WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:04.480 BBC Sounds. Music, radio, podcasts. 00:05.240 --> 00:07.540 You're about to listen to Havana Helmet Club. 00:08.380 --> 00:11.540 New episodes will be released weekly, wherever you get your podcasts. 00:12.060 --> 00:16.980 But if you're in the UK, you can listen to the latest episode a week early, first on BBC Sounds. 00:17.920 --> 00:22.920 Just to let you know, this episode contains very strong language and may not be suitable for all audiences. 00:23.920 --> 00:29.460 One of the things that endears you to Adam is that when he's telling stories, he doesn't cast himself as the hero. 00:30.000 --> 00:36.960 He'll happily tell you about having to get rescued while mountain climbing, or accidentally drifting out into shipping lanes while scuba diving. 00:37.880 --> 00:40.600 Adam once lived to be in thrilling situations like this. 00:41.380 --> 00:46.360 It's why he loved being a CIA field agent, and he wasn't phased when things didn't go to plan. 00:46.360 --> 00:53.480 At one point down there, I went to photograph this military parade, and I couldn't figure out this route. 00:53.480 --> 01:02.360 And I ended up marching with the Cuban Communist Party, down through the streets, with Raul Castro up in the stands, 100 metres ahead. 01:02.440 --> 01:03.960 And I'm like, I'm in this parade. 01:08.040 --> 01:12.460 I can just picture him, head darting in all directions, looking for a way to get out. 01:12.840 --> 01:16.160 You can't turn around because there's just walls of people marching. 01:16.160 --> 01:21.020 And now I'm stuck being ported along by these groups. 01:21.340 --> 01:24.820 It's like something from the Pink Panther or something, but you're suddenly in the Communist Party. 01:25.100 --> 01:25.740 Oh my God. 01:26.120 --> 01:30.140 I eventually got out before passing the main tranche, and I went home. 01:30.240 --> 01:31.720 I was like, we're going to call that one a fail. 01:32.600 --> 01:36.180 But those are the sort of things that would destroy me today. 01:36.680 --> 01:42.940 Just the overwhelm of people and sounds and movement, and trying to stay upright. 01:42.940 --> 01:46.160 Right. So, yeah, I know my limitations now. 01:46.880 --> 01:49.620 Memories like this remind Adam of what he has lost. 01:49.920 --> 01:52.820 The building, the job, I miss it. I miss it terribly. 01:53.220 --> 01:54.940 I had met my people. 01:55.540 --> 02:00.060 I knew the first time that I went down there for some of my testing, I was like, this is where I belong. 02:00.800 --> 02:05.840 Adam says that when he arrived in Havana after three years training, he was in peak physical condition. 02:06.480 --> 02:08.080 He tires easily these days. 02:08.260 --> 02:12.500 He wears a weighted vest to help with his balance and goes everywhere with a support dog. 02:12.940 --> 02:17.000 You're in a dark room in the middle of the day, and, you know, you start looking at your life and you go, 02:17.080 --> 02:24.260 how did I go from the pinnacle of where I could be in my job, physically, mentally, all of these things, to this? 02:24.620 --> 02:26.240 And, you know, I was alone. 02:27.400 --> 02:31.380 When others started to get sick, Adam gave himself a new mission. 02:31.380 --> 02:34.220 He brought everyone together. 02:35.140 --> 02:36.640 So, yeah, we're the Havana Helmet Club. 02:37.000 --> 02:37.780 That's what we called each other. 02:38.440 --> 02:43.140 Like the tinfoil hat brigade, a sort of two fingers up at the people who didn't believe them. 02:43.680 --> 02:47.820 I made stickers and I handed them out to people that I deemed worthy in the club. 02:48.520 --> 02:51.200 The sticker design is like the Havana Club rum label, 02:51.660 --> 02:56.060 white writing over a red circle with a sketch of a landmark Havana statue on top. 02:56.060 --> 03:02.220 Because if you weren't laughing, you were crying, you know, and it cheered people up and we gave them to the closest people to us, 03:02.280 --> 03:03.980 like the doctors and the people that supported us. 03:04.120 --> 03:09.920 So, in my mind, if you had a sticker, you could show them to the others and you'd be all right, you know, you could trust them. 03:10.700 --> 03:13.700 Adam may not be as physically fit as he once was, 03:14.000 --> 03:19.620 but in his pursuit of answers for him and his fellow victims, he's still a force to be reckoned with. 03:19.620 --> 03:27.400 From BBC Radio 4, this is Havana Helmet Club. 03:27.960 --> 03:28.780 I'm Sam Bungie. 03:29.320 --> 03:31.440 I'm Jennifer Ford and this is episode three. 03:32.040 --> 03:32.840 This looks real. 03:42.060 --> 03:45.300 In the six weeks since the first incident in his apartment, 03:46.000 --> 03:49.020 Adam says he'd been sending regular cables back to headquarters. 03:49.620 --> 03:54.080 They charted the increasingly severe symptoms among him and a growing number of victims. 03:55.140 --> 03:58.440 In all that time, he says, the CIA took no action. 03:59.120 --> 04:02.380 That is, until Adam heard from a guy we'll call Paul Andrews. 04:03.980 --> 04:07.320 Andrews arranged to meet me on a street corner outside an Apple store. 04:08.900 --> 04:10.740 Your destination is on the right. 04:11.500 --> 04:11.820 Huh. 04:11.820 --> 04:17.660 As I drove by, I spotted him scanning the faces of the passing crowd. 04:18.300 --> 04:21.700 He had a folder under his arm and was standing perfectly straight. 04:22.420 --> 04:26.480 He looked like a serious man, the type you'd want looking into a tricky problem. 04:27.560 --> 04:32.540 He was the new guy on the CIA's medical team when the situation began to unfold in Havana. 04:32.540 --> 04:36.420 People were very busy in my office. 04:36.560 --> 04:37.640 They had lots on their plate. 04:38.400 --> 04:42.880 Andrews was scrolling through general traffic, the CIA's central message system, 04:43.200 --> 04:45.580 when one cable in particular caught his eye. 04:45.740 --> 04:53.040 There was a communique from Cuba and it related to unusual health events or something that needs 04:53.040 --> 04:53.680 to be investigated. 04:53.680 --> 04:58.380 I had no idea initially what all the symptoms meant. 04:58.680 --> 05:00.000 I couldn't say. 05:01.120 --> 05:05.020 Andrews was troubled by the cable, but he says he learned that others in his office 05:05.020 --> 05:06.940 didn't share his level of concern. 05:07.300 --> 05:08.840 They were saying, oh, this is just stress. 05:09.140 --> 05:11.180 These are a bunch of little girls they need to man up. 05:11.480 --> 05:12.560 We don't have time for this. 05:12.620 --> 05:13.660 We need to nip it in the bud. 05:13.740 --> 05:16.200 It's just psychological, things of that sort. 05:16.680 --> 05:20.280 This was before they'd ever talked to him, before they'd had them examined, before anything. 05:20.920 --> 05:22.040 How did you witness that? 05:22.040 --> 05:23.960 Was that in conversation? 05:24.260 --> 05:24.820 In conversation. 05:25.880 --> 05:27.900 Andrews was an occupational health doctor. 