.220 Then, shortly before he's due 18:08.220 --> 18:09.520 to head off to a secret camp 18:09.520 --> 18:10.100 for training, 18:10.600 --> 18:11.340 he broke the news 18:11.340 --> 18:12.100 over Thanksgiving. 18:12.660 --> 18:13.980 His mum was not thrilled. 18:14.980 --> 18:15.400 I said, 18:15.540 --> 18:15.800 oh, 18:16.240 --> 18:18.220 I'm so happy about that, 18:18.300 --> 18:18.980 you know, but... 18:18.980 --> 18:19.880 Yeah, you weren't very afraid. 18:20.180 --> 18:21.040 No, I was... 18:21.040 --> 18:22.040 Why weren't you happy 18:22.040 --> 18:23.240 about it when you heard 18:23.240 --> 18:24.220 what he was up to? 18:24.420 --> 18:25.600 I suppose you're always 18:25.600 --> 18:26.740 looking out for your child, 18:26.880 --> 18:27.240 aren't you? 18:27.440 --> 18:28.240 Obviously, you're worried. 18:28.840 --> 18:29.080 You know, 18:29.100 --> 18:30.140 it's not a straight job 18:30.140 --> 18:31.280 where you go nine to five, 18:31.340 --> 18:31.980 you go home, 18:32.080 --> 18:32.620 and you're done. 18:33.080 --> 18:34.020 A lot can happen 18:34.020 --> 18:35.000 in between times. 18:35.540 --> 18:36.800 From a parental point of view, 18:36.980 --> 18:38.600 that was my anxiety. 18:38.960 --> 18:39.880 Not that I didn't think 18:39.880 --> 18:41.140 he was capable of doing it, 18:41.180 --> 18:42.860 because from all his exploits 18:42.860 --> 18:43.560 previously, 18:43.780 --> 18:44.620 he's always came back 18:44.620 --> 18:45.140 amazingly, 18:45.340 --> 18:46.140 smelling of roses. 18:47.660 --> 18:49.020 Adam says his appetite 18:49.020 --> 18:50.440 for extreme experiences 18:50.440 --> 18:51.560 was another thing 18:51.560 --> 18:52.580 that made him stand out 18:52.580 --> 18:53.240 to the CIA. 18:54.080 --> 18:55.760 What I think they liked 18:55.760 --> 18:56.340 about me was 18:56.340 --> 18:57.080 I was willing to go 18:57.080 --> 18:57.840 anywhere in the world 18:57.840 --> 18:58.600 by myself, 18:58.740 --> 18:59.660 and I did it for fun. 19:00.340 --> 19:01.500 It was just one last thing 19:01.500 --> 19:02.500 they had to worry about with me. 19:02.500 --> 19:04.360 They knew that I would be fine 19:04.360 --> 19:05.500 wherever they dropped me off. 19:05.780 --> 19:07.080 It was just pick a place. 19:08.400 --> 19:09.980 It was my husband's 19:09.980 --> 19:11.360 favourite assignment 19:11.360 --> 19:14.380 and one of the worst for me. 19:15.720 --> 19:16.580 Suzanne Matthews 19:16.580 --> 19:18.000 worked for the CIA in Cuba 19:18.000 --> 19:19.320 under diplomatic cover 19:19.320 --> 19:20.480 alongside her husband, 19:20.640 --> 19:21.580 Jason Matthews, 19:21.740 --> 19:23.240 who later became a writer 19:23.240 --> 19:24.560 of popular spy thrillers 19:24.560 --> 19:25.520 like Red Sparrow. 19:26.420 --> 19:27.400 They were posted there 19:27.400 --> 19:28.580 together in the 80s 19:28.580 --> 19:30.340 as what the agency calls 19:30.340 --> 19:31.320 a tandem couple. 19:31.320 --> 19:32.040 I mean, 19:32.100 --> 19:32.860 it takes a special 19:32.860 --> 19:33.540 type of person. 19:33.680 --> 19:34.400 Not everybody 19:34.400 --> 19:36.220 wanted one of these 19:36.220 --> 19:36.780 assignments. 19:38.040 --> 19:39.440 In a place like Havana, 19:39.740 --> 19:40.820 there's no such thing 19:40.820 --> 19:41.600 as not work. 19:42.040 --> 19:42.300 You know, 19:42.380 --> 19:43.980 you're on all the time 19:43.980 --> 19:45.020 because you're being 19:45.020 --> 19:46.300 followed all the time. 19:47.400 --> 19:49.580 We had constant 19:49.580 --> 19:51.300 harassing surveillance. 19:52.300 --> 19:52.900 Suzanne says 19:52.900 --> 19:53.900 they might return home 19:53.900 --> 19:54.700 to find their dog 19:54.700 --> 19:55.660 had been put in a closet 19:55.660 --> 19:57.380 or come down in the morning 19:57.380 --> 19:58.460 to find a cigarette butt 19:58.460 --> 19:59.060 in the ashtray 19:59.060 --> 19:59.920 in their living room. 19:59.920 --> 20:02.100 And that sends 20:02.100 --> 20:02.720 a message, 20:02.840 --> 20:03.160 you know, 20:03.200 --> 20:04.760 that we own you. 20:05.080 --> 20:05.240 You know, 20:05.320 --> 20:06.160 this is our house, 20:06.240 --> 20:07.060 not your house. 20:08.160 --> 20:09.020 Any socialising 20:09.020 --> 20:10.600 happened in designated spaces 20:10.600 --> 20:11.440 with other spies 20:11.440 --> 20:12.200 and diplomats 20:12.200 --> 20:13.180 in the tropical heat 20:13.180 --> 20:13.760 and mostly 20:13.760 --> 20:14.680 in tennis whites. 20:15.360 --> 20:16.540 Canadians had 20:16.540 --> 20:17.820 a tennis court, 20:18.320 --> 20:19.060 so we played 20:19.060 --> 20:20.180 a lot of tennis there 20:20.180 --> 20:20.840 with the Brits 20:20.840 --> 20:21.540 and the Canadians. 20:21.960 --> 20:22.600 And then there was 20:22.600 --> 20:24.020 this Diplo club 20:24.020 --> 20:25.560 outside of Havana 20:25.560 --> 20:27.020 with some clay courts 20:27.020 --> 20:28.260 and a swimming pool. 20:29.120 --> 20:29.460 You know, 20:29.540 --> 20:31.580 your world is compacted. 20:33.840 --> 20:34.780 Suzanne says 20:34.780 --> 20:35.620 you could always spot 20:35.620 --> 20:37.120 surveillance at the Diplo club. 20:37.700 --> 20:38.840 They even followed them 20:38.840 --> 20:39.460 to a getaway 20:39.460 --> 20:40.700 at a Cuban beach resort. 20:41.360 --> 20:42.120 On that trip, 20:42.300 --> 20:43.300 they pranked her husband 20:43.300 --> 20:44.260 by approaching him 20:44.260 --> 20:45.620 about joining their side. 20:46.000 --> 20:47.120 We think it was more 20:47.120 --> 20:48.040 just harassment. 20:48.460 --> 20:49.140 They just wanted 20:49.140 --> 20:50.800 to ruin our vacation. 