The Mystery Of The Taos Hum: Mind-boggling Facts You Should Know About The Strange Unexplained Noises
In central New Mexico lies the small and laid-back town of Taos—which is also home to a mind-boggling mystery: a hum of mysterious origin resides in the town—and is called "Taos Hum."
This strange and persistent low-frequency sound creates a humming or rumbling noise. This phenomenon is commonly reported in New Mexico’s Taos, but people from other parts of the world have also reported experiencing the same thing. Experts carried out investigations for over a decade, but no single explanation or cause could be identified. While some people perceive the Hum as a disturbance or an annoyance, others find it comforting. Keep reading to find out more interesting facts about the mysterious Taos Hum.
It was first reported in 1993
The residents of Taos first reported the hum in 1993. People claimed to hear a low-pitched persistent noise that sounded like a hum and seemed to be emerging from the sky or the ground.
Global reports
While people from Taos reported about the hum during the 1990s, people from other places in the world like Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom, experienced a similar phenomenon. However, the hum’s characteristics and how it is perceived varies widely between different locations. In some regions, the hum is audible only to a small group of individuals, while in other locations, a large number of people may be able to hear it.
Vicious vibrations
Tracing and terminating the source of the noise could be a boon to the 2 percent of the population in the world that can hear it. Low-frequency sounds can be hazardous. For instance, low-frequency sounds can harm our internal organs and people who can hear the mysterious hum face an array of illnesses like fatigue, nausea, headaches, and even memory loss.
What is the source of the hum?
One theory suggests that the global hum most likely has an underground source—suggesting that it is caused by volcanic activities and the movement of tectonic plates. Another theory suggests that the problem is not environmental but internal. Human ears generate their own noise, known as spontaneous otoacoustic emission. Typically, when all the external noises are eliminated, humans can hear those sounds produced by the ear. Others believe that individuals who can perceive the low-pitched hum have remarkable hearing abilities and can catch frequencies that most people cannot. This explains why only 2 percent of the Taos population can hear the hum.
The hum cannot be recorded.
The Taos Hum is a low-pitched sound, with a frequency ranging between 30-80 Hz — lower than the sound range that humans can hear. The low frequency of the hum makes it difficult for people to record it by employing conventional recording microphones and equipment that are designed to capture sounds with frequencies ranging between 20 Hz to 20 kHz.
The future of the research on Taos Hum is uncertain, but multiple approaches of inquiry may help understand the causes and source of the Hum and how it impacts human health.