05:28.440 --> 05:33.980 He'd worked at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, specialising in gauging emerging threats. 05:34.380 --> 05:35.780 You don't just dismiss things. 05:36.240 --> 05:39.340 That's playing a statistical game and eventually you lose. 05:39.960 --> 05:42.800 Initially, Andrews got the go-ahead to take this on himself. 05:43.280 --> 05:44.340 No one told me to stop. 05:44.980 --> 05:46.780 And he tried to make up for lost time. 05:47.220 --> 05:50.980 He gathered key people who knew about Cuba, weapons, illness outbreaks. 05:50.980 --> 06:00.160 So there were many paths to go through involving health, involving acoustics and other disciplines to try and interrogate the entire situation. 06:00.840 --> 06:03.560 And he made some calls to find somewhere to bring Adam. 06:04.380 --> 06:06.020 Andrews knew he'd need a specialist. 06:06.680 --> 06:09.140 He got clearance to look for help outside the CIA. 06:09.140 --> 06:12.440 He called up medical centres in Washington and then beyond. 06:12.960 --> 06:14.480 The same name kept coming up. 06:14.840 --> 06:18.200 Someone who may be able to handle this strange and delicate situation. 06:18.200 --> 06:26.580 A doctor who not only specialised in hearing and balance issues, but also who crucially used to work in the military and still had security clearance. 06:27.160 --> 06:30.020 A doctor working out of Miami called Michael Hoffer. 06:30.400 --> 06:31.940 The call that I got was, 06:31.940 --> 06:33.380 Dr. Hoffer, yes. 06:34.020 --> 06:35.060 This is the State Department. 06:35.200 --> 06:35.840 We have a problem. 06:36.600 --> 06:40.840 And that kind of a call I had never gotten in my 21 years in the military. 06:41.180 --> 06:44.900 And here I am in the civilian world now getting that phone call. 06:45.560 --> 06:47.420 Andrews couldn't say much more over the phone. 06:47.760 --> 06:49.560 Not even that he actually worked for the CIA. 06:50.320 --> 06:52.720 But Dr. Hoffer picked up on his sense of urgency. 06:53.280 --> 06:56.680 I knew he wasn't just calling me because he had nothing better to do on a Friday. 06:57.260 --> 06:59.680 I had enough information to know we had to move quickly. 07:00.500 --> 07:03.220 That weekend, Andrews and Adam flew down to meet him. 07:04.120 --> 07:06.480 Hoffer and his team work out of the Miller School of Medicine, 07:06.960 --> 07:10.220 a vast complex stretching over several blocks of downtown Miami. 07:10.840 --> 07:13.180 And they cleared their schedule for me. 07:13.760 --> 07:16.980 When I was done with one, I got brought to the next and they were ready and waiting for me. 07:16.980 --> 07:25.340 And so we went through hearing testing, like a calorex testing where they push hot water into ear and make you really fucking dizzy. 07:25.340 --> 07:27.440 And then they tracked your eye movements. 07:27.940 --> 07:30.640 I eventually did some vestibular testing with a vestibular guy. 07:30.820 --> 07:32.920 And like, there's a lot that happened that day. 07:33.600 --> 07:39.240 Meanwhile, a small handful of those other Americans from the Havana Embassy who'd heard the same sound as Adam 07:39.240 --> 07:42.920 were quietly flown to Miami and were put through the same process. 07:43.580 --> 07:44.840 Hoffer began to see a pattern. 07:45.580 --> 07:51.260 And then we saw testing abnormalities that were universally pointing to one part of the balance system. 07:51.420 --> 07:52.540 How do you see that? 07:52.540 --> 07:58.920 It presents in individuals as feeling off balance, having difficulty maintaining stability. 07:59.360 --> 08:04.580 Right now, you and I are dedicating about 5% of our mental energy to staying upright. 08:04.940 --> 08:06.680 Imagine if that's 95%. 08:06.680 --> 08:09.880 Imagine how poorly you process everything else you have to process. 08:10.260 --> 08:14.400 Imagine that by 3 or 4 in the afternoon, you're totally knocked out and fatigued. 08:14.660 --> 08:14.820 OK. 08:15.200 --> 08:18.860 But it's something that you kind of gather through doing a series of tests. 08:18.940 --> 08:21.380 It's not something that you can kind of look into their ear and see. 08:21.380 --> 08:23.120 You can't look into the ear and see. 08:23.240 --> 08:30.020 But we have two different balance tests that very clearly and objectively show these abnormalities. 08:30.600 --> 08:33.920 The patients also scored poorly on the tests for eye motion. 08:34.240 --> 08:40.360 By the way, it's a very important cognitive skill to be able to follow direction and move your eyes a certain distance. 08:40.460 --> 08:43.680 We're not talking about, you know, having to do 100 push-ups. 08:44.020 --> 08:44.700 It's your eye movement. 08:45.460 --> 08:47.460 If you can't do it well, that's a problem. 08:48.160 --> 08:49.860 Hoffer didn't know what he was looking at. 08:49.860 --> 08:53.060 Rather, it felt like something he almost recognised. 08:54.020 --> 09:00.300 Hoffer came to specialise in hearing and balance problems when he was dealing with battlefield injuries during two tours in Iraq. 09:00.860 --> 09:03.420 What he saw in the Havana patients looked familiar. 09:03.640 --> 09:06.440 Many of the symptoms were like head injury individuals. 09:07.340 --> 09:09.880 Hoffer wanted to bring in someone with different brain expertise. 09:10.580 --> 09:15.200 A doctor who worked in the same hospital, who he regularly consulted on brain injury patients. 09:15.200 --> 09:19.600 Dr. Hoffer called me up and said, I need you to tell me whether you think this is real. 09:20.400 --> 09:26.240 Bonnie Levin is a neuropsychologist, which in this case means she would test for things like language and memory. 09:26.240 --> 09:31.260 The first person that walked in, I evaluated, and he said, what do you think? 09:31.300 --> 09:33.760 And I go, I think this is real, but I don't know what it is. 09:34.100 --> 09:35.280 Can you send me a few more? 09:35.400 --> 09:38.340 And they were shaken and very anxious. 09:38.880 --> 09:43.040 I think not knowing if something was going on was contributing to that. 09:43.040 --> 09:47.980 And their complaints were vague and had these odd-looking signs and symptoms. 09:48.800 --> 09:54.220 There's like a fog that's, you can't see your way to the other side as easily and quickly. 09:54.580 --> 09:59.720 And one person described to me that when he went to get in his car to put the key in, he couldn't put the key in the car. 09:59.820 --> 10:01.360 He was so disoriented. 10:01.960 --> 10:04.920 Levin says it's not that the patients couldn't complete tasks. 10:05.200 --> 10:06.780 They weren't failing across the board. 10:07.160 --> 10:11.440 But the results were wide of the mark for a highly trained CIA agent. 10:11.440 --> 10:14.400 It was a reduced level of functioning. 10:14.700 --> 10:16.360 It was below expectancy. 