20:50.800 --> 20:52.880 These attempts 20:52.880 --> 20:53.600 at normal life 20:53.600 --> 20:54.340 could be punctured 20:54.340 --> 20:55.000 any time, 20:55.580 --> 20:56.560 sometimes by events 20:56.560 --> 20:57.600 they couldn't explain. 20:58.520 --> 20:59.580 We did have 20:59.580 --> 21:01.840 some weird experiences 21:01.840 --> 21:02.840 in Cuba. 21:03.220 --> 21:04.760 It was the weirdest thing. 21:05.140 --> 21:06.180 We had a party 21:06.180 --> 21:08.060 and someone picked up 21:08.060 --> 21:09.600 a glass to drink out of it 21:09.600 --> 21:11.600 and it just exploded 21:11.600 --> 21:12.480 in their hand. 21:13.280 --> 21:13.800 Wow. 21:14.360 --> 21:14.800 Yeah. 21:14.940 --> 21:17.400 What did you make of it? 21:17.400 --> 21:17.560 Well, 21:17.640 --> 21:18.420 we didn't know. 21:18.580 --> 21:18.960 We thought, 21:19.300 --> 21:19.560 OK, 21:19.560 --> 21:21.000 so maybe 21:21.000 --> 21:22.760 it's cheap glass. 21:23.360 --> 21:24.160 So was it 21:24.160 --> 21:25.280 the reaction 21:25.280 --> 21:26.400 between the ice 21:26.400 --> 21:27.760 and the glass 21:27.760 --> 21:28.700 and the heat? 21:28.860 --> 21:29.020 Well, 21:29.040 --> 21:30.140 it was never that hot. 21:30.380 --> 21:31.540 But like exploded, 21:31.800 --> 21:32.480 not cracked. 21:32.720 --> 21:32.960 No, 21:33.200 --> 21:33.420 no, 21:33.540 --> 21:35.420 it just exploded. 21:35.920 --> 21:37.660 Just this weird 21:37.660 --> 21:38.880 exploding glass. 21:41.580 --> 21:42.520 There are lots 21:42.520 --> 21:43.380 of strange stories 21:43.380 --> 21:44.000 on the internet 21:44.000 --> 21:45.440 about exploding glasses. 21:46.180 --> 21:46.840 It even happened 21:46.840 --> 21:47.680 once to our editor 21:47.680 --> 21:48.380 in his house 21:48.380 --> 21:49.260 in Shepherd's Bush. 21:50.380 --> 21:51.240 But something 21:51.240 --> 21:52.060 that may strike you 21:52.060 --> 21:52.860 as odd at home 21:52.860 --> 21:53.900 can suggest something 21:53.900 --> 21:54.900 much more perilous 21:54.900 --> 21:55.900 on hostile ground. 21:57.020 --> 21:58.200 For a CIA agent 21:58.200 --> 21:58.740 in Havana, 21:59.360 --> 22:00.480 it was as if the Cubans 22:00.480 --> 22:01.320 might be responsible 22:01.320 --> 22:02.220 for anything. 22:03.020 --> 22:03.920 And it simply added 22:03.920 --> 22:05.300 to that disorientating 22:05.300 --> 22:06.280 sense of what lay 22:06.280 --> 22:07.360 beyond the confines 22:07.360 --> 22:08.320 of the Diplo Club 22:08.320 --> 22:09.540 or the embassy 22:09.540 --> 22:10.620 or the ambassador's 22:10.620 --> 22:11.140 residence, 22:11.420 --> 22:12.420 a world that was 22:12.420 --> 22:13.260 uncontrollable, 22:13.780 --> 22:14.280 uncanny, 22:14.920 --> 22:15.560 malevolent. 22:15.560 --> 22:17.240 It's hard not 22:17.240 --> 22:18.000 to imagine 22:18.000 --> 22:19.800 feeling very 22:19.800 --> 22:20.840 unsettled by that. 22:21.180 --> 22:21.880 Did you ever 22:21.880 --> 22:23.100 wonder if you 22:23.100 --> 22:23.820 were cut out 22:23.820 --> 22:24.440 for it? 22:24.440 --> 22:25.060 Oh, yes. 22:25.060 --> 22:26.120 Yes, always. 22:26.520 --> 22:26.680 You know, 22:26.740 --> 22:27.860 because the stress 22:27.860 --> 22:28.760 is enormous 22:28.760 --> 22:30.040 and you have to be able 22:30.040 --> 22:31.560 to deal with that stress. 22:32.220 --> 22:32.680 There were people 22:32.680 --> 22:34.380 who would freak out 22:34.380 --> 22:35.760 and, you know, 22:35.820 --> 22:36.820 there's no reason 22:36.820 --> 22:37.600 to freak out. 22:38.740 --> 22:39.840 That's Michael Palmley 22:39.840 --> 22:40.440 who headed up 22:40.440 --> 22:41.240 for slimmed-down 22:41.240 --> 22:42.420 US presence in Cuba 22:42.420 --> 22:44.020 during the mid-2000s. 22:44.380 --> 22:44.740 I mean, 22:44.780 --> 22:45.560 at the end of the day, 22:45.860 --> 22:46.860 when your tour of duty 22:46.860 --> 22:47.500 is going to end, 22:47.620 --> 22:48.340 you'll leave. 22:48.660 --> 22:49.380 Then you can tell, 22:49.580 --> 22:49.900 you know, 22:49.940 --> 22:50.520 your grandchildren 22:50.520 --> 22:51.500 all sorts of stories 22:51.500 --> 22:52.520 about the kind 22:52.520 --> 22:53.580 of experiences you had. 22:53.680 --> 22:54.940 But in the meantime, 22:55.720 --> 22:56.660 that's your job. 22:57.680 --> 22:58.340 But his wife, 22:58.460 --> 22:59.100 Marie-Catherine, 22:59.520 --> 23:00.320 who was in Havana 23:00.320 --> 23:00.840 with him, 23:01.220 --> 23:02.160 says the eavesdropping 23:02.160 --> 23:03.020 could place a burden 23:03.020 --> 23:03.980 on relationships. 23:04.520 --> 23:05.060 You couldn't even 23:05.060 --> 23:05.720 have an argument 23:05.720 --> 23:06.360 in private. 23:06.860 --> 23:07.200 You know, 23:07.240 --> 23:07.840 in a couple, 23:08.460 --> 23:09.700 a normal couple, 23:09.700 --> 23:11.240 you have more 23:11.240 --> 23:11.800 than one 23:11.800 --> 23:12.780 every six months. 23:14.000 --> 23:14.840 They would put, 23:15.220 --> 23:15.860 things are put 23:15.860 --> 23:16.620 strategically, 23:17.200 --> 23:17.580 you know. 23:18.000 --> 23:19.040 It's inhibiting 23:19.040 --> 23:19.720 to have that 23:19.720 --> 23:20.560 under your bed. 23:21.360 --> 23:22.480 Did you find stuff? 23:22.880 --> 23:23.700 We never looked. 23:24.120 --> 23:25.400 Don't go looking. 23:26.160 --> 23:27.160 And as Michael says, 23:27.360 --> 23:28.300 they'll replace it 23:28.300 --> 23:29.040 and the next time 23:29.040 --> 23:29.580 you won't know 23:29.580 --> 23:30.080 where it is. 23:33.040 --> 23:34.160 I used to say 23:34.160 --> 23:35.320 that the only place 23:35.320 --> 23:35.940 that I could have 23:35.940 --> 23:37.320 a bug-free conversation 23:37.320 --> 23:39.360 was in the surf 23:39.360 --> 23:40.820 at a beach, 23:41.380 --> 23:41.680 you know, 23:41.740 --> 23:43.440 away from the shoreline. 