Several years ago, the US Congress commissioned scientists and researchers from the country's most prestigious research institutions to study the mysterious low-frequency noise heard by residents around the small town of Taos, New Mexico.
For many years, everyone who heard this noise often described it as a "loud hum" and tried to understand what caused it. No one was exactly sure when exactly the noise first appeared, but its constant manifestation first attracted several people, and then many who heard the sounds united in a group that set itself the task of finding out what exactly caused them. In 1993, they officially turned to Congress for help.
Congress commissioned a team of a dozen researchers from several of the country's leading scientific institutions to investigate. Joe Mullins of the University of New Mexico and Horace Potit of Sandia National Laboratory soon submitted their final progress report.
Other scientific organizations in New Mexico have also been involved in noise research, including the Phililps Air Laboratory and the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
At the beginning of the work, scientists suggested that the noise could be caused by manipulation by the military, but the Ministry of Defense assured that no actions or tests were taking place in the area, and until the end of the investigation, they were completely open to dialogue with the team of scientists.
At the first stage of the investigation, specialists conducted a series of interviews with local residents who claimed to have heard a mysterious noise. The purpose of such interviews was to determine the nature of the noise, its frequency, time of occurrence and the degree of influence on those who heard it.
The next step, the team planned to interview the residents of the city of Taos and surrounding villages and determine how widespread the mysterious sound. Finally, the research team had to try to pinpoint the exact location and cause of the noise.
Promotional video:
Possible sources of noise
The initial investigation focused on ten residents, and it was through this that the key facts related to the noise were identified. The hum was steady. Only a few heard it, the sound itself was low-frequency, between 30 and 80 Hz.
Taos Noise Captured
The researchers immediately suggested that, in fact, all residents simply perceived sound quite differently. Some claimed to have heard a sound similar to the rumbling of a truck, while others heard a more steady sound, similar to a pulsation, but also described it as low frequency.
During the research, it was possible to establish that the mysterious sound was heard not only directly in the city of Taos, but also in its vicinity. Local residents also reported physical exposure to noise.
According to their statements and complaints, the sound caused not only irritation but also dizziness, insomnia, high blood pressure and, in some cases, nosebleeds. Eyewitnesses were also concerned about the artificiality of the sound, which did not seem to be an ordinary natural phenomenon.
According to a report dated 23 August 1993, most residents stated that they initially heard that “the hum was abrupt at first, as if some devices were suddenly turned on”. Many of the residents were also convinced that there was a connection between the strange sounds and military targets around New Mexico.
After a detailed survey of ten local residents, the research team decided to expand their field of activity in Taos City. A survey of 1,440 residents made it possible to establish that approximately 2% of the city's population heard the mysterious noise constantly. Given these circumstances, the first attempts to determine the nature of sound were related to possible external sources for generating low-frequency noise, but the search results were negative.
In the report, Mullins and Kelly concluded that “no acoustic sources have been identified during operation to explain the noise. Also, in this area there were no seismic events that could cause anomalous sounds."
After excluding external sources, the team focused on surveying local residents, trying to determine their sound sensitivity thresholds. Although these studies were not complete, scientists soon came to the conclusion that low-frequency noise in the ears of local residents may be the cause of reports of strange sounds in the area.
Mullins and Kelly suggested that it is entirely possible that the locals have developed a special sensitivity to sounds in the range of 20 to 100 Hz, and therefore they perceive constant low-frequency sounds, while others do not hear them. While this approach may help answer the question of the origin of the constant hum in the area, Dr. Nick Bedzic and Patrick Flanagan have also explored another theory of the origin of the noise.
Bedzic suggested that in our time, some people have developed unique abilities to perceive noise, which have become indispensable elements of modern society. In support of his theory, he added that every day our civilization creates more and more electronic noise or background, a person uses more and more wireless devices, and all of them, in fact, are transmitters of electromagnetic fields.
For some reason, according to Bedzic, some of the locals learned to hear these sounds, and it was they that caused their discomfort. But Dr. Bedzic also noted that for sure scientists cannot be sure that it is electromagnetic fields that are the cause of the noise, and that this assumption is just another version of the possible origin of noise in Taos.
After putting forward such theories, scientists immediately wanted to get confirmation of her fidelity, and went to conduct joint attempts to establish the truth together with local residents.
To this day, no one has been able to establish whether the electromagnetic background is the cause of strange sounds, and the search for its source is still continuing …