10:16.860 --> 10:24.080 And it bothered them because in some cases they had high-level responsibility and that was going to suffer because of it. 10:24.400 --> 10:27.240 So in answer to Hoffer's question, was this real? 10:28.140 --> 10:30.060 Levin certainly didn't think they were making it up. 10:30.660 --> 10:32.360 You know, I've been doing this for 40 years. 10:32.420 --> 10:38.020 I see people all the time that are malingering or people that are exaggerating or people that have a combination of both. 10:38.020 --> 10:43.160 An injury where there's also a great deal of emotion on top of that. 10:43.520 --> 10:44.640 But this looked different. 10:45.120 --> 10:47.300 I was very concerned from the beginning. 10:48.160 --> 10:53.800 The other important thing to understand is at that point, the individual thought this was going to be a self-limited problem. 10:54.180 --> 10:55.380 That's Dr. Hoffer again. 10:55.720 --> 10:59.200 They thought they were just sick and they were going to go back to Havana and be fine. 10:59.200 --> 11:02.700 So they had no reason to want to embellish or anything. 11:02.820 --> 11:05.840 In fact, they had every reason to want to try to perform better than they should. 11:05.920 --> 11:07.720 So they, you know, get back up in the fight. 11:08.540 --> 11:10.000 But what had caused these symptoms? 11:10.560 --> 11:16.120 A head injury usually involves some force colliding with the victim, like a steering wheel or a boxer's glove. 11:16.560 --> 11:18.920 The Havana patients had not had a blow to the head. 11:18.920 --> 11:22.440 But again, Hoffer was reminded of cases from the battlefield. 11:22.860 --> 11:24.200 I had studied blast injury. 11:24.440 --> 11:30.820 So I was very familiar with the concept of not having to be actually struck in the head to have a head injury. 11:31.080 --> 11:36.360 Hoffer's talking about injuries that can result from exposure to the waves of pressure caused by an explosion. 11:37.360 --> 11:42.460 We started discovering early on that the number one complaint they had was balance disorders. 11:42.460 --> 11:48.780 So I was somewhat satisfied that this looked a little like a blast injury. 11:49.020 --> 11:50.140 Somewhat satisfied. 11:50.960 --> 11:53.940 As in a brain injury caused by some invisible force. 11:54.300 --> 11:57.660 Some things were off, but, you know, not every disorder reads the textbook. 11:58.480 --> 12:00.060 We thought this was MTBI. 12:01.200 --> 12:03.520 MTBI, mild traumatic brain injury. 12:04.000 --> 12:10.420 Which is a bit of a kick in the nuts, really, because that's not what I was expecting at all, because no one's touched me. 12:10.420 --> 12:14.640 You know, with a TBI, you usually whack your head or you smash something. 12:14.980 --> 12:17.300 So to get a TBI diagnosis was a bit jarring. 12:18.740 --> 12:21.900 Adam stayed in Miami to undergo rehab at Hoffer's clinic. 12:22.320 --> 12:28.640 When Dr. Andrews flew back to CIA headquarters, he told his colleagues that something really was going on in Havana. 12:29.580 --> 12:32.260 He met with his superiors to report Hoffer's findings. 12:32.600 --> 12:33.760 And how were they received? 12:34.160 --> 12:38.840 I think at times they frustratedly would say something like, oh, it's ridiculous. 12:38.840 --> 12:41.000 Or, wow, this is serious, or whatever. 12:41.380 --> 12:45.080 But in terms of what they discussed when I wasn't there, I have no idea. 12:46.000 --> 12:50.420 What he did hear, however, was that some people had issues with the term brain injury. 12:50.760 --> 12:56.020 Some of the government physicians wanted that diagnostic term not to be used. 12:56.620 --> 12:57.420 Yeah, nothing formal. 12:57.620 --> 12:58.820 It was the usual. 12:59.340 --> 13:00.860 Someone came and said, this is terrible. 13:01.020 --> 13:02.700 They're using the word brain injury. 13:02.920 --> 13:05.780 Can't you do something so that it's not as upsetting to people? 13:05.780 --> 13:10.200 Whether you called something a brain injury or concussion, it's the same thing. 13:10.680 --> 13:14.780 But concussion was a much more common term that didn't frighten people as much. 13:15.340 --> 13:20.080 And sort of swapping out those phrases, brain injury with concussion, seemed to dissatisfy people. 13:20.480 --> 13:21.100 It seemed to. 13:21.100 --> 13:33.000 Back on December 30th, 2016, when Adam made his first report, another clock began ticking on how and when to broach these strange sounds with the Cubans. 13:33.680 --> 13:39.420 Cuban ambassador Jose Gabañas says that at first the Americans had seemed completely tongue-tied about it. 13:39.420 --> 13:49.320 You know, taking a coffee, they started to mention about things that were happening in Havana, diplomats that were not comfortable, something strange things. 13:49.860 --> 13:54.260 Quite frankly, I can tell you that sometimes I felt it was like a joke or something. 13:54.780 --> 13:57.720 And we kept asking them, what are you talking about? 13:58.000 --> 13:59.840 Could you come forward with any specifics? 13:59.840 --> 14:09.180 Then on February 17th, the U.S. sent a diplomatic note of protest to the Cuban foreign ministry, like a formal way of saying knock it off. 14:09.420 --> 14:12.640 They avoided to use the word attacks. 14:12.820 --> 14:13.780 How did that feel? 14:13.920 --> 14:19.660 Because even though they weren't using the word attack, there was a sense of accusation, right? 14:20.080 --> 14:22.640 Indeed, there was a sense of accusation. 14:22.640 --> 14:27.140 Days later, there was a meeting in Havana. 14:27.500 --> 14:35.280 During a visit from a high-level American delegation, Cuba's president, Raul Castro, pulled U.S. Ambassador Jeff De Laurentiis aside. 14:35.660 --> 14:39.260 Raul Castro said that he wanted to speak to me privately about a matter. 14:39.660 --> 14:42.060 And so that was the time we had a conversation about it. 14:42.540 --> 14:47.860 Presumably his request was generated because we had already gone to the foreign ministry and said, what the hell is going on? 14:47.860 --> 14:55.480 And the reaction directly from our president, without any other further details, was, we are a friendly country. 14:55.820 --> 14:57.040 We don't do that kind of thing. 14:57.320 --> 15:07.280 I mean, complete assurance that we were not involved by any means in any activity to harass not only Americans, but any diplomat coming from any other country. 15:07.800 --> 15:11.840 A research will be conducted and you're invited to participate immediately. 15:11.840 --> 15:18.680 U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy, the guy who'd been so pivotal in the thaw, was in the room for this interaction. 15:19.220 --> 15:23.300 Castro went directly to him and said, look, we're going to open this up. 15:23.460 --> 15:25.840 And also reiterated that later to me. 15:26.480 --> 15:30.440 He said Castro told them that America could send down whoever they wanted to look into this. 15:30.840 --> 15:38.260 I told everybody in briefings back in the U.S. afterward, there is no way you could hide something like this. 15:38.260 --> 15:47.780 It eventually would show. And they're saying, bring in all these kinds of people and spies and everything else that they would never allow in there. 