23:43.480 --> 23:43.980 In the sea. 23:44.280 --> 23:44.880 In the sea. 23:45.300 --> 23:46.300 Because you knew 23:46.300 --> 23:47.360 that they were listening. 23:49.740 --> 23:50.700 He says that part 23:50.700 --> 23:51.200 of the job 23:51.200 --> 23:52.100 as head of the embassy 23:52.100 --> 23:53.200 involved overseeing 23:53.200 --> 23:53.740 the well-being 23:53.740 --> 23:54.560 of his staff, 23:55.100 --> 23:55.880 keeping an eye out 23:55.880 --> 23:56.320 for anyone 23:56.320 --> 23:57.500 not coping so well. 23:58.320 --> 23:58.980 Like the time 23:58.980 --> 23:59.900 someone came to him 23:59.900 --> 24:01.000 convinced that their dog 24:01.000 --> 24:02.200 had been deliberately poisoned. 24:02.700 --> 24:04.200 The person had that reaction 24:04.200 --> 24:05.340 to their environment, 24:05.740 --> 24:07.300 then you've got to respect that. 24:07.300 --> 24:08.720 And we talked about it 24:08.720 --> 24:10.040 and he came to the conclusion 24:10.040 --> 24:11.360 that it might have been 24:11.360 --> 24:11.820 an accident 24:11.820 --> 24:12.840 or maybe the dog 24:12.840 --> 24:13.980 was just getting old. 24:14.320 --> 24:15.220 It wasn't necessarily 24:15.220 --> 24:15.940 that the neighbors 24:15.940 --> 24:16.820 poisoned him. 24:17.080 --> 24:18.280 And was that your conclusion? 24:18.740 --> 24:19.520 I didn't know. 24:19.800 --> 24:20.920 But I wasn't going to jump 24:20.920 --> 24:23.280 to the suddenly paranoid conclusion. 24:24.600 --> 24:25.840 Paranoia is not a good thing. 24:26.140 --> 24:28.280 And it was understandable 24:28.280 --> 24:29.180 that people could 24:29.180 --> 24:30.500 become paranoid. 24:30.980 --> 24:31.960 It's not as though danger 24:31.960 --> 24:32.800 wasn't out there. 24:33.100 --> 24:34.100 Even paranoid people 24:34.100 --> 24:34.620 still have enemies. 24:37.100 --> 24:37.940 The harassment 24:37.940 --> 24:39.320 was immediate. 24:39.660 --> 24:40.960 In the little over two months 24:40.960 --> 24:42.380 that Adam had been in Havana, 24:42.960 --> 24:44.260 there'd been lots of incidents, 24:44.640 --> 24:45.800 like the run-in he had 24:45.800 --> 24:46.840 on his way into work. 24:47.420 --> 24:47.860 You know, 24:47.900 --> 24:48.780 they ran me off the road. 24:49.300 --> 24:50.300 This was a busy 24:50.300 --> 24:51.480 main thoroughfare 24:51.480 --> 24:52.800 going into Havana, 24:53.120 --> 24:53.900 onto the Malecon, 24:54.680 --> 24:55.660 and it was completely 24:55.660 --> 24:56.480 dead that day. 24:56.760 --> 24:57.620 Which I was driving 24:57.620 --> 24:58.500 down that road going, 24:58.740 --> 24:59.620 this is really odd. 24:59.700 --> 25:00.780 There's usually lots of cars 25:00.780 --> 25:01.380 on this road. 25:03.780 --> 25:05.260 Sideswiped off the road. 25:06.060 --> 25:06.960 Blew up both wheels. 25:07.580 --> 25:07.980 And you're like, 25:08.040 --> 25:09.260 okay, that makes sense. 25:10.200 --> 25:10.820 Got it. 25:11.820 --> 25:12.680 So you think they 25:12.680 --> 25:13.980 kind of shut down the road 25:13.980 --> 25:15.260 in order to do this 25:15.260 --> 25:15.960 thing to you? 25:16.200 --> 25:16.480 Yeah. 25:16.920 --> 25:17.500 The Cuban's like, 25:17.560 --> 25:19.060 well, could have been an accident. 25:19.540 --> 25:20.580 And you can't prove it. 25:20.880 --> 25:22.280 So it's just a data point. 25:24.820 --> 25:25.840 Another time he found 25:25.840 --> 25:26.760 the internet cables 25:26.760 --> 25:27.380 had been cut 25:27.380 --> 25:28.340 outside his apartment. 25:28.340 --> 25:29.900 And one evening 25:29.900 --> 25:30.520 he came home 25:30.520 --> 25:31.300 to find his neatly 25:31.300 --> 25:32.380 folded shirts 25:32.380 --> 25:33.360 had been pulled 25:33.360 --> 25:34.140 out of the drawers, 25:34.560 --> 25:35.080 scrunched up 25:35.080 --> 25:35.520 in the corner 25:35.520 --> 25:36.300 of his bedroom 25:36.300 --> 25:37.640 and covered in urine. 25:38.380 --> 25:39.400 There are other stories. 25:39.960 --> 25:40.560 The diplomat 25:40.560 --> 25:41.560 who found his mouthwash 25:41.560 --> 25:42.180 had been replaced 25:42.180 --> 25:42.640 with urine. 25:43.240 --> 25:43.700 A colleague 25:43.700 --> 25:44.520 who told Adam 25:44.520 --> 25:45.080 she had found 25:45.080 --> 25:45.880 a scorpion 25:45.880 --> 25:46.500 sellotaped 25:46.500 --> 25:47.340 to her pyjamas. 25:48.040 --> 25:48.520 You wonder what 25:48.520 --> 25:49.640 the point of all this was. 25:50.620 --> 25:51.680 Maybe the idea was 25:51.680 --> 25:52.740 just to put the CIA 25:52.740 --> 25:53.960 agents off their game 25:53.960 --> 25:55.300 to unnerve them, 25:55.840 --> 25:56.840 make them less effective 25:56.840 --> 25:58.420 in whatever they were there to do 25:58.420 --> 25:59.780 by keeping them on edge. 26:01.040 --> 26:02.300 Adam recalls these experiences 26:02.300 --> 26:03.380 with a wry amusement. 26:04.260 --> 26:04.880 He believed he was 26:04.880 --> 26:05.760 particularly suited 26:05.760 --> 26:06.440 to dealing with 26:06.440 --> 26:07.260 the kind of surveillance 26:07.260 --> 26:07.980 and harassment 26:07.980 --> 26:08.960 that had rattled 26:08.960 --> 26:09.660 former agents 26:09.660 --> 26:10.840 like Suzanne Matthews. 