Visualisation, at the ab initio CTOCD-DZ/RHF/6-31G** level, of current density induced in the cubane molecule, C8H8, by a magnetic field along a fourfold axis shows a pair of strong face-localised paratropic ring currents in this saturated system that account for the strong deshielding effects at both face and cube centres predicted in previous calculations. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.