Bristol Is The latest Place For 'The Hum'
By JENNY ARCHER
@bookbar (1609)
Sudbury, England
January 19, 2016 2:11am CST
Although that mysterious, low-pitched Hum has been experienced, virtually nationwide in the UK, it has now alighted on Bristol, in the South West of Britain.
Not for the first time, apparently, it also happened in the 1970's... so what is it and where does it come from?
There seems to be no known answer, neither here, nor in the many other areas, that have felt and heard it's constant drone.
Fabrice Ardhuin of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, has offered an explanation..."the effect of continuous waves causing the ocean floor to vibrate"... not very well received, I might add, as it doesn't address, many of the anomalies of why and when it happens, which is not constant.
There have been many theories over the years, from a kind of 'mass Tinnitus' to mating calls of rare fish, and of course 'Alien' spaceships, but the Real answer is nobody knows, why it happens, why it moves around the country,or even the world,.... nor where it is coming from.
Yet another of life's mysteries and the usual plethora, of 'Best guesses'!
You can view the world 'Hum' map here and enter your location if you are affected
The Hum is an unusual low frequency sound with no obvious source. It often sounds something like an engine idling outside one's home. This website aims to document the experiences of those who can hear it, and also to locate the source of the noise.
7 people like this
7 responses
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
19 Jan 16
The Independent has published an article which confirms that it isn't a local phenomenon and that it has been identified as external and not a 'mass tinnitus'. One of the possible explanations is that it's a kind of resonance, such as you might hear a bell (or a piano with the loud pedal pressed) produce after a loud noise in the vicinity. Many things, including the earth itself, have a natural resonance and can be excited to 'ring', usually at very low frequencies, though the harmonics may be at frequencies which are just at the lower limit of human hearing.
There are many things which might produce this resonance. Ocean waves; wind passing over regular features such as buildings, lamp standards or cross-country electricity lines. The alternating current in transmission lines acting in the earth's magnetic field will also produce a low-pitched hum of 50 or 60 Hz in the same way that a loudspeaker coil vibrates, though at a much lower volume. This could be transmitted through the pylons to the ground, causing a general vibration whose exact source would be difficult to trace.
Scientists have confirmed the cause of a strange humming noise that emanates from the Earth and has baffled people for more than forty years – and was even a factor in one reported suicide.
5 people like this
@bookbar (1609)
• Sudbury, England
19 Jan 16
@owlwings Hmm, same research, referred to in my post..again not conclusive, as thought by many...researchers always use the words "Think" or "Could be" to cover their backs, and the same explanations, largely, are put forward every time it moves to another area, as they did when Sudbury was the receiver a couple of years ago.
I doubt we will ever have a definitive answer, and the cause, might well be a combination of circumstances coming together, such as you mention, and while many research programmes may come up with 'answers'... to my non-scientific mind...still "best guesses"
1 person likes this
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
19 Jan 16
@bookbar Whenever I have noticed a general 'hum' or low-pitched throbbing and I have been interested enough (or irritated enough) to try to identify the source, it has usually turned out to be some generator or pump working a few streets off.
Low pitched sounds can travel very large distances and often their source seems to be non-directional. Both elephants and whales use this phenomenon to communicate over huge distances.
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (471553)
• Switzerland
19 Jan 16
@owlwings I have to thank you for this link. You have to know that my husband, from almost one year, is saying to his doctors that he hears strange "humming" sounds in the middle of the night, when there is complete silence. Nobody was able to find the reason. May be he is hypersensitive.
3 people like this
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
19 Jan 16
@bookbar Doubtless, if they are heard in Australia, it would be attributed to the 'great digeridoo of the aboriginal ancestors'. It's actually even possible that these 'hums' have been around since time immemorial and that such instruments as digeridoos and drums are a human attempt to imitate or even communicate with the mysterious source of the sounds.
3 people like this
@bookbar (1609)
• Sudbury, England
19 Jan 16
@JudyEv So if all the current explanations of Ocean floors and Seismic energy and the like, are worth a toss,...how come they don't affect Australia?
So many of the current theories are fraught with holes, just as the one put forward by the French as Owlwings quotes below...I'll stick with 'Best Guesses'
@shellyjaneo (1081)
• United Kingdom
23 Jan 16
mmm I haven't heard anything like this. I live in Dorset. I do often hear really high pitched sounds though which no one else seems to be able to hear which is really annoying x