26:11.340 --> 26:12.360 He seemed to think of it 26:12.360 --> 26:13.020 as something like 26:13.020 --> 26:13.880 the good-natured 26:13.880 --> 26:14.620 hazing rituals 26:14.620 --> 26:15.260 for a club 26:15.260 --> 26:16.160 that he was excited 26:16.160 --> 26:17.260 to be accepted into. 26:19.620 --> 26:20.340 It was, 26:20.500 --> 26:20.880 I don't know, 26:20.940 --> 26:22.060 I don't know how to describe it 26:22.060 --> 26:22.800 because it's a bit 26:22.800 --> 26:23.720 of a twisted mentality 26:23.720 --> 26:24.500 for most people 26:24.500 --> 26:25.320 to understand that 26:25.320 --> 26:26.520 it was fun. 26:28.560 --> 26:29.860 He says there was a man 26:29.860 --> 26:30.500 who would sit 26:30.500 --> 26:31.280 at the end of his street 26:31.280 --> 26:32.020 all night 26:32.020 --> 26:33.220 in a plastic chair 26:33.220 --> 26:34.540 monitoring Adam 26:34.540 --> 26:35.520 and the other Americans 26:35.520 --> 26:36.220 in the neighborhood. 26:37.140 --> 26:37.820 Adam made a habit 26:37.820 --> 26:38.960 of putting his bins out 26:38.960 --> 26:39.860 in the early hours 26:39.860 --> 26:41.400 just to startle the guy. 26:42.360 --> 26:42.660 Fuck it, 26:42.660 --> 26:43.000 you've got to have 26:43.000 --> 26:43.780 some fun with it, man. 26:43.840 --> 26:44.460 They're fucking with you. 26:44.520 --> 26:45.200 You've got to fuck back 26:45.200 --> 26:45.680 a little bit. 26:46.060 --> 26:46.600 It's no wonder 26:46.600 --> 26:47.580 they came after me 26:47.580 --> 26:48.200 when they did. 26:51.080 --> 26:51.780 That morning 26:51.780 --> 26:52.820 after he first heard 26:52.820 --> 26:54.220 the sound invade his bedroom, 26:54.220 --> 26:55.460 Adam had wanted 26:55.460 --> 26:56.260 to get checked over 26:56.260 --> 26:57.300 by the medical officer. 26:58.160 --> 26:58.940 He hadn't had much 26:58.940 --> 27:00.140 of a plan beyond that. 27:00.960 --> 27:01.400 But then 27:01.400 --> 27:02.740 the embassy's medical officer 27:02.740 --> 27:04.020 and the security officer 27:04.020 --> 27:04.780 both reported 27:04.780 --> 27:06.220 hearing sounds themselves. 27:06.760 --> 27:07.140 I go, 27:07.220 --> 27:07.380 well, 27:07.500 --> 27:08.380 I think we have to meet 27:08.380 --> 27:08.880 with the ambassador 27:08.880 --> 27:09.640 and tell him 27:09.640 --> 27:10.400 what's going on. 27:10.400 --> 27:11.960 It appeared to me 27:11.960 --> 27:13.220 something had happened, 27:13.420 --> 27:14.740 somebody was doing something 27:14.740 --> 27:15.960 and we needed to get 27:15.960 --> 27:16.980 to the bottom of it. 27:17.480 --> 27:18.720 This is Jeff De Laurentiis, 27:18.800 --> 27:20.040 the former US ambassador 27:20.040 --> 27:20.600 to Cuba. 27:21.420 --> 27:22.400 What would your instinct 27:22.400 --> 27:23.660 be to do? 27:23.740 --> 27:24.220 Is it something 27:24.220 --> 27:25.740 that you investigate further? 27:25.960 --> 27:26.580 Do you feel like you need 27:26.580 --> 27:27.680 to tell Washington quickly? 27:28.080 --> 27:28.380 Both. 27:28.800 --> 27:29.940 We immediately informed 27:29.940 --> 27:31.340 Washington and immediately 27:31.340 --> 27:32.240 tried to figure out 27:32.240 --> 27:33.020 what was happening. 27:33.360 --> 27:35.020 And how do you figure out 27:35.020 --> 27:35.520 what's happening? 27:36.700 --> 27:37.580 That I'm not going 27:37.580 --> 27:38.340 to talk about. 27:38.340 --> 27:40.320 De Laurentiis 27:40.320 --> 27:41.540 has been fairly tight-lipped 27:41.540 --> 27:42.260 about the meeting 27:42.260 --> 27:43.260 with Adam in his office 27:43.260 --> 27:43.860 that morning. 27:44.340 --> 27:45.600 He's a seasoned diplomat 27:45.600 --> 27:46.240 who had been posted 27:46.240 --> 27:47.920 to Cuba several times before. 27:48.920 --> 27:49.880 He was a heavyweight 27:49.880 --> 27:51.320 and that was precisely 27:51.320 --> 27:52.580 why President Obama 27:52.580 --> 27:53.900 himself had wanted him 27:53.900 --> 27:54.480 in the job. 27:54.940 --> 27:56.040 I had already been 27:56.040 --> 27:57.820 an ambassador at the UN 27:57.820 --> 27:59.960 and I think part of the reason 27:59.960 --> 28:01.680 someone like myself 28:01.680 --> 28:02.800 was sent down, 28:02.920 --> 28:03.600 apart maybe from 28:03.600 --> 28:04.420 the Cuban experience, 28:04.520 --> 28:05.480 was that they also wanted 28:05.480 --> 28:06.260 to send a signal 28:06.260 --> 28:07.220 that we were sending 28:07.220 --> 28:08.320 someone at a higher level 28:08.340 --> 28:08.980 I guess, 28:09.100 --> 28:09.800 in the hopes that 28:09.800 --> 28:10.440 the relationship 28:10.440 --> 28:11.720 would begin to change. 28:12.800 --> 28:13.300 There's a period 28:13.300 --> 28:14.680 after Castro's revolution 28:14.680 --> 28:15.660 where the US had 28:15.660 --> 28:16.660 no presence at all 28:16.660 --> 28:17.120 in Cuba. 28:17.960 --> 28:19.120 The huge waterfront 28:19.120 --> 28:20.140 modernist American 28:20.140 --> 28:20.980 embassy building 28:20.980 --> 28:22.480 opened right before 28:22.480 --> 28:23.720 Castro seized power 28:23.720 --> 28:24.460 stood empty, 28:25.180 --> 28:26.480 a seven-story reminder 28:26.480 --> 28:27.860 of the failed relationship. 28:28.940 --> 28:29.540 Over the years, 28:29.640 --> 28:30.280 public figures 28:30.280 --> 28:31.080 of many strikes 28:31.080 --> 28:31.920 had tried to make 28:31.920 --> 28:32.540 a difference, 28:33.200 --> 28:33.900 but the territory 28:33.900 --> 28:35.520 was politically treacherous. 28:35.960 --> 28:36.940 Cuba was not a place 28:36.940 --> 28:37.400 to touch. 28:37.620 --> 28:38.460 It had burned 28:38.460 --> 28:39.240 many a career 28:39.240 --> 28:40.040 because it was 28:40.040 --> 28:40.820 very controversial. 28:41.460 --> 28:42.040 The relationship 28:42.040 --> 28:42.740 was controversial. 