skepticdesk.
investigations, competing explanations, and the skeptic's take

← all investigations

active confidence: Low

Havana Syndrome — What Causes the Anomalous Health Incidents?

What causes the Anomalous Health Incidents (Havana Syndrome) — a directed-energy weapon, environmental/biological factors, or psychogenic/social spread?

Competing explanations

Directed-energy / pulsed-RF weapon (adversary) · possible
Psychogenic / functional illness (social spread, stress) · plausible
Environmental / biological (toxins, pre-existing conditions, perception) · possible

Timeline — what changed

2026-06-19 23:14 · AI update

No material change. The Wikipedia article reviews multiple investigations but concludes no cause has been established. It notes that a 2023 review attributed the syndrome to a moral panic and psychogenic causes, while a 2024 review states the cause remains unknown and does not endorse a specific explanation. These updates do not resolve the competing explanations.

Sources (1)