Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

The 'Sonic Attacks' On The U.S. Embassy In Cuba May Have Actually Been Something Far Less Sinister

The 'Sonic Attacks' On The U.S. Embassy In Cuba May Have Actually Been Something Far Less Sinister
Photo by Yander Zamora/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

The world was understandably vexed in 2016 and 2017 when U.S. diplomats and their families in Cuba reported hearing strange noises which were soon credited with a host of symptoms––among them dizziness, vertigo and ringing in the ears––they experienced in their wake. Diplomats described the noise as "piercing" and like "grinding metal."

Scientists now believe they've solved the mystery.


Scientists say the sounds of alleged "sonic attacks" on the U.S. Embassy in Cuba are actually the call of Caribbean Lovelorn crickets.

Wait... the what?


media3.giphy.com

You read that right, though. Caribbean Lovelorn crickets, specifically the Indies short-tailed cricket. They're these little guys:


The scientists were quick to point out that their findings do not rule out the possibility of an attack on U.S. diplomats; they just wanted the world to know that the recording of the sound plaguing U.S. diplomats was not a sonic weapon.

"There's plenty of debate in the medical community over what, if any, physical damage there is to these individuals," Alexander Stubbs of the University of California, Berkeley toldThe New York Times. "All I can say fairly definitively is that the A.P.-released recording is of a cricket, and we think we know what species it is."

Stubbs says when he first heard the sound, he was "reminded of insects he came across while doing field work in the Caribbean."

Together with Dr. Fernando Montealegre-Z of the University of Lincoln in England, they found that the acoustic patterns were similar to those exhibited by certain kinds of insects. They deduced that the song of the Indies short-tailed cricket "matches, in nuanced detail, the A.P. recording in duration, pulse repetition rate, power spectrum, pulse rate stability, and oscillations per pulse."

"They're incredibly loud," Stubbs said of the crickets. "You can hear them from inside a diesel truck going forty miles an hour on the highway."

Inconsistencies in the Associated Press's recording are likely because the recording was made indoors and not in the wild.

"The AP recording also exhibits frequency decay in individual pulses, a distinct acoustic signature of cricket sound production," the men wrote.

People certainly had opinions on this.







Welp! So much for that. At least we avoided World War III, amirite?

More from Trending

Lynda Carter; Screenshot of Donald Trump
Stephane Cardinale/Corbis via Getty Images; Newsmax

Lynda Carter Hilariously Channels Wonder Woman In Response To Trump's Claim About 'Undetectable' Planes

After President Donald Trump touted the U.S. military's "stealth" planes that he described as "undetectable," Wonder Woman star Lynda Carter responded to his claim with a funny quip sure to delight fans of her iconic character.

Earlier, Trump boasted about the military's capabilities in remarks to reporters in the Oval Office amid heightened concerns about the ongoing Israel-Iran conflict that is sending shockwaves throughout the Middle East and around the world:

Keep ReadingShow less
red flag with pole on seashore
Seoyeon Choi on Unsplash

People Break Down The 'Silent Red Flags' Folks Tend To Ignore In Relationships

A red flag has come to mean any warning sign in life, in addition to the literal red flags that are placed on beaches or industrial sites to warn people of danger.

People will respond to situations by saying, "That’s a red flag." But before that language evolved, they'd just call them "warning signs."

Keep ReadingShow less
Ted Cruz; Tucker Carlson
The Tucker Carlson Show

Tucker Carlson And Ted Cruz Get Into Shouting Match Over Iran In Bonkers Interview Clip

Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz—a harsh Donald Trump critic-turned-MAGA minion—sat down with fired Fox News personality Tucker Carlson for the conservative influencer's self-produced online content,The Tucker Carlson Show, for the Tucker Carlson Network.

On Tuesday, Carlson shared a 1.5-minute clip revealing that things got contentious when the pair touched on the Trump administration's escalating tensions with Iran.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump; Barack Obama
Suzanne Plunkett-Pool/Getty Images; Scott Olson/Getty Images

Resurfaced Trump Tweet Criticizing Obama Over Iran Comes Back To Bite Him

Amid tensions with Iran, President Donald Trump was criticized for hypocrisy after social media users resurfaced a 2013 tweet in which he accused former President Barack Obama of planning an attack on Iran because of his "inability to negotiate properly."

Trump has declined to clarify whether the U.S. is edging closer to launching strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, following a warning from Iran’s supreme leader against any attack and a rejection of Trump’s demand for surrender.

Keep ReadingShow less
​​Elon Musk
Allison Robbert/AFP via Getty Images

Anti-Elon Banner at Stanford

Stanford University graduates were given creative advice from above as an airplane flew over the graduation ceremony with a banner reading, “CONGRATS! DON’T WORK FOR ELON.”

The moment was captured last Sunday during the university’s 134th Commencement ceremony, where the Class of 2025 received their degrees at Stanford Stadium.

Keep ReadingShow less