28:43.280 --> 28:44.280 It had a very strong 28:44.280 --> 28:45.800 domestic element to it. 28:46.440 --> 28:47.100 By domestic, 28:47.380 --> 28:48.680 he means in the US, 28:49.180 --> 28:50.200 where anti-Castro 28:50.200 --> 28:51.140 Cuban exiles 28:51.140 --> 28:52.060 pressure Washington 28:52.060 --> 28:53.180 to remain hostile 28:53.180 --> 28:54.160 towards Castro, 28:54.660 --> 28:55.520 hoping to one day 28:55.520 --> 28:56.900 take their country back. 28:56.900 --> 28:59.520 In the late 1970s, 28:59.600 --> 29:00.660 President Jimmy Carter 29:00.660 --> 29:01.660 made some progress 29:01.660 --> 29:02.200 with Cuba, 29:02.700 --> 29:03.780 and a small number 29:03.780 --> 29:04.980 of American diplomats 29:04.980 --> 29:06.060 began to rattle around 29:06.060 --> 29:06.920 an embassy building 29:06.920 --> 29:07.820 that wasn't formerly 29:07.820 --> 29:08.360 an embassy. 29:09.580 --> 29:10.320 Then there was 29:10.320 --> 29:11.280 a change of administration 29:11.280 --> 29:13.640 and everything halted, 29:13.720 --> 29:15.580 and so those who were 29:15.580 --> 29:16.840 at the point of the spear 29:16.840 --> 29:18.480 of pushing for 29:18.480 --> 29:20.360 that particular opening 29:20.360 --> 29:21.460 found themselves 29:21.460 --> 29:22.720 in a difficult situation, 29:22.840 --> 29:23.480 and that cycle 29:23.480 --> 29:24.660 repeated itself. 29:24.660 --> 29:26.640 De Laurentiis 29:26.640 --> 29:27.260 had been hired 29:27.260 --> 29:28.020 to help manage 29:28.020 --> 29:28.900 the most significant 29:28.900 --> 29:29.980 progress in relations 29:29.980 --> 29:31.600 since Castro's revolution 29:31.600 --> 29:32.560 in 1959. 29:33.420 --> 29:34.340 But what he was hearing 29:34.340 --> 29:35.720 from Adam and the RSO 29:35.720 --> 29:36.380 in his office 29:36.380 --> 29:37.320 on the seventh floor 29:37.320 --> 29:38.380 of the embassy building 29:38.380 --> 29:39.640 sounded concerning. 29:40.180 --> 29:40.940 And he said to me, 29:41.000 --> 29:41.120 he goes, 29:41.180 --> 29:41.820 if it happens again, 29:41.980 --> 29:42.680 come to my house, 29:43.300 --> 29:43.420 you know, 29:43.440 --> 29:44.180 come to the residence, 29:44.480 --> 29:45.300 and I'll send a message 29:45.300 --> 29:46.140 to them that 29:46.140 --> 29:47.200 we know what's going on, 29:47.240 --> 29:47.820 we're not playing. 29:48.040 --> 29:48.700 So we go, okay. 29:49.960 --> 29:51.200 Adam drafted a report 29:51.200 --> 29:51.960 for De Laurentiis 29:51.960 --> 29:52.580 to send back 29:52.580 --> 29:53.520 to the State Department 29:53.520 --> 29:54.200 in Washington. 29:54.660 --> 29:55.440 And wrote a cable 29:55.440 --> 29:56.640 to his own higher-ups 29:56.640 --> 29:57.320 at the CIA. 29:58.000 --> 29:58.780 I wasn't asking them 29:58.780 --> 29:59.360 to do anything. 29:59.680 --> 30:00.740 I wasn't asking for help. 30:00.800 --> 30:01.540 I wasn't asking for anything 30:01.540 --> 30:02.080 at the time. 30:02.580 --> 30:03.180 I was just going, 30:03.260 --> 30:03.840 these are the facts 30:03.840 --> 30:04.500 of what happened. 30:05.060 --> 30:05.620 Be aware. 30:05.960 --> 30:06.760 We'll keep you updated 30:06.760 --> 30:07.500 sort of thing. 30:07.820 --> 30:08.700 And then it was 30:08.700 --> 30:09.500 the holiday weekend. 30:09.680 --> 30:10.720 Was part of you thinking, 30:10.980 --> 30:12.260 let's see if this happens again? 30:12.640 --> 30:13.980 No, I thought it was done. 30:14.120 --> 30:14.520 I thought it was, 30:14.700 --> 30:15.620 in my mind, 30:15.620 --> 30:16.380 it was a one and done 30:16.380 --> 30:16.960 sort of thing. 30:17.020 --> 30:17.280 I was like, 30:17.320 --> 30:18.200 all right, well, that's it. 30:18.340 --> 30:18.620 You know. 30:19.020 --> 30:19.800 I didn't think that 30:19.800 --> 30:21.040 it would possibly happen again, 30:21.320 --> 30:21.820 but it did. 30:21.820 --> 30:24.580 I was on my computer 30:24.580 --> 30:25.300 watching TV 30:25.300 --> 30:26.520 just like I had the night before, 30:26.680 --> 30:27.780 same time, same routine. 30:28.660 --> 30:29.500 The first time 30:29.500 --> 30:30.300 he'd heard the noise, 30:30.680 --> 30:31.620 Adam lay in his bed 30:31.620 --> 30:32.540 putting up with the sound 30:32.540 --> 30:33.460 for as long as he could. 30:34.240 --> 30:34.820 He didn't want 30:34.820 --> 30:35.860 whoever was doing this 30:35.860 --> 30:37.040 to know it was getting to him. 30:37.480 --> 30:38.760 The whole Cuban MO 30:38.760 --> 30:40.640 is to find what gets 30:40.640 --> 30:41.300 under your skin 30:41.300 --> 30:42.860 and keep doing it 30:42.860 --> 30:43.760 for the duration 30:43.760 --> 30:44.360 of your tour. 30:44.360 --> 30:46.040 But now Adam 30:46.040 --> 30:46.840 dropped the act. 30:47.200 --> 30:48.160 That was the time 30:48.160 --> 30:48.540 when I go, 30:48.660 --> 30:50.020 well, you know, 30:50.140 --> 30:50.600 I'm going to go 30:50.600 --> 30:51.780 and figure it out. 30:52.420 --> 30:53.260 This is when 30:53.260 --> 30:54.720 Adam began making recordings. 30:58.920 --> 31:00.080 I went outside 31:00.080 --> 31:01.240 almost immediately 31:01.240 --> 31:02.600 after hearing it. 31:03.060 --> 31:04.560 So you're moving... 31:04.560 --> 31:05.300 I'm moving around 31:05.300 --> 31:06.420 my house in my backyard. 31:09.120 --> 31:09.960 It's a typical 31:09.960 --> 31:10.780 Saturday evening 31:10.780 --> 31:11.400 in Havana. 31:12.100 --> 31:12.800 Dogs barking, 31:13.140 --> 31:13.860 neighbours chatting, 31:14.360 --> 31:16.220 an American CIA field agent, 31:16.580 --> 31:17.380 groping in the bushes 31:17.380 --> 31:18.580 with a recording device. 