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Sep 24 2008

“What is that Humming?” New Mexico Citizens Ask

Published by kyellis at 12:01 pm under News Edit This

Some of the people of Taos are asking where the low-frequency humming is coming from, to no avail. Even though not everyone can hear the hum, it’s prevalent enough that Wikipedia and other sources have reported on it. Some, have even tried to guess what the hum is and where it comes from. Yet, no government agency has responded with an answer to the ongoing and annoying sound.

Although, this sound has become known as the Taos Hum, this New Mexico city is not alone. The hum is heard in other parts of the world especially in Northern Europe, the UK and the Big Island of Hawaii. Back in 1977 UK people complained of dizziness, loss of breath, anxiety and loss of sleep due to the hum there. In fact, a major newspaper received 800 letters in complaint of the maddening noise.

Those that hear the hum describe it as a distant idling diesel engine. However, they also say it is not the same all of the time. It switches between a constant sound to the volumn changing up and down and sometimes going to a sort of “Morse Code” beat. What is really strange is that they say it is louder indoors than outside.

As far as other locations in the U.S., there is at least one person that reports hearing a humming sound in every state. Although, hum hearers have traveled to locations where they don’t hear the hum. Some have speculated about the cause of this ongoing annoyance:

Industrial machinery
Pulsed microwaves
HAARP - ionosphere heating system
Submarine communication
Meteor electromagnetic waves
Geologic or plate tectonics
Navy ELF communications

The U.S. government has taken the hum serious enough to try and detect it’s origin. Scientists, some of whom also hear the hum, were directed to find the cause of the hum. The team was unable to find any seismic events or acoustic signals that could account for the humming. The mystery continues and the study for an answer is on-going.

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