15:48.200 --> 15:49.340 It's got to say something. 15:49.840 --> 15:54.640 Still, as Leahy put it, De Laurentiis wasn't the kind of guy who got buffaloed by anyone, 15:54.900 --> 15:58.380 that would allow the Cubans to think he was going to simply take them at their word. 15:58.720 --> 16:03.100 We gathered some allies to brief them on what was going on. 16:03.100 --> 16:13.820 I had wanted the Cubans to see all the cars with the little flags lined up in front of the embassy and that we were taking this very, very seriously and were consulting with our allies. 16:15.520 --> 16:18.860 But to Adam, any such signals were way too subtle. 16:19.280 --> 16:24.360 They're so lost in the diplomatic niceties and what things mean. 16:24.980 --> 16:28.680 Castro would make good on his offer to allow U.S. investigators into Cuba. 16:28.680 --> 16:35.000 But Adam was convinced that Castro had things wrapped up so tightly that any show of transparency would be a charade. 16:35.580 --> 16:41.200 While he remained in Miami getting rehab, most of the others tested by Hoffa returned to their posts in Cuba. 16:42.200 --> 16:48.620 Adam was able to stay abreast of developments in Havana, and he couldn't see anyone taking action to protect his colleagues. 16:49.280 --> 16:57.960 What he saw instead, he thought, was a weak response by people who'd been left starry-eyed at getting such intimate access to the Cuban president, something that rarely happened. 16:57.960 --> 17:05.180 Like, what? How? People are injured with fucking brain damage, and just because this dickhead comes over and talks to you and goes, 17:05.320 --> 17:09.100 Oh, well, we're going to look into it. That's a win for you? That's a win? 17:09.720 --> 17:11.260 You've got to pull your head out of your ass, mate. 17:11.860 --> 17:17.320 Then they would use that to go, well, if Raul stepped in, clearly they didn't do it because Raul would never do this and he's never talked to him. 17:17.600 --> 17:19.060 He's just feeding you lines of shit. 17:19.060 --> 17:29.340 Castro gave De Laurentiis his word that Americans would be safe in his city, even promising to increase security around the enclave of houses used by the diplomats. 17:29.640 --> 17:31.860 And for a while, it seemed like it might be over. 17:32.620 --> 17:36.660 But more Americans heard strange sounds in Havana and began to get sick. 17:37.160 --> 17:39.020 And they started talking to each other. 17:39.020 --> 17:45.500 Ex-CIA agent Suzanne Matthews told us that the world for spies and diplomats in Havana is compacted. 17:46.480 --> 17:53.380 The Diplo Club, those cocktail parties with exploding glasses, where every conversation might be overheard by Cuban spies. 17:53.380 --> 17:59.580 Now into this tense environment came whisperings that those people watching them might be attacking them. 18:00.320 --> 18:04.480 We contacted numerous people who were based at the U.S. embassy in Havana back then. 18:04.880 --> 18:06.180 Some didn't want to talk at all. 18:06.600 --> 18:09.480 Others shared their experiences but weren't willing to go on tape. 18:10.000 --> 18:11.620 It remains a sensitive issue. 18:12.520 --> 18:15.320 But one thing is clear about the mood on the ground at the time. 18:15.940 --> 18:20.680 There was an increasingly vocal group who felt that something big was going on and they weren't being told. 18:20.680 --> 18:26.220 My view is that there were meetings called at the appropriate times. 18:26.900 --> 18:28.020 And that's all I'll say. 18:28.540 --> 18:30.300 That's Ambassador Jeff De Laurentiis. 18:31.000 --> 18:36.900 And is there a balance to be struck then between wanting to tell people within the embassy, 18:37.180 --> 18:39.600 not being able to because of certain security clearances, 18:40.220 --> 18:42.900 and also not wanting to create a panic among people? 18:42.900 --> 18:51.840 I will say there are difficult decisions to make along the way in an experience like this. 18:52.200 --> 18:53.260 Can you tell me what they are? 18:53.980 --> 18:54.260 No. 18:54.800 --> 18:55.320 Generally? 18:55.780 --> 18:59.840 Generally you would try and find out if it's real, who is being affected. 19:00.220 --> 19:00.980 Is it specific? 19:01.340 --> 19:02.660 Is it more general? 19:03.200 --> 19:08.100 And obviously you seek the help of headquarters of Washington in making those determinations. 19:08.100 --> 19:14.860 On March 29th, De Laurentiis and his deputy brought their staff to a secure room at the U.S. Embassy. 19:16.040 --> 19:19.140 Once inside, they were told about the strange goings-on. 19:19.800 --> 19:23.100 If they found themselves experiencing the sound and pressure themselves, 19:23.560 --> 19:26.280 they were advised to move out of the way as soon as possible, 19:26.740 --> 19:28.900 and to try to make audio recordings. 19:29.680 --> 19:32.240 De Laurentiis offered those who were concerned a way out. 19:32.240 --> 19:38.240 My view was whoever wished to leave, please, with no punishment or... 19:39.780 --> 19:40.140 Judgment. 19:40.280 --> 19:40.680 Judgment. 19:40.860 --> 19:42.020 Thank you is the better word. 19:42.480 --> 19:46.440 Or people should be comfortable, and if they're not, they should move on. 19:46.820 --> 19:48.760 We would help them do so, and so forth. 19:49.160 --> 19:50.420 That's all I can say on that. 19:51.680 --> 19:56.120 But they go, well, here's what's going on, and you can't tell anyone. 19:57.340 --> 20:01.100 At this time, Adam was awaiting medical clearance to return to Cuba. 20:01.100 --> 20:02.800 He heard about the meeting. 20:03.520 --> 20:07.520 Specifically, that the people there were asked not to share what they'd been told with anyone. 20:07.840 --> 20:09.840 They go, well, what about my spouse and my children? 20:10.100 --> 20:11.720 What about the nanny that's at the house? 20:12.220 --> 20:13.860 Can my kids sleep next to windows? 20:14.240 --> 20:17.500 So people started having their children sleep in hallways, away from windows, 20:17.600 --> 20:21.260 because they didn't know what was happening or how bad it was or what it could be doing to people. 20:21.840 --> 20:24.520 So there was a bit of a panic that was happening, 20:24.820 --> 20:28.980 because they weren't getting information that they should have been getting from the start. 20:31.100 --> 20:36.640 Cases piled up, not just among intelligence officers and diplomats, but even their family members. 20:37.100 --> 20:40.920 It left them disorientated, like walking, having just taken off roller skates. 20:41.340 --> 20:43.660 One said their dizziness got so bad they would vomit. 20:44.320 --> 20:46.460 The apparent attacks seemed to be different for everybody. 20:47.000 --> 20:49.800 For some, the sound and pressure seemed to follow them as they moved. 20:50.300 --> 20:51.420 Others said it was static. 20:51.420 --> 20:56.320 There were cases where people heard no sound at all, just an unsettling pressure. 