31:19.160 --> 31:19.860 I caught it tonight, 31:19.960 --> 31:20.480 motherfuckers. 31:21.000 --> 31:21.660 Staggering around 31:21.660 --> 31:22.180 to the outside 31:22.180 --> 31:23.180 of his bedroom window, 31:23.740 --> 31:24.840 he registered a spike 31:24.840 --> 31:25.480 in the sound. 31:26.540 --> 31:27.280 It seemed as if 31:27.280 --> 31:27.980 the sound was being 31:27.980 --> 31:28.800 directed there 31:28.800 --> 31:29.480 in his bedroom. 31:33.660 --> 31:34.980 It wasn't lost on me 31:34.980 --> 31:36.240 that those sounds 31:36.240 --> 31:37.440 and shit and feelings 31:37.440 --> 31:38.680 would stop quite quickly 31:38.680 --> 31:39.500 after you go out there 31:39.500 --> 31:39.920 with your phone 31:39.920 --> 31:40.560 to record it. 31:41.300 --> 31:42.020 For now, 31:42.140 --> 31:42.680 Adam didn't want 31:42.680 --> 31:44.040 to bother the ambassador again. 31:44.360 --> 31:44.920 But he knew 31:44.920 --> 31:45.360 he didn't want 31:45.360 --> 31:46.280 to stay in his apartment. 31:46.980 --> 31:47.760 So he crashed 31:47.760 --> 31:48.820 at a friend's house nearby 31:48.820 --> 31:50.220 and returned in the morning 31:50.220 --> 31:50.880 to investigate. 31:51.500 --> 31:52.020 When he spoke 31:52.020 --> 31:52.480 with the guy 31:52.480 --> 31:53.720 in the apartment above him, 31:54.020 --> 31:55.080 a US embassy worker 31:55.080 --> 31:55.760 who'd been at home 31:55.760 --> 31:56.760 at the time of the attacks, 31:57.160 --> 31:58.020 that guy remembered 31:58.020 --> 31:58.980 hearing all those dogs 31:58.980 --> 31:59.620 that all started 31:59.620 --> 32:00.440 barking at once. 32:00.820 --> 32:01.560 But as for any 32:01.560 --> 32:03.380 mysterious ear-splitting drone, 32:03.880 --> 32:04.780 he hadn't heard a thing. 32:06.220 --> 32:07.340 Yet any time Adam 32:07.340 --> 32:08.400 went back into his bedroom 32:08.400 --> 32:09.520 to grab some clothes, 32:09.520 --> 32:10.680 the dogs would bark 32:10.680 --> 32:11.440 and then the sound 32:11.440 --> 32:12.320 and strange pressure 32:12.320 --> 32:13.240 would start up again. 32:15.040 --> 32:16.220 Adam rode his bicycle 32:16.220 --> 32:16.940 around the neighbourhood, 32:17.440 --> 32:18.060 looking for what 32:18.060 --> 32:19.100 exactly he didn't know. 32:19.620 --> 32:20.440 But he expected 32:20.440 --> 32:21.260 to find some kind 32:21.260 --> 32:22.140 of smoking gun, 32:22.480 --> 32:23.420 a dodgy-looking van 32:23.420 --> 32:24.500 with blacked-out windows, 32:24.900 --> 32:25.740 radar equipment, 32:26.040 --> 32:27.220 hidden under a tarpaulin. 32:27.880 --> 32:29.160 But things look normal. 32:29.860 --> 32:30.440 There were some people 32:30.440 --> 32:30.940 out and about, 32:31.120 --> 32:32.280 but there was nothing 32:32.280 --> 32:33.280 that I would pinpoint 32:33.280 --> 32:34.060 as anomalous, 32:34.060 --> 32:35.160 so I was a bit 32:35.160 --> 32:36.220 aggravated by that. 32:36.580 --> 32:37.080 Then again, 32:37.180 --> 32:38.020 since Adam was living 32:38.020 --> 32:38.800 in a fishbowl, 32:38.980 --> 32:39.720 there was only so much 32:39.720 --> 32:40.360 snooping around 32:40.360 --> 32:41.420 that he could get away with. 32:42.100 --> 32:42.780 I tried to break 32:42.780 --> 32:43.720 into the house behind me, 32:43.760 --> 32:44.560 but people were watching 32:44.560 --> 32:45.560 and I just didn't want 32:45.560 --> 32:46.040 to get arrested 32:46.040 --> 32:46.980 by the Cuban police. 32:47.180 --> 32:48.120 I thought it was a bad idea. 32:49.800 --> 32:50.200 Meanwhile, 32:50.380 --> 32:51.480 Ambassador De Laurentiis 32:51.480 --> 32:52.580 was trying to work out 32:52.580 --> 32:53.340 what the official 32:53.340 --> 32:54.460 next steps should be. 32:55.000 --> 32:55.640 I don't know whether 32:55.640 --> 32:56.260 you have experience 32:56.260 --> 32:57.100 of anything like this 32:57.100 --> 32:58.480 in previous posts. 32:58.960 --> 32:59.220 No. 32:59.400 --> 32:59.580 No. 32:59.740 --> 33:00.380 But I should say 33:00.380 --> 33:01.600 I don't think anybody has. 33:02.000 --> 33:02.540 Because it's a very 33:02.540 --> 33:04.040 unusual situation. 33:04.060 --> 33:05.060 We're not talking 33:05.060 --> 33:06.340 about petty harassment. 33:06.580 --> 33:07.400 This is something different. 33:07.660 --> 33:08.180 Escalation. 33:08.400 --> 33:09.080 Yeah, sure. 33:10.040 --> 33:10.600 Previously, 33:10.840 --> 33:11.740 harassment in Cuba 33:11.740 --> 33:12.360 took the form 33:12.360 --> 33:13.740 of psychological trickery. 33:14.420 --> 33:15.160 This was something 33:15.160 --> 33:15.920 quite different. 33:16.900 --> 33:17.280 These people 33:17.280 --> 33:18.080 weren't letting air 33:18.080 --> 33:18.800 out of tyres 33:18.800 --> 33:19.860 or leaving cigarettes 33:19.860 --> 33:20.560 in ashtrays. 33:21.320 --> 33:21.960 The concern 33:21.960 --> 33:23.000 was that they were 33:23.000 --> 33:24.000 targeting Americans 33:24.000 --> 33:25.800 using a state-of-the-art weapon. 33:26.280 --> 33:27.280 There is sort of 33:27.280 --> 33:28.060 a code of conduct 33:28.720 --> 33:31.060 for intelligence officers 33:31.060 --> 33:31.980 worldwide. 33:32.700 --> 33:33.160 We know 33:33.160 --> 33:34.760 it's the great game. 33:35.260 --> 33:36.860 This is former CIA agent 33:36.860 --> 33:38.120 Suzanne Matthews again. 33:39.080 --> 33:40.860 It's like playing chess. 33:41.300 --> 33:42.420 There's nothing physical 33:42.420 --> 33:43.080 about it. 33:43.160 --> 33:44.200 There's nothing violent 33:44.200 --> 33:44.960 about it. 33:45.320 --> 33:46.620 There is a respect 33:46.620 --> 33:48.840 and there is a line 33:48.840 --> 33:50.100 that you don't cross. 