The Hum Heard Round the World - Updated

[Frezzato]

I recently ran across an article on Business Insider [http://www.businessinsider.com/mysterious-hum-driving-people-crazy-2013-7] describing this strange hum that's being reported in areas ranging from the American Desert to the UK. I checked the video out and--holy crap, I've heard it before! There's no other sound to compare it to other than an out of control subwoofer, except the noise (to me) sounds like it's coming from the sky. It gets to a point where the front windows of my house seem as if they're going to shatter. And then it suddenly stops. The few times it's happened, it never lasted for more than a minute. Also, now that I think about it, I usually hear it in the winter, or at least when it's cool outside.

I assumed it wasn't a problem as I sometimes get passenger jets flying overhead and assumed it was some sort of reverberation. Except I know what a passenger jet sounds like and it was no jet. Here's some background info on me: I am not a conspiracy theorist. But this sound, this vibration, it's been heard around the world. And nobody knows what the fuck it is. Damn, I do love a mystery though.

So tell me, have you heard this noise? This was recorded in New Mexico. Cool, right? Here's the thing: I live in Miami, Florida, and I've heard that exact same sound.

Spoiler: Taos Hum

I know there's people on here from around the world. Have you ever heard anything like this?

[hr]
Update: So I found a site courtesy of the Christian Science Monitor.[footnote]For those unfamiliar, rest assured that CSM is not a religious-themed organization.[/footnote] It's called TheHum.Info [http://thehum.info/]. Thankfully, it's a very straightforward site that makes no mention of aliens, angels, bigfoot, or Chthulu. It's just a site that's trying to record information about the hum from people around the world.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

The voice of god and his flaming cherubs, no doubt.
Seriously though, maybe it's a tectonic plate kind of thing.

 

[Frezzato]

...Then again, I don't really have the best of hearing...

It's not a hearing thing I don't think. I really thought the front windows to my house were going to shatter. That's what they sounded like anyway.

Unfortunately, I think there are some fake stories on YouTube, like in this video for example. I will say however, that there's a segment at minute 8 in this video which caught a sound during a live broadcast of a baseball game:

Spoiler: Probably mostly fake accounts on YouTube

But that Taos recording. It's uncanny.

 

[Jolly Co-operator]

No worries, it's just the narrator from Bastion having some difficulties with his mic.

But in all seriousness, this is pretty cool. I doubt the real answer to what it is will be as interesting as I'm hoping, but it's something fun to mull over for a while.

 

[IllumInaTIma]

Not sure if I've experienced it, although it is fascination.
Also, Shamil Basayev is Chechen Terrorist... probably just a coincidence... or not?!

 

[McMullen]

The thing I've heard that most resembles that is a distant freight train. My grandmother has a farm in the desert of Central Oregon, and a railroad runs right by there. You can hear/feel the hum of the train's engine from a couple of miles away on some days, and it's very similar to that.

How many of those places have trains running by them? Or is there anything else around them that would have some powerful engine running for several minutes at certain times of day?

A quick GE search shows an airfield not far from Taos. I can imagine that hum coming from propeller-driven aircraft taxiing on the airstrip. Maybe with the right acoustics and temperature/humidity, the bass sound from the craft can carry for quite a ways. I think it might be possible to set up temperature contrasts that cause sound to bounce or refract off layers of air, like a sonic mirage.

That's my best guess anyway.

 

[Casual Shinji]

I don't know.

I've heard hums before, but for all I know they were just in my head. It's probably just some sort of resonance in the sky caused by air currents or something else weather related.

 

[Catfood220]

I can't say I've heard it myself, mind you having said that I have wreaked my hearing through loud music throughout the years. Plus now I live in a town, its constantly noisy so I never hear anything over traffic noise.

But I do have friends and also my brother who claims to of heard it.

 

[Hazy992]

http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4090

It's most likely that there isn't a single 'hum' or a singular cause, rather that they're all different and/or have other explanations.

 

[vv85]

Wow a vibration! We should call the papers.

A low freq hum could be caused by so many things - until theres something solid I'ld chalk this up to circumstance rather than anything suspicious

 

[SouthernStar]

I hear the hum but only in absolute silence, and it does get as loud as the refigerator if it kicks in, and I'm also crazy

 

[Ragsnstitches]

I recently ran across an article on Business Insider [http://www.businessinsider.com/mysterious-hum-driving-people-crazy-2013-7] describing this strange hum that's being reported in areas ranging from the American Desert to the UK. I checked the video out and--holy crap, I've heard it before! There's no other sound to compare it to other than an out of control subwoofer, except the noise (to me) sounds like it's coming from the sky. It gets to a point where the front windows of my house seem as if they're going to shatter. And then it suddenly stops. The few times it's happened, it never lasted for more than a minute. Also, now that I think about it, I usually hear it in the winter, or at least when it's cool outside.