20:57.140 --> 21:00.800 One such victim said it was like being in the grip of an invisible hand. 21:01.300 --> 21:05.060 Dozens got permission to travel to Miami for testing with Dr. Hoffer. 21:05.620 --> 21:07.640 They tried to maintain some kind of discretion, 21:08.140 --> 21:11.820 aware that if there were an enemy behind these incidents, they would likely be watching. 21:12.420 --> 21:13.920 Hoffer told us there was a system. 21:13.920 --> 21:16.940 They come up from Cuba a lot to go to Costco, 21:17.260 --> 21:19.480 because you can get a lot more groceries, whatever stuff. 21:20.200 --> 21:22.560 And so initially, when the first couple of patients saw me, 21:22.620 --> 21:27.180 they had to go to Costco and at least have a bag when they left Miami. 21:27.640 --> 21:31.600 Like we were fooling anyone, but, you know, we thought we were being clever. 21:32.600 --> 21:36.360 U.S. officials from Havana would encounter each other in Miami, 21:36.580 --> 21:38.660 at the hospital and in the hotel elevator. 21:39.380 --> 21:42.760 Back in Cuba, some felt they had to talk about what was happening to them. 21:43.440 --> 21:46.720 One diplomat told us that when his parents came to visit from the U.S., 21:46.720 --> 21:49.260 he took them to the beach, leaving his phone behind 21:49.260 --> 21:51.960 so he could fill them in without risk of Cuban eavesdropping. 21:52.720 --> 21:57.100 That same guy told us he spoke to a family of Canadian diplomats living next door 21:57.100 --> 22:00.220 and learned they too had been hearing sounds and getting sick. 22:00.940 --> 22:04.520 One way or another, more and more people were learning about the outbreak. 22:05.100 --> 22:08.720 On April 17th, almost three weeks after that first meeting, 22:09.340 --> 22:11.400 De Laurentiis called in the spouses of staff 22:11.400 --> 22:13.140 to tell them what was going on. 22:13.860 --> 22:16.920 Looking back on that time, would you have done anything differently? 22:18.480 --> 22:20.360 No. No. 22:21.560 --> 22:25.540 As the crisis unfolded, Adam established a back channel to Havana 22:25.540 --> 22:27.820 via his colleagues who were still at the embassy, 22:28.460 --> 22:30.520 spending his evenings on the phone after work. 22:30.900 --> 22:32.940 So I was trying to talk to people in Havana 22:32.940 --> 22:35.600 to get an understanding of what was happening down there. 22:35.600 --> 22:38.060 It was all starting to take a toll on Adam. 22:38.520 --> 22:39.140 I was a zombie. 22:39.580 --> 22:42.940 And then I was working, you know, 16, 18 hours a day. 22:43.580 --> 22:46.200 Then you fall asleep for an hour and then you're up maybe an hour, 22:46.520 --> 22:48.300 maybe a half hour, if you can sleep at all. 22:48.560 --> 22:50.000 And then you just pray for the sun to come up. 22:50.500 --> 22:52.060 Adam told me he was beginning to lose perspective. 22:52.060 --> 22:55.560 I mean, you do have hallucinations because you're so sleep deprived. 22:56.020 --> 22:56.880 Yelling at his bosses. 22:58.340 --> 23:02.300 That spring, the agency revoked Adam's medical clearance 23:02.300 --> 23:05.140 for overseas work, meaning he couldn't return to Cuba. 23:05.760 --> 23:06.880 We don't know what they were thinking. 23:07.340 --> 23:09.060 It might have all come down to health concerns. 23:09.520 --> 23:12.340 But they may have also worried that this outspoken employee 23:12.340 --> 23:15.280 would become a central point of dissension and rancor 23:15.280 --> 23:16.440 in the Havana embassy, 23:16.800 --> 23:20.440 where De Laurentiis was managing an increasingly delicate situation. 23:20.440 --> 23:22.460 At the end of April, 23:23.060 --> 23:25.820 the ambassador requested the CIA send someone down 23:25.820 --> 23:27.700 who was familiar with the situation 23:27.700 --> 23:29.900 and the medical effects of the sound. 23:30.540 --> 23:32.240 They picked Dr. Paul Andrews. 23:33.160 --> 23:34.700 Adam says he blew up about it, 23:34.880 --> 23:36.180 trying to get management to see 23:36.180 --> 23:38.040 they were putting Andrews in harm's way 23:38.040 --> 23:39.340 by sending him to Havana. 23:39.880 --> 23:42.880 He says his immediate boss instructed him to take a week off. 23:43.140 --> 23:44.760 Like they didn't want to hear it. 23:46.880 --> 23:48.780 It was strictly a business trip 23:48.780 --> 23:50.640 and the schedule was very full. 23:51.300 --> 23:54.020 Andrews had agreed to the trip despite his own reservations. 23:54.960 --> 23:57.500 He welcomed the opportunity to investigate on the ground, 23:58.020 --> 24:00.620 but he worried the whole thing was just a PR exercise. 24:01.300 --> 24:06.100 If it meant people were not going to receive a medical evaluation 24:06.100 --> 24:09.040 because we came down and assuaged their concerns, 24:09.400 --> 24:10.360 I wasn't happy. 24:10.360 --> 24:13.040 I wanted as many people evaluated as possible, 24:13.420 --> 24:14.520 which was not easy. 24:15.840 --> 24:17.920 After a rocky flight and bad weather, 24:18.240 --> 24:21.180 it was late when he and his two colleagues landed in Havana. 24:21.860 --> 24:23.820 He says he understood that they'd be given cell phones 24:23.820 --> 24:24.880 that worked on the island 24:24.880 --> 24:28.860 and that security personnel would provide them with a communications plan. 24:29.660 --> 24:32.020 Instead, they were driven to the Hotel Capri, 24:32.400 --> 24:33.960 a few blocks from the U.S. Embassy, 24:34.240 --> 24:35.580 and left to their own devices. 24:35.580 --> 24:38.940 It was about 10.30 p.m., but still humid out. 24:39.660 --> 24:41.620 And like a lot of Caribbean hotels, 24:41.980 --> 24:44.080 they had a welcoming cold drink. 24:44.680 --> 24:46.520 I started to drink it and I said, 24:46.660 --> 24:48.620 no, no, no, no, wait a minute. 24:48.860 --> 24:50.080 And I put the drink down. 24:50.600 --> 24:52.620 Andrews understood that their rooms had been assigned 24:52.620 --> 24:53.720 by the Cuban government, 24:54.240 --> 24:55.500 three rooms high up. 24:56.400 --> 24:59.280 He observed the room and didn't find anything out of place. 25:00.320 --> 25:01.840 Bathroom, place to hand clothing. 25:01.840 --> 25:04.020 There were some things on the walls 25:04.020 --> 25:05.520 that I didn't know what they were, 25:05.640 --> 25:07.580 but that's not unusual. 25:07.680 --> 25:09.960 I can go to Europe and Asia and other places 25:09.960 --> 25:11.760 and see electronics I'm not used to. 25:12.220 --> 25:14.680 There was no building, you know, 25:14.700 --> 25:16.320 like directly across the street 25:16.320 --> 25:18.620 or anything at that height whatsoever. 25:18.980 --> 25:21.020 I didn't see anything where I thought 25:21.020 --> 25:24.140 someone could beam something into my room. 25:24.140 --> 25:29.760 I had gone to bed wearing a pair of jeans and a T-shirt 25:29.760 --> 25:31.580 in case there was some emergency 25:31.580 --> 25:32.700 and I needed to get out. 25:33.360 --> 25:35.760 Just a few minutes before 5 a.m., 25:35.760 --> 25:38.400 woke up with severe pain in my right ear 25:38.400 --> 25:39.800 like I've never had before. 