33:51.380 --> 33:52.500 Adam ran things down 33:52.500 --> 33:53.380 as far as he could. 33:53.900 --> 33:54.860 Then he shook it off. 33:55.440 --> 33:56.300 He tried to get back 33:56.300 --> 33:56.980 into the mindset 33:56.980 --> 33:57.920 of the guy who loved 33:57.920 --> 33:59.540 being a young CIA agent 33:59.540 --> 34:00.100 in Havana. 34:00.100 --> 34:01.700 I was doing my job 34:01.700 --> 34:02.200 and I was getting 34:02.200 --> 34:02.760 a lot of praise. 34:03.300 --> 34:03.940 He was so busy 34:03.940 --> 34:04.800 that when he began 34:04.800 --> 34:06.340 about a fortnight later 34:06.340 --> 34:08.220 to display weird symptoms, 34:08.820 --> 34:09.660 at first he didn't 34:09.660 --> 34:10.340 even notice. 34:11.340 --> 34:12.380 Adam says in Havana, 34:13.140 --> 34:14.220 feeling a little off 34:14.220 --> 34:14.940 was normal. 34:15.740 --> 34:16.580 When you're in Havana, 34:16.840 --> 34:17.500 like, everyone 34:17.500 --> 34:18.940 gets sick all the time. 34:19.200 --> 34:20.180 It's an embassy thing. 34:20.920 --> 34:22.020 Oftentimes it's a small 34:22.020 --> 34:23.200 space for a lot of people 34:23.200 --> 34:24.060 and it's almost like 34:24.060 --> 34:25.120 a daycare with kids. 34:25.760 --> 34:26.540 People are always 34:26.540 --> 34:27.600 fighting off illness 34:27.600 --> 34:28.320 and sickness. 34:29.080 --> 34:30.140 You just call it Havana. 34:30.660 --> 34:31.360 Like, oh, that's Havana. 34:32.200 --> 34:33.120 Anything strange 34:33.120 --> 34:33.680 that happens, 34:34.120 --> 34:35.260 anything weird illness 34:35.260 --> 34:35.700 you get, 34:35.980 --> 34:36.980 any oddity, 34:37.120 --> 34:37.320 you're like, 34:37.360 --> 34:38.080 oh, it's just Cuba. 34:38.720 --> 34:39.340 Like, that's just 34:39.340 --> 34:40.160 what everyone did. 34:42.580 --> 34:43.600 But what was happening 34:43.600 --> 34:44.780 to him was increasingly 34:44.780 --> 34:45.960 hard to shake off. 34:46.940 --> 34:48.060 By mid-January, 34:48.360 --> 34:49.580 he was feeling woozy 34:49.580 --> 34:50.680 and generally off 34:50.680 --> 34:51.660 his game at work. 34:52.540 --> 34:53.500 Adam says he would be 34:53.500 --> 34:55.000 hit by waves of exhaustion. 34:55.880 --> 34:56.420 Having a meal 34:56.420 --> 34:57.060 with friends, 34:57.520 --> 34:58.220 he'd fall asleep 34:58.220 --> 34:58.860 at the table. 34:59.220 --> 35:00.640 I knew that my writing 35:00.640 --> 35:01.040 and everything 35:01.040 --> 35:02.500 became incoherent. 35:03.140 --> 35:04.220 I was forgetting things 35:04.220 --> 35:05.220 that couldn't function 35:05.220 --> 35:05.860 correctly. 35:06.680 --> 35:07.840 He developed disturbing 35:07.840 --> 35:09.300 problems with his balance. 35:09.540 --> 35:10.260 When I would enter 35:10.260 --> 35:11.040 a room with different 35:11.040 --> 35:12.440 lighting that was dimmer, 35:12.640 --> 35:13.700 I couldn't stay standing. 35:13.960 --> 35:14.560 I would get these 35:14.560 --> 35:15.640 massive, like, 35:15.740 --> 35:17.320 vertigo spin drop 35:17.320 --> 35:18.120 you to the floor. 35:18.800 --> 35:20.560 Violent, violent events. 35:21.700 --> 35:22.800 He'd felt safer 35:22.800 --> 35:24.180 crashing at his friend's house, 35:24.480 --> 35:25.640 but then whatever he believed 35:25.640 --> 35:26.680 had been targeting him 35:26.680 --> 35:28.120 seemed to find him there. 35:28.820 --> 35:29.880 Not the sound this time, 35:30.160 --> 35:31.280 but those same feelings 35:31.280 --> 35:31.880 of pressure. 35:32.420 --> 35:34.180 They felt very similar 35:34.180 --> 35:35.020 and I'd wake up 35:35.020 --> 35:35.900 with pools of blood 35:35.900 --> 35:36.700 on the pillow 35:36.700 --> 35:37.880 from coming out my nose. 35:38.280 --> 35:39.640 Like, massive amounts of blood. 35:40.320 --> 35:41.280 Adam started playing 35:41.280 --> 35:42.220 the last few weeks 35:42.220 --> 35:43.340 over in his mind, 35:43.520 --> 35:44.560 conversations he'd had 35:44.560 --> 35:45.260 with colleagues. 35:46.180 --> 35:47.440 At a party one evening, 35:47.780 --> 35:48.420 he'd run into 35:48.420 --> 35:49.380 that medical officer 35:49.380 --> 35:50.560 and the security official 35:50.560 --> 35:51.340 from the embassy. 35:51.340 --> 35:52.980 He played them 35:52.980 --> 35:53.620 his recording 35:53.620 --> 35:55.320 and says they agreed 35:55.320 --> 35:56.600 it sounded very similar 35:56.600 --> 35:57.560 to what they had heard 35:57.560 --> 35:58.540 in their own homes. 36:00.080 --> 36:00.800 Adam realised 36:00.800 --> 36:01.600 he hadn't been right 36:01.600 --> 36:02.200 for weeks, 36:02.700 --> 36:03.400 not since that 36:03.400 --> 36:04.500 very first night. 36:05.460 --> 36:06.180 With the recordings 36:06.180 --> 36:06.800 of the sound 36:06.800 --> 36:07.480 on his phone, 36:07.880 --> 36:08.760 he felt like he had 36:08.760 --> 36:09.320 all the proof 36:09.320 --> 36:09.940 that he needed. 36:10.740 --> 36:11.860 He texted his brother 36:11.860 --> 36:12.580 with his theory 36:12.580 --> 36:13.240 of what was being 36:13.240 --> 36:14.040 fired at him. 36:14.640 --> 36:15.400 This was some kind 36:15.400 --> 36:16.960 of ultrasonic noisemaker. 36:17.480 --> 36:18.040 One of those things 36:18.040 --> 36:19.180 that can make you puke 36:19.180 --> 36:20.000 and your head cave in. 36:20.380 --> 36:20.600 You know, 36:20.660 --> 36:21.580 the Navy has those 36:21.580 --> 36:22.200 on ships. 36:22.940 --> 36:23.260 I said, 36:23.400 --> 36:24.380 but selectively shut 36:24.380 --> 36:25.120 through windows. 