I assumed it wasn't a problem as I sometimes get passenger jets flying overhead and assumed it was some sort of reverberation. Except I know what a passenger jet sounds like and it was no jet. Here's some background info on me: I am not a conspiracy theorist. But this sound, this vibration, it's been heard around the world. And nobody knows what the fuck it is. Damn, I do love a mystery though.

So tell me, have you heard this noise? This was recorded in New Mexico. Cool, right? Here's the thing: I live in Miami, Florida, and I've heard that exact same sound.

Spoiler: Taos Hum

I know there's people on here from around the world. Have you ever heard anything like this?

Sounds like infrasound, which is sometimes heard as a hum (but often not at all). There are quite a few natural sources of infrasound, like Volcanoes, Lightning, Upper Atmosphere lightning, Aurora and Lee waves. Generally the sound is inaudible, but sufficient acoustic pressure can make it audible or have a physical affect on persons present.

Unfortunately, this isn't interesting enough for some, so there are a plethora of conspiracy theories and supernatural criers that pull in this phenomena as "evidence" to their crazy/paranoid ramblings.

I guarantee the natural effect is far more fascinating then any fictional twist people can possibly dream up for it.

 

[Galen Marek]

I've heard a sound like a distant engine ever since I was a child where I live. Parents said it was probably just the tracks that were over 5kms from our house. Cept its even further then that in reality.
Could this be what I've been hearing for 18 years?

Only randomly, normally at night when its quite, sometimes I think my windows are shaking, low hum (the video sounded more like a high frequency then a low hum but audio is difficult to get across), sounds like a distant train with a "rumble" more then anything else, very solid and constant for a variable length of time, never overly long though.

This is, interesting.

 

[CriticalMiss]

It's just whales. Whales on weather balloons. Now please disperse and go about your business, don't mind the unmarked vans over there with the blacked out windows they are just delivering goods to local businesses.

I seem to remember a bit on QI where they played a similar hum that was actually made by sand dunes.

 

[Headsprouter]

It reminds me of Summer evenings from many years ago.

But it might have been just a vent I was hearing. I like this stuff, anyways.

 

[Sandernista]

I doubt I would be able to hear it, I have very, very poor hearing.

According to the wiki article only 2% or so of the population can hear it.

 

[Hawk of Battle]

Clearly the Reapers have developed stealth technology and are hovering above us, poised to begin the harvesting of humanity.

Either that or the smoke monster from Lost has escapd the island at last.

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

This is more widespread? Shit. I'm from Bristol and I've read about 'The Bristol Hum' in the seventies, but I can't say I've heard it myself.

 

[Something Amyss]

So tell me, have you heard this noise? This was recorded in New Mexico. Cool, right? Here's the thing: I live in Miami, Florida, and I've heard that exact same sound.

Of course, that sound doesn't sound the same in all examples or in all locations, so hearing the same sound somewhere else doesn't mean much. In fact, it's up for debate as to whether or not "the hum" can be captured on recording equipment.

Wow a vibration! We should call the papers.

A low freq hum could be caused by so many things - until theres something solid I'ld chalk this up to circumstance rather than anything suspicious

Humans are wired to look for something bigger, it seems.

I guarantee the natural effect is far more fascinating then any fictional twist people can possibly dream up for it.

Depends on what you find interesting and whether or not you're a layperson. If Joe Sixpack found the prospect of scientific phenomena half as interesting as the supernatural or what have you, there would be virtually no belief in ghosts/conspiracies/aliens/whatever.

It's just whales. Whales on weather balloons.

Whales on weather balloons filled with swamp gas which interacts with the tectonic shifts of the planet and the tidal influence of the moon, combined with light reflecting off Venus.

 

[Alcamonic]

Not heard anything like that on the Swedish west coast as of yet. I have enough of an annoyance as it is with various low pitched sounds (like old TV's or fluorescent lamps).

I've heard stories of devices producing sounds in attempts of annoy enemies or sabotage radiowaves. Devices such as the Russian Woodpecker comes to mind http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Woodpecker .