25:40.660 --> 25:43.980 Headache, which I never suffered from headaches at all. 25:44.660 --> 25:45.180 Nausea. 25:45.880 --> 25:48.040 I had previously ringing in my ears, 25:48.160 --> 25:50.640 but it was totally, totally different now. 25:50.700 --> 25:51.640 It was much more intense. 25:51.640 --> 25:55.540 And I just couldn't understand what was happening. 25:55.880 --> 25:56.500 Was I dreaming? 25:56.940 --> 25:59.640 No, I sat up and realized I was awake 25:59.640 --> 26:02.120 and I began to hear the noise 26:02.120 --> 26:04.580 that I had heard previously from recordings 26:04.580 --> 26:06.140 that people experienced. 26:06.480 --> 26:09.300 Tried to use the phone to call for help 26:09.300 --> 26:10.220 and the phone was dead. 26:10.640 --> 26:11.980 I thought of leaving the room, 26:12.120 --> 26:14.260 but to run out at 5 o'clock in the morning, 26:14.440 --> 26:15.140 where was I going? 26:15.740 --> 26:18.320 I had some earplugs and headphones 26:18.320 --> 26:19.740 and I put them on right away 26:19.740 --> 26:21.980 and got out of the room and went into the bathroom 26:21.980 --> 26:24.300 and stayed there for the better part of an hour. 26:24.940 --> 26:26.760 As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, 26:27.460 --> 26:29.640 he started focusing on the bathroom vent. 26:30.260 --> 26:32.000 He could see that there was a light back there 26:32.000 --> 26:34.620 and what looked like a shadow moving in front of it. 26:35.620 --> 26:36.560 And it wasn't periodic, 26:36.740 --> 26:38.940 like some fan motor that was rotating, 26:38.940 --> 26:40.860 and it wasn't only in one direction, 26:40.960 --> 26:41.820 it was back and forth. 26:42.440 --> 26:44.160 I have no idea what it was, 26:45.020 --> 26:47.340 but one explanation could be there was a person back there. 26:47.820 --> 26:48.820 I have no idea. 26:49.180 --> 26:50.420 It was just a shadow. 26:51.620 --> 26:54.020 At 7am, Andrews made his way down 26:54.020 --> 26:56.140 to meet his colleagues in the breakfast cafeteria. 26:56.140 --> 26:59.940 I got off the elevator and almost fell. 27:00.100 --> 27:01.420 My balance was so off. 27:01.920 --> 27:04.620 I tried to tell my colleagues that I was sick, 27:04.720 --> 27:05.600 that I thought I'd been hit, 27:06.000 --> 27:07.540 and I don't know whether they understood 27:07.540 --> 27:08.600 what I was telling them. 27:09.780 --> 27:11.120 When they got to the embassy, 27:11.440 --> 27:13.980 Andrews recalled not being able to find his ID card. 27:14.500 --> 27:15.840 He had trouble counting out money 27:15.840 --> 27:17.580 to exchange it for local currency. 27:18.360 --> 27:20.400 He couldn't even focus on what people were saying. 27:21.260 --> 27:23.300 I remember talking to myself and saying, 27:23.300 --> 27:25.480 Paul, he's asking you a question. 27:26.440 --> 27:28.580 Try to pay attention to what he's saying. 27:28.840 --> 27:30.060 You're going to have to respond. 27:30.460 --> 27:31.280 And it was really difficult. 27:32.020 --> 27:34.160 Andrews struggles to remember much about that day. 27:34.540 --> 27:35.980 There was the embassy staff meeting, 27:36.220 --> 27:38.460 a tour of the homes where the attacks were reported. 27:39.240 --> 27:40.560 But the details are hazy. 27:40.980 --> 27:42.600 He does recall asking his colleagues, 27:42.920 --> 27:45.360 neither of whom reported anything unusual themselves, 27:46.020 --> 27:47.540 whether he should return to the hotel 27:47.540 --> 27:49.180 or find somewhere else to stay. 27:49.760 --> 27:51.420 And they said, oh no, no, go back to the hotel, 27:51.420 --> 27:52.460 get your car in the morning. 27:53.140 --> 27:55.140 And stupidly, I just went along with it. 27:55.280 --> 27:55.840 I wasn't thinking. 27:56.200 --> 27:58.120 I don't know if I was hit the second night or not. 27:58.140 --> 27:58.660 I have no idea. 27:59.320 --> 28:02.020 I know that I woke up Saturday morning feeling even worse. 28:02.560 --> 28:04.360 The following day, he flew back to the US 28:04.360 --> 28:05.880 and went to see Dr. Hoffer. 28:06.220 --> 28:08.400 I remember being stunned by it. 28:08.560 --> 28:10.860 Hoffer had met Andrews several times at this point, 28:10.960 --> 28:12.580 including just before he went to Cuba. 28:12.900 --> 28:15.420 I saw him physically in these hallways 28:15.420 --> 28:16.580 the day before he went down. 28:16.740 --> 28:17.360 And he was fine. 28:18.320 --> 28:20.700 Andrews was no longer simply a CIA physician. 28:20.700 --> 28:24.640 He was also the latest victim of whatever was happening in Havana. 28:25.320 --> 28:28.180 He was already disturbed by the attitudes of his bosses. 28:28.900 --> 28:31.360 But now their apparent indifference felt personal. 28:31.360 --> 28:36.940 No one in my management ever sat down with me, 28:37.040 --> 28:38.180 called me into the office and said, 28:38.520 --> 28:40.220 we're so sorry, Paul, that this happened. 28:40.620 --> 28:41.660 What can we do? 28:41.780 --> 28:43.320 What can we do in your job? 28:43.420 --> 28:45.440 Or to try and make it easier for you? 28:45.640 --> 28:46.720 Nothing like that. 28:46.720 --> 28:58.620 Andrews says that even when he later raised his concerns 28:58.620 --> 29:00.880 with some of the most senior management at the CIA, 29:01.360 --> 29:02.140 it didn't help. 29:02.140 --> 29:05.160 I made the statement that I thought that some of my colleagues 29:05.160 --> 29:08.020 were misleading people and other government entities 29:08.020 --> 29:09.120 about the severity, 29:09.620 --> 29:12.160 and that they were misleading people 29:12.160 --> 29:15.280 about the risks of going down to Cuba before they went. 29:15.900 --> 29:17.200 I wanted to see what would happen. 29:17.780 --> 29:18.340 Nothing. 29:19.000 --> 29:23.820 And my office never, ever spoke to me again, basically. 29:24.620 --> 29:27.340 Within months, Andrews would be medically retired. 29:28.100 --> 29:31.400 Whatever had befallen him in Havana was going to cut short his career. 29:31.860 --> 29:33.880 But he says that raising the alarm in this way 29:33.880 --> 29:36.100 had already destroyed his standing in the CIA. 29:36.720 --> 29:40.860 At that point, you kind of outed yourself as a kind of troublemaker, 29:41.000 --> 29:43.120 like as a whistleblower or whatever you'd call it. 29:43.260 --> 29:43.860 Oh, absolutely. 29:44.540 --> 29:47.180 I felt that what they had done was totally unethical at that point. 29:47.420 --> 29:48.100 It was continuing. 29:48.660 --> 29:51.620 This is all exactly what Adam had worried about. 29:52.300 --> 29:55.340 He tried to stop the CIA from sending Andrews to Cuba. 29:55.340 --> 29:58.980 Now the agency was so keen to get Adam out of the picture, 29:59.380 --> 30:02.140 he says they suggested reassigning him to Peru. 30:02.600 --> 30:04.400 Those early days were ugly. 30:04.740 --> 30:05.460 Very, very ugly. 30:05.920 --> 30:08.560 Adam says he wasn't well enough to travel anywhere for work. 30:09.160 --> 30:11.760 And what's more, his medical care was in chaos. 