36:25.620 --> 36:26.160 Oh yes. 36:26.600 --> 36:27.340 So if this was brought 36:27.340 --> 36:27.800 to light, 36:27.920 --> 36:28.820 it would make a stir. 36:29.720 --> 36:30.740 Adam knew the stakes 36:30.740 --> 36:31.940 of making such a claim. 36:32.780 --> 36:33.900 If he called this out, 36:34.240 --> 36:35.200 he risked upending 36:35.200 --> 36:36.160 something historic. 36:37.360 --> 36:38.320 For the first time 36:38.320 --> 36:39.820 since the 1960s, 36:40.260 --> 36:41.260 America and Cuba 36:41.260 --> 36:42.280 were speaking again. 36:43.200 --> 36:43.960 And right now, 36:44.040 --> 36:44.600 on the surface, 36:44.600 --> 36:45.460 they were practically 36:45.460 --> 36:46.500 the best of friends. 36:47.320 --> 36:48.000 There was a great 36:48.000 --> 36:49.660 diplomatic party going on. 36:50.220 --> 36:51.120 And here was Adam, 36:51.580 --> 36:52.300 the new guy, 36:52.780 --> 36:53.600 about to switch on 36:53.600 --> 36:54.040 the lights 36:54.040 --> 36:54.940 and cut the music 36:54.940 --> 36:55.880 and tell everyone 36:55.880 --> 36:56.620 that the hosts 36:56.620 --> 36:57.760 had spiked the punch 36:57.760 --> 36:58.420 with poison. 37:06.620 --> 37:07.500 Next time, 37:07.640 --> 37:08.840 on Havana Helmet Club. 37:09.460 --> 37:10.740 President Eisenhower 37:10.740 --> 37:11.000 said, 37:11.080 --> 37:11.580 that's enough. 37:11.700 --> 37:12.140 We're leaving. 37:12.520 --> 37:13.140 There were people 37:13.140 --> 37:14.220 in the administration 37:14.220 --> 37:15.380 who would have tried 37:15.380 --> 37:17.500 to sabotage negotiations. 37:17.760 --> 37:19.280 I used to send messages, 37:19.440 --> 37:20.440 not saying by anybody, 37:20.800 --> 37:22.000 but this is for Obama 37:22.000 --> 37:23.440 and this is for Castro. 37:23.600 --> 37:24.180 It was a sense 37:24.180 --> 37:25.200 that the clock was ticking. 37:25.480 --> 37:26.080 There were forces 37:26.080 --> 37:27.400 within the Cuban government 37:27.400 --> 37:28.720 having second thoughts 37:28.720 --> 37:30.020 about a rapprochement 37:30.020 --> 37:31.400 with the United States. 37:31.780 --> 37:33.140 But being a CIA agent 37:33.140 --> 37:33.660 in Cuba, 37:33.840 --> 37:35.100 it's a provocation, right? 37:35.200 --> 37:35.900 You have to understand, 37:36.080 --> 37:36.980 if you're the only one 37:36.980 --> 37:38.060 not putting your intelligence 37:38.060 --> 37:39.240 offices in other countries, 37:39.240 --> 37:40.080 then you're the only 37:40.080 --> 37:41.200 stupid one on the block. 37:42.620 --> 37:44.360 From BBC Radio 4, 37:44.580 --> 37:45.960 this is Havana Helmet Club. 37:46.400 --> 37:47.800 Listen to the latest episodes 37:47.800 --> 37:49.260 first on BBC Sounds. 37:49.820 --> 37:51.320 If you want to be notified 37:51.320 --> 37:53.020 when the latest episode drops, 37:53.460 --> 37:54.420 make sure you're subscribed 37:54.420 --> 37:55.800 to Havana Helmet Club 37:55.800 --> 37:56.920 on BBC Sounds 37:56.920 --> 37:58.340 and have push notifications 37:58.340 --> 37:59.080 turned on. 37:59.620 --> 38:00.520 Havana Helmet Club 38:00.520 --> 38:01.420 is written and presented 38:01.420 --> 38:02.360 by Sam Bunke 38:02.360 --> 38:03.320 and Jennifer Ford 38:03.320 --> 38:05.020 and edited by Guy Crossman. 38:05.360 --> 38:06.160 Our story editor 38:06.160 --> 38:07.000 is Mike Olive 38:07.000 --> 38:07.800 and our producer 38:07.800 --> 38:08.760 is Larry Ryan. 38:09.720 --> 38:10.440 Original music 38:10.440 --> 38:11.640 by Tom Pintons. 38:12.160 --> 38:12.780 Sound design 38:12.780 --> 38:13.960 by Meryn Royards. 38:14.540 --> 38:15.640 Additional sound design 38:15.640 --> 38:16.160 and mix 38:16.160 --> 38:17.740 by Peregrine Andrews. 38:18.680 --> 38:19.400 Commissioning editor 38:19.400 --> 38:20.020 for the BBC 38:20.020 --> 38:21.280 is Dylan Haskins. 38:21.580 --> 38:22.740 Assistant commissioning editors 38:22.740 --> 38:23.640 are Sarah Green 38:23.640 --> 38:25.000 and Natasha Johansson. 38:25.500 --> 38:26.320 Havana Helmet Club 38:26.320 --> 38:27.300 is a Yarn production 38:27.300 --> 38:28.960 for BBC Radio 4 38:28.960 --> 38:30.120 and BBC Sounds. 38:32.360 --> 38:33.320 In Northern Ireland 38:33.320 --> 38:34.600 from the late 70s 38:34.600 --> 38:35.640 to the early 90s 38:35.640 --> 38:36.660 the IRA killed 38:36.660 --> 38:38.560 over 40 alleged informers. 38:39.060 --> 38:39.580 Men and women 38:39.580 --> 38:41.160 accused of passing information 38:41.160 --> 38:41.960 to the police 38:41.960 --> 38:42.700 and the British Army. 38:42.940 --> 38:43.420 But the man 38:43.420 --> 38:44.220 who often found 38:44.220 --> 38:45.260 tortured and sometimes 38:45.260 --> 38:46.060 killed these people 38:46.060 --> 38:46.980 on behalf of the IRA 38:46.980 --> 38:48.780 was himself an informer. 38:49.080 --> 38:50.620 A secret British Army agent 38:50.620 --> 38:51.600 with the code name 38:51.600 --> 38:52.440 Steak Knife. 38:52.600 --> 38:53.820 These were British agents 38:53.820 --> 38:54.780 but they had to find 38:54.780 --> 38:55.480 other agents. 38:55.740 --> 38:57.100 Just how was one man 38:57.100 --> 38:57.720 allowed to lead 38:57.720 --> 38:58.980 a double life for so long? 38:59.120 --> 39:00.160 It's not like James Bond. 39:00.380 --> 39:02.180 It's not a black and white situation. 39:02.360 --> 39:03.820 When lies are still being told 39:03.820 --> 39:04.460 to this day 39:04.460 --> 39:05.480 who do you believe? 39:05.820 --> 39:06.520 I wouldn't even know 39:06.520 --> 39:06.940 where to start 39:06.940 --> 39:07.840 and I'm with the IRA. 39:08.160 --> 39:08.720 Steak Knife. 39:09.020 --> 39:09.600 Listen now 39:09.600 --> 39:10.860 on BBC Sounds.