The Foreign Service Journal, January-February 2022

38 JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2022 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL FEATURE BeforeHavana Syndrome, ThereWas MoscowSignal Today’s Havana syndrome is “like déjà vu all over again,” as Yogi Berra might have put it. BY JAMES SCHUMAKER James Schumaker is a retired Foreign Service officer. During his career (1974-2008), he served four times in Moscow, twice in Kyiv and once each in Belgrade, Leningrad, Soviet-occupied Kabul, Minsk, Vladivostok and Yekaterinburg. More detailed source information on Moscow Signal is available on the author’s blog at https://shoeone.blogspot.com/2013/09/moscow-microwaves.html. I n December 2016, just as the Obama administra- tion was leaving office, strange reports began coming from our embassy in Havana, Cuba. Peo- ple were exhibiting peculiar symptoms, including migraines, dizziness, memory loss, brain fog and an inability to perform normal functions at work. Often, the initial onset of symptoms was accom- panied by clicking sounds. At first, when the symptoms were confined to a few Americans and Canadians serving in Havana, these reports were treated with skepticism. While the State Department drew