Page 17 - 20090506 - The 'X' Chronicles Newspaper - May / June 2009

17 Have You Heard “The Hum?” 17 Have You Heard “The Hum?” sensitive or advanced. Which is where we stray into the dark world of conspiracy theory and spook story. Many Hum 'victims' blame covert military activity, secret submarine communication devices, nuclear experiments and even orbiting satellites for the nuisance. There are even paranoid theories that The Hum is some sort of sinister psychological experiment being performed by dark forces in the government or the security services. Aliens and UFOs also inevitably stray into the frame. And some Hum victims are clearly lunatics. I used to get letters from a man convinced that the noises he was hearing were the result of a secret military experiment whereby radio receivers had been implanted into his brain, a relatively common delusion in the radar age. But what does our Cambridge doctor have to say on the subject? Well, Dr David Baguley, of Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, thinks that in many cases, The Hum can be explained by boring old oversensitive hearing. He says that our hearing has evolved to become especially acute at times of extreme danger or stress, times when, quite literally, you can hear the proverbial pin drop. His theory is that in some people this Have you heard The The Hum is more intense indoors than out. In hyper-sensitivity remains 'switched on' at all Have you heard The times. Hum? The throbbing my case, I could still hear it when I left the 'It becomes a vicious cycle,' he says. Hum? The throbbing house - although it was certainly quieter. Many sufferers also claim that ear plugs noise that just won't go fail to block it out, and a few even claim that 'The more people focus on the noise, the more noise that just won't go anxious and fearful they get, the more the body away? they can actually 'feel' the vibrations. responds by amplifying the sound and that away? causes even more upset and distress.' Of course, there are plenty of rather Continued from Page 16 Continued from Page 16 mundane theories for the cause of The Hum. This sounds plausible enough, and After all, the modern world is a noisy place. indeed Dr Baguley says that he has managed to They describe it as a persistent, low- Cars, trucks, rail traffic and the general use relaxation techniques to help people shed level and low-frequency noise. It is not audible hubbub of city life can easily generate whole the perceived noise that has made their lives a to everyone and, most importantly, has no layers and sub-layers of sound, easily misery. obvious source. perceptible as a sort of low-level white noise. But this rather everyday explanation Until now. After exhaustive research, a Low-frequency sounds also carry will not satisfy everyone. doctor in Cambridge says he has finally solved further, and through more materials, than high- Just as weather balloons, the planet the mystery. frequency noises. That is why we can hear the Venus and optical illusions can explain away Unfortunately, few are likely to be bass notes of a car stereo from further away than most, but not all, UFO sightings, so some satisfied by his solution (more of which later). the treble tones. people will always maintain that their hum Over the years, dozens of explanations Factory noises, the sounds emitted by represents something rather more sinister than have been put forward for The Hum. Some high-tension powerlines and the various over-sensitive hearing. sensible, some mundane, a few downright machines and devices which form the bedrock And as for my Hum? No ididea. All I crazy. Many have fallen by the wayside. of the modern urban environment, such as can say is that I was very grateful when it finally Either way, The Hum has been the central heating and air conditioning systems, left me in peace. [] subject of conspiracy theories galore - and has water pipes, wind turbines and fans, can all driven a few to the edge of madness. carry a long way and may be amplified by walls, Hums - this is clearly a multiple foundations and enclosed spaces in ways that phenomenon - come and go. In the Seventies, are not yet entirely understood. the city of Bristol was afflicted, with hundreds Indeed, a Hum has often been pinned of people complaining of a persistent sound that down to a single cause. On Hawaii, for example, caused sleeplessness, headaches and even one widely heard case of The Hum was traced nosebleeds. to volcanic, underground rumblings. In others, When a local newspaper asked people to an electricity generating plant, a transformer write in if they had heard the throbbing, sub-station or a power plant cooling tower have rhythmic sound, nearly 1,000 did so. No official been found to be the source. explanation was ever found. There were also intriguing reports that So what does cause The Hum? It is immediately after the September 11 attacks on generally described as being a low-frequency New York, some Americans who had hitherto sound of a few tens of hertz (around 20 hertz, or been haunted by The Hum claimed that it had 20 vibrations per second, forms the lower limit stopped, at least temporarily. This suggests that of normal human hearing). The Hum may also be caused by aircraft, which This would appear to rule out the most were grounded in the U.S. for several days obvious cause: the ear disorder, tinnitus, which following the attacks. usually manifests itself as high frequency But this does not explain all cases of The 'ringing in the ears'. Hum. For some cannot be picked up by What's more, many people report that electronic microphones, no matter how