I live in Hauroko Valley, Southland, New Zealand. I've been here for about five years (-ish, some of that time I've been in boarding school
elsewhere) and occasionally I could hear a gentle distant rumbling while at home.
But lately I've had disrupted sleep because of a hum that won't go away.
I hunted around and found that I was experiencing a phenomena called "
The Hum" (and
sometimes less commonly, "
The Taos Hum". Here in New Zealand, Massey University (Auckland) are researching the
"
Auckland North Shore Hum" and have actually been able to record the hum, previously thought to have been
un-recordable.
An approx 3 min MP3 (stereo) of the Hum in Glenfield.
I've looked at the hypotheses on the cause of this hum and have come up with my own. I call it 'The Snake Ear Hypothesis'.
The Hum is only heard by a small part of the population.
The Hum in only reported in certain areas.
The Hum is not hindered by ear plugs
or sound proofing.
These three things make me think that the [real] Hum is caused by flows in the mantle which in turn send low frequency 'streaming' sounds through
the ground. The vibrations are conducted through our bones, and hence, to the inner ear. If this is the case, then the vibrations do not travel
through the air like 'true' sound, which explains the difficulty there has been to record the hum by conventional means.
Hawaii has had a long history of The Hum which have been linked to the volcanism of the island. This is conveniently a parallel of New Zealand, it's
volcanism and it's hums.
So, to the point of this thread.
Firstly, have you guys experienced "
The Hum"? (lol sounds like a crappy horror film)
And secondly, what do you think of my hypothesis.
Mod edit: Title wording
[edit on 2-10-2008 by sanctum]
[edit on 3-10-2008 by sanctum]