30:12.260 --> 30:14.080 It's funny because other people have come back 30:14.080 --> 30:16.580 from other countries and they've been injured 30:16.580 --> 30:20.340 and doing their jobs and they come back, you know, like a hero. 30:20.340 --> 30:23.660 And me and some of my colleagues came back 30:23.660 --> 30:26.660 and initially we were treated like we'd done something wrong. 30:27.740 --> 30:31.180 Which is very confusing, you know, because we're sold on this. 30:31.400 --> 30:34.100 We're a family and we take care of each other and all this stuff. 30:34.440 --> 30:37.180 And, you know, you come back and you go, 30:37.240 --> 30:38.740 well, I've got brain damage now. 30:39.380 --> 30:41.100 And people didn't want to hear it. 30:41.260 --> 30:42.140 They didn't want to fix it. 30:42.180 --> 30:42.960 They didn't want to help us. 30:42.960 --> 30:44.600 They didn't want to do anything. 30:46.080 --> 30:49.240 Adam says it had become hard to get approval to travel 30:49.240 --> 30:51.020 to see the doctors in Miami. 30:51.700 --> 30:54.200 He believed the CIA cooled on Dr. Hoffer. 30:54.980 --> 30:56.360 They didn't like what he was telling them. 30:56.980 --> 30:58.720 Hoffer himself couldn't give us any reason. 30:59.420 --> 31:01.640 Though he did confirm that the appointments dried up. 31:01.940 --> 31:04.360 I think every one of them left here with a follow-up appointment. 31:04.680 --> 31:07.460 Very few of them were allowed to keep that appointment. 31:07.860 --> 31:08.880 Well, kept the appointment. 31:08.880 --> 31:11.740 I never know why people don't keep appointments. 31:11.740 --> 31:14.660 Either way, with Hoffer out of the picture, 31:15.280 --> 31:16.920 Adam was left without a doctor. 31:17.600 --> 31:19.900 He asked for permission to seek his own private care 31:19.900 --> 31:21.200 and threatened to quit over it. 31:21.580 --> 31:24.400 They just dragged it on and on and on and on and on. 31:24.940 --> 31:27.940 And so eventually, I saw a big begging email saying, 31:28.060 --> 31:30.600 I need help and I'm leaving on this date. 31:32.100 --> 31:34.180 You can't just up and leave the CIA. 31:34.660 --> 31:36.800 Without clearance, it would be breaking the law 31:36.800 --> 31:39.240 for Adam to even tell a doctor he was in the agency, 31:39.240 --> 31:41.980 let alone to speak about his experiences in Havana, 31:42.280 --> 31:44.000 which remained a state secret. 31:45.200 --> 31:47.880 Adam knew the email he was sending was almost mutinous. 31:48.100 --> 31:49.880 You know, the people that were on that email 31:49.880 --> 31:51.800 were incredibly senior, some of them. 31:51.980 --> 31:54.260 There was a lot of big people that I put on that email, 31:54.560 --> 31:57.540 to the point that I was kind of wincing when I clicked send, frankly. 31:57.540 --> 32:00.160 Adam envisioned a flurry of replies. 32:01.120 --> 32:03.000 He says he even pictured armed police 32:03.000 --> 32:05.240 banging down the door to his apartment in D.C. 32:06.000 --> 32:07.580 He says that no one wrote back. 32:08.320 --> 32:10.060 Adam was 33 years old. 32:10.680 --> 32:13.580 Just the year before, he completed his CIA field training 32:13.580 --> 32:16.320 and was preparing for his first overseas posting. 32:16.960 --> 32:19.920 Now it felt like his entire career was in the rear view. 32:20.380 --> 32:22.480 He had no idea where he stood with his superiors. 32:23.280 --> 32:25.100 Then weird things started happening. 32:25.780 --> 32:27.920 One day, Adam found his car window smashed. 32:28.240 --> 32:29.980 Another time, he picked up surveillance. 32:30.540 --> 32:33.960 People were not pleased with me because I wouldn't let this go. 32:34.340 --> 32:35.840 I've watched the same movies you have. 32:36.180 --> 32:37.960 And I know if you become a problem child, 32:38.120 --> 32:39.540 which I'm a problem child, 32:39.800 --> 32:41.800 I don't know what is possible. 32:41.800 --> 32:45.480 When I started having people smash out the windows of my car 32:45.480 --> 32:47.020 and following me and all this other stuff, 32:47.520 --> 32:50.640 you start questioning then, 32:51.020 --> 32:52.940 you know, who's doing this and what's the end game? 32:53.200 --> 32:55.500 What message are they sending and should I stop? 32:58.300 --> 33:01.100 You know, emotions have been tied up in this from day one. 33:01.360 --> 33:03.060 This is Dr. Charles Rosenfarb, 33:03.140 --> 33:05.220 the former medical director of the State Department. 33:05.920 --> 33:06.440 And fear. 33:06.660 --> 33:08.080 We had no idea what this was. 33:08.080 --> 33:11.440 Was it something that would go away in a week, a day, a month? 33:11.500 --> 33:11.940 Who knows? 33:12.260 --> 33:13.680 It triggered a lot of emotions. 33:14.300 --> 33:14.740 Understandable. 33:15.780 --> 33:17.860 Rosenfarb was in charge of the State Department's 33:17.860 --> 33:19.520 medical response to Havana syndrome. 33:20.200 --> 33:23.440 But he told us that the CIA took the lead in those early days, 33:23.740 --> 33:25.980 when Andrews and Adam say they were being ignored. 33:26.960 --> 33:29.220 Rosenfarb says his team over at the State Department 33:29.220 --> 33:31.340 followed behind like the back of a slinky. 33:32.000 --> 33:33.740 What he could tell us was that in July, 33:34.080 --> 33:35.260 at the CIA's urging, 33:35.460 --> 33:37.820 he flew Dr. Hoffer up from Miami. 33:38.080 --> 33:41.580 To present his findings to a group of outside medical experts. 33:42.500 --> 33:44.120 I think there was probably some skepticism 33:44.120 --> 33:46.440 about Dr. Hoffer's conclusions. 33:47.000 --> 33:48.780 There was no test at that point, 33:48.940 --> 33:50.120 and there's still no test at all, 33:50.560 --> 33:52.860 that says, yes, this person has this, 33:53.120 --> 33:54.480 no, this person doesn't have it. 33:54.880 --> 33:57.060 Hoffer told us that he wasn't giving the patients 33:57.060 --> 33:59.000 from Havana any formal diagnosis. 33:59.860 --> 34:01.520 He just saw a pattern of injury. 34:02.160 --> 34:03.300 The other doctors in the room 34:03.300 --> 34:05.580 didn't think the pattern was as clear as all that. 34:05.580 --> 34:07.160 Even the symptoms, 34:07.680 --> 34:10.880 there was a whole different degree of seriousness. 34:11.460 --> 34:14.260 A lot of symptoms reported were subjective stuff. 34:14.380 --> 34:16.960 I mean, feeling dizzy, feeling nausea, have headaches. 34:17.540 --> 34:20.720 Still, they did agree that they were being presented 34:20.720 --> 34:22.480 with something out of the ordinary. 34:22.920 --> 34:24.840 But there was a consensus in that meeting 34:24.840 --> 34:27.480 that this is something not natural. 34:27.480 --> 34:31.320 Rosenfarb says that the doctors were unanimous. 