5min chapter

Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford cover image

Sonic Poison? The Genesis of Havana Syndrome

Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford

CHAPTER

The CIA's Best of Physical Wrecks

An 11-year-old girl begins to feel unwell during a musical rehearsal. She tries to slip out of the cafeteria without anyone noticing. The head secretary takes out her smelling salts and wafts them under Sandy's nose that she doesn't come round. A neighbourhood doctor arrives to offer his help, and immediately notices a funny smell. Some kind of poison gas, perhaps? Leaking from a broken pipe? These cars join the ambulances, so does the rescue squad from the fire department. By the time Joel Nitzkin arrives to investigate, the scene is chaotic. But hundreds of children are obviously unaffected.

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