The
Taos Hum
You get a new job, you move to a new town up in the mountains
of New Mexico; everything is going great except for the headaches.
You chalk it up to the change in elevation, perhaps a bit of
stress from the move. But after two weeks the pains still dont
go away. Then one day, as if a switch is clicked, it begins
a low and distant hum. At first you can shake it away, push
it out of your mind. But then it seems to gain in strength;
not that its getting louder, but its just so constant. The
sound emanates from the center of your head and pushes out,
not throbbing, not changing, its just there. Within a year
of hearing the ceaseless, penetrating noise you just cant take
it anymore, and you are forced into an insane asylum.
This is just one of many near-identical stories that tell of
this phenomenon, and amazingly enough, theyre not isolated
incidents. In the town of Taos, New Mexico, (about 30 minutes
from Santa Fe) roughly 2% of the citizens hear this constant
noise. While all of them are not driven mad by it, they are
positive the noise exists; so positive, in fact, that they collectively
gathered enough support to persuade the Congress to investigate
the phenomenon. Investigators have dubbed it the Taos Hum.
The Taos Hum is said to be a very low frequency noise that sounds
like a buzzing or distant rumbling. Some people say it emanates
from their head, others say they hear it coming from the ground.
Investigators sent in by Congress determined through comparison
(not actual measurement of the sound) the noise was indeed a
very low frequency, somewhere between 30 and 80hz; The human
ear picks up sounds in the range of 20hz to 20khz.
The investigators determined, by broad study of the Taos population,
that around 2% of the residents could hear the sound. Because
of this rather large percentage, they decided the hum must be
from an external source rather than from something like low
frequency tinnitus (a condition in which one experiences a constant
hum or whine in the ears, suffered by, among others, William
Shatner). Extensive tests were done in and around the Taos area,
but no background sounds could be measured. Some have speculated
that nearby power plants are creating the sound, but this too
was ruled out. The investigators, after trying every external
approach, even did extensive testing on the inner ears of the
people who could hear the sound. This too produced no measurable
results. Investigators finally concluded their work, admitting
that while the noise in all probability does exist, they have
no way of measuring it.
So what is the Taos Hum? What or who can be causing it? One
prominent theory holds that some type of government experiment
in low frequency earthquake control is generating the sound.
Others speculate on some type of submarine communication device,
using what is called ultra-long frequency waves. But if either
theory were indeed the case, why would this strange sound only
exist in Taos? After digging a little deeper, it seems these
occurrences arent localized phenomenon after all.
As it turns out, people have reported the sounds from various
parts of the country. A source, who will only be known as Jude,
says this: The Taos Hum does not emanate from Taos. It is heard
all over the US and other parts of the world. I may leave Taos
and not hear it in Kansas, for instance, but then hear it again
as I get close to Michigan. Similar reports have been made
by people all over the country. The show Unsolved Mysteries
aired a special on the Taos Hum and asked viewers to call if
they knew anything about it. From the calls, surveys determined
that of 383 call-in responses to the program, about 174 people
claimed they could actually hear the noise. The locations of
those who could hear the hum were as far-flung as Seattle, central
Arizona, Southern California, North Central New Mexico and Colorado,
Michigan, Ohio and Indiana. What do these locations have in
common? Almost all of them claim some type of military installation
nearby.
Another interesting aspect of the hum is the insistence by many
that it intensifies during periods of heavy military activity.
During the Gulf war, for example, many people actually left
Taos and other locations where the hum was active because it
had become so intense. The intensity makes sense if the hum
does indeed relate to ELF or ULF submarine communications.
recording of the hum
ELF and the military go hand in hand. The military first conducted
ELF and wave propagation experiments around 1969 using antennas
that were each about 14 miles long. These experiments went on
until about 1976, when studies determined the system would be
too vulnerable to nuclear attack. But despite the cancellation
of the tests, the Navy continued to develop the ELF communications
system. They built new antennas, this time 28 miles long, located
at a Clam Lake facility. This renewed development went on until
the Carter administration cancelled the project in 1978. It was
revived again in the Reagan years in 1981, and this latest system
employed 56-mile-long antennas along the Upper Peninsula of Michigan
(notice the site correlations), in addition to 28-mile-long antennas
in Wisconsin.
But what does all this mean?
The ELF communications system operates with each antenna powered
by a 660 kilowatt transmitter. This transmitter broadcasts on
the ELF system using U.S. frequency bands 30 to 50 hertz and 70
to 80 hertz. Both of these ranges have been associated with the
Taos Hum.
So is the Taos Hum related to the military use of ELF or ULF communications?
We cant be certain. The evidence would seem to point in that
direction, but the government has again closed off studies on
the subject. Does the Taos Hum even exist? It hasnt been recorded,
it hasnt been heard by any type of expert and it has been mimicked.
But its been heard by hundreds of people. They have gone crazy
from it, or suffered nosebleeds and raging headaches. Those unlucky
enough to be plagued by the sound have suffered greatly for years,
and if the government is indeed behind the hum, they owe a whole
lot of people one hell of an explanation and apology.
001001001 (
001001001@toosquare.com
)
Comment
on this article in the forum