The ‘Hum’: One Of The Weirdest Sounds Heard Across The World
Dr. Glen MacPherson/TwitterThe World Hum Map, showing locations across the United States where the Hum has been heard.
Most people can’t hear the Hum, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t there. Those who have heard it describe it as a low-frequency rumbling, like the sound of a diesel truck passing in the distance.
According to Discover magazine, the Hum has been heard by somewhere between two to five percent of the world’s population, many of whom say that ear protection can’t silence the sound and that it often gets worse at night.
Hum-hearers have reported suffering from headaches, nausea, insomnia, fatigue, and memory loss because of the sound, but the presence of the Hum in various regions across the world has made it difficult to determine its source.
For example, the Hum has been heard in Taos, New Mexico; Bristol, England; Largs, Scotland; and Windsor, Ontario. However, the lack of definitive proof as to the Hum’s origins has naturally inspired numerous conspiracy theories.
Per The Guardian, some online Hum-hearers have suggested the sound is part of a government mind-control experience; others have tied it to 5G or proof of some kind of “Mother Earth frequency” that we can use to unlock dormant regions of our brains.
Attempts to explain the Hum have frequently been made, but one researcher, a psychoacoustics specialist named Colin Novak, said he and his team were never able to find “the definitive smoking gun.”
The Windsor Hum, for example, may have come from a blast furnace at a U.S. Steel facility in nearby Detroit, Michigan — but a lack of “cooperation from the industry or the government on the U.S. side” made it impossible for Novak’s team to look into it further.
Other theories suggested the Hum may be subterranean, perhaps the movement of tectonic plates or underground volcanic activity, but Novak’s team quickly determined that the sound was airborne.
The mystery of the Hum was so frustrating for Canadian math teacher Glen MacPherson that he established the World Hum Map and Database to gather Hum data and mark locations where it has been heard.
He hoped the site would catch the attention of credential researchers who would look into the Hum further, but unfortunately, it seems to have only attracted more conspiracy theorists to his email inbox. Thus, the Hum’s origin remains mysterious to this day, making it one of the weirdest noises in history.