34:31.320 --> 34:32.600 We went around the table, 34:32.840 --> 34:35.380 and everyone felt that it was a non-natural event, 34:35.720 --> 34:37.940 that his findings and the history 34:37.940 --> 34:40.120 was not consistent with a virus, 34:40.240 --> 34:41.400 not consistent with a toxin, 34:41.480 --> 34:45.280 not consistent with any other naturally occurring process 34:45.280 --> 34:46.480 that could have affected them. 34:46.720 --> 34:48.460 The doctors heard case studies 34:48.460 --> 34:50.380 detailing the patient's experiences. 34:50.380 --> 34:53.340 Some people reported being able to move 34:53.340 --> 34:54.920 in and out of the sound and pressure, 34:55.360 --> 34:57.740 and others said people nearby were unaffected. 34:58.240 --> 34:59.900 These things stood out to the doctors 34:59.900 --> 35:01.520 in Rosenfarb's office that day. 35:02.200 --> 35:05.100 It gave them the impression of some kind of focused beam. 35:05.760 --> 35:06.880 This was a bunch of folks 35:06.880 --> 35:08.560 who were seeing data for the first time 35:08.560 --> 35:09.880 and hearing stories, 35:10.160 --> 35:12.660 and were opining that this was something 35:12.660 --> 35:13.900 that was out of the ordinary, 35:14.260 --> 35:15.460 could not be explained easily. 35:15.460 --> 35:19.580 While Adam believed the government sidelined Hoffer 35:19.580 --> 35:21.420 because they were trying to cover up 35:21.420 --> 35:22.740 the health problems in Havana, 35:23.740 --> 35:25.500 Rosenfarb says they switched teams 35:25.500 --> 35:28.520 precisely because they were taking the issue so seriously. 35:29.120 --> 35:31.480 It was felt, I know from our staff, 35:31.600 --> 35:34.280 that Hoffer had limited resources 35:34.280 --> 35:35.780 to take this on himself. 35:36.400 --> 35:38.380 We were looking for kind of a major centre 35:38.380 --> 35:41.340 that could basically handle a number of patients, 35:42.040 --> 35:43.960 and preferably, you know, 35:43.960 --> 35:45.780 fairly close to the Washington, D.C. area. 35:45.960 --> 35:47.800 Adam didn't know that the State Department 35:47.800 --> 35:48.880 shared his concern, 35:49.160 --> 35:51.100 and was actively looking for a new team. 35:51.520 --> 35:52.660 As far as he was concerned, 35:52.900 --> 35:54.100 he was out in the cold. 35:54.780 --> 35:55.680 A problem child. 35:56.400 --> 35:58.340 Adam felt he and the other patients 35:58.340 --> 36:01.240 had no choice but to make their own plans. 36:02.080 --> 36:03.780 There's something very empowering 36:03.780 --> 36:05.420 about being in that place 36:05.420 --> 36:07.600 when you don't care anymore. 36:08.020 --> 36:09.040 It's even more empowering 36:09.040 --> 36:11.280 when the people that you don't give a shit about, 36:11.720 --> 36:12.740 that are trying to screw you, 36:12.740 --> 36:14.260 learn that you don't care anymore, 36:14.520 --> 36:15.900 and that you can do more damage to them 36:15.900 --> 36:16.820 than they can do to you. 36:17.080 --> 36:18.000 And that's when it changes. 36:19.020 --> 36:20.440 Adam maintains that it wasn't him 36:20.440 --> 36:21.220 who went to the press, 36:21.420 --> 36:22.460 and he won't tell us who did. 36:22.920 --> 36:25.120 What we do know is that at the beginning of June, 36:25.340 --> 36:26.480 a journalist from CBS 36:26.480 --> 36:28.540 got a call from inside the government 36:28.540 --> 36:30.240 about a cover-up in Havana. 36:30.740 --> 36:32.100 This was, on the surface, 36:32.180 --> 36:33.200 a ridiculous story. 36:33.820 --> 36:36.940 There was talk of blacked-out vans in Havana 36:36.940 --> 36:40.780 secretly targeting, with sound waves, U.S. diplomats. 36:40.860 --> 36:42.020 I mean, that's crazy. 36:45.360 --> 36:47.560 Next time on Havana Helmet Club. 36:49.560 --> 36:52.340 Can you remember feeling anxious at all 36:52.340 --> 36:53.660 about the press getting hold of it 36:53.660 --> 36:55.560 and what that might do to your efforts 36:55.560 --> 36:56.680 to try and figure things out? 36:57.000 --> 36:59.040 Obviously, it would complicate things, 36:59.040 --> 37:01.320 but we viewed it as serious enough 37:01.320 --> 37:03.160 that we hoped it could get resolved 37:03.160 --> 37:05.620 before it splashed all over the newspapers. 37:05.900 --> 37:07.500 None of it really made sense to me, 37:07.660 --> 37:09.860 but people were rushing to judgment, 37:10.060 --> 37:10.860 blaming the Cubans. 37:11.180 --> 37:12.140 We had to deny it. 37:12.260 --> 37:13.500 We were involved in something 37:13.500 --> 37:16.120 that no one proved that it was happening. 37:16.440 --> 37:18.940 Every person the CIA sent down got hurt. 37:19.080 --> 37:20.360 That then asks the question, 37:20.540 --> 37:21.740 how tenable is this? 37:21.840 --> 37:23.700 Because we're just sending lemmings off a cliff. 37:23.920 --> 37:25.260 The State Department was just consumed 37:25.260 --> 37:27.180 with this whole Havana syndrome thing. 37:27.180 --> 37:28.780 They didn't care what else was going on. 37:29.040 --> 37:37.220 From BBC Radio 4, this is Havana Helmet Club. 37:37.660 --> 37:40.500 Listen to the latest episodes first on BBC Sounds. 37:41.300 --> 37:42.800 If you want to be notified 37:42.800 --> 37:44.500 when the latest episode drops, 37:44.940 --> 37:47.280 make sure you're subscribed to Havana Helmet Club 37:47.280 --> 37:50.580 on BBC Sounds and have push notifications turned on. 37:50.880 --> 37:52.660 Havana Helmet Club is written and presented 37:52.660 --> 37:54.540 by Sam Bunke and Jennifer Ford 37:54.540 --> 37:56.260 and edited by Guy Crossman. 37:56.260 --> 37:58.240 Our story editor is Mike Olive 37:58.240 --> 38:00.000 and our producer is Larry Ryan. 38:00.960 --> 38:02.880 Original music by Tom Pintons. 38:03.400 --> 38:05.200 Sound design by Meryn Royards. 38:05.780 --> 38:08.980 Additional sound design and mix by Peregrine Andrews. 38:09.920 --> 38:12.500 Commissioning editor for the BBC is Dylan Haskins. 38:12.800 --> 38:14.240 Assistant commissioning editors are 38:14.240 --> 38:16.260 Sarah Green and Natasha Johansson. 38:16.740 --> 38:18.520 Havana Helmet Club is a Yarn production 38:18.520 --> 38:21.320 for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds. 38:25.480 --> 38:28.860 World of Secrets is where untold stories are exposed. 38:29.140 --> 38:30.080 And in this new series, 38:30.480 --> 38:33.320 we investigate the dark side of the wellness industry, 38:33.700 --> 38:36.480 following the story of a woman who joined a yoga school 38:36.480 --> 38:39.200 only to uncover a world she never expected. 38:39.200 --> 38:41.480 I feel that I have no other choice. 38:41.700 --> 38:45.380 The only thing I can do is to speak about this. 38:45.780 --> 38:47.200 Where the hope of spiritual breakthroughs 38:47.740 --> 38:49.820 leaves people vulnerable to exploitation. 38:50.360 --> 38:53.340 You just get sucked in so gradually 38:53.340 --> 38:57.920 and it's done so skillfully that you don't realise. 38:58.420 --> 39:00.960 World of Secrets, The Bad Guru. 39:01.360 --> 39:02.680 Listen on BBC Sounds. 39:02.680 --> 39:32.660 World of Secrets