The Hum

[Cheezy the Wiz]

I found an article on Huffpost which claims it's a hoax (not The Hum, but the "strange noise" videos)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jason-boyett/are-the-strange-sounds-vi_b_1258049.html

I was told they are butterflies named cicadas. So both yes and no.

Well this is a cicada:

In huge broods they produce a deafening cacophony in the woods of the Eastern US during the summer months (they're most prominent in July and August, hence the nickname "Dog-Day Harvestflies" ). It sounds like this:


Link to video.

 

[Thorgalaeg]

I remember hearing some amazing cicadas at a pine forest near to Gibraltar Strait. Dont know if it was a different kind of African cicadas which came flying from the nearly Morocco coast but never heard something similar. The noise was almost unbearable. It sounded like some sort of turbine or even a rocket engine, not like something made by a living being.

 

[GoodSarmatian]

Ah yes, The Hum.

 

[warpus]

Well this is a cicada:

Hmm.. Well, they sound different. Maybe it's a different kind?

Either way it's some sort of an insect with wings.

 

[illram]

This looks like a well done guerrilla marketing campaign for a '14 summer blockbuster.

 

[BvBPL]

Seems like a bunch of unrelated (potentially related, but who knows) events that have nothing to do with anything supernatural.

I'm not sure I accept the fact that nothing supernatural seems to be going on given that the Taos hum remains unexplained via science. The fact that it is unexplainable seems to me to not foreclose upon the possibility of supernatural action (but nor does the present lack of a scientific explanation make a supernatural one more likely).

Incidentally, hums were the subject of peer review science. You can find a discussion of hums in the 2004 April-June issue of the journal Noise & Health in the article "Low frequency noise and annoyance."

 

[Bootstoots]

This just in: low-frequency noises are frequently heard in areas where low-frequency noises can frequently be heard.

Also, low-frequency noises (~16-25 Hz) seem to cause humans to think something spooky is going on. Not all Hums are this low in frequency though.

Nobody may know what caused this particular Hum, but The Hum is sometimes heard in various places worldwide and the cause can sometimes be identified. Other times it's a situation where people with tinnitus collectively find out that other people have tinnitus. Still other times there is an actual sound and nobody knows why.

 

[warpus]

I'm not sure I accept the fact that nothing supernatural seems to be going on given that the Taos hum remains unexplained via science. The fact that it is unexplainable seems to me to not foreclose upon the possibility of supernatural action (but nor does the present lack of a scientific explanation make a supernatural one more likely).

More likely in what way though? We don't have any documented evidence of any supernatural event happening ever, in the history of our glorious civilization. The chances of it happening for the first time ever seem fairly remote.

That is all slightly beside the point though - my post was more of the "When we don't understand something there will always be someone out there screaming "supernatural!!" " ... and so far they have never been right, as far as we know anyway (I admit).

 

[BvBPL]

What I'm saying is that in the absence of a natural explanation it is not possible to foreclose upon a supernatural actor.

What I think you're saying is that you expect to see evidence of the supernatural to be open to the idea of a supernatural explanation at all.

I think you're view is a perfectly adequate way to live your life, because there are a lot of phenomena that are unexplained but appear natural, but it doesn't hold up to logical scrutiny.

 

[illram]

That's silly. Of course it is "not possible to foreclose upon a supernatural actor" if you don't have a scientific explanation. Doesn't mean such an explanation is entitled to any weight whatsoever.

You are in the realm of magical thinking--how far you want to go down that path is a personal decision, just don't confuse it with science.

 

[Thorgalaeg]

I dont believe in any supernatural explanation either since i think there is nothing supernatural in this universe if we think on supernatural as anything beyond natural laws. (If you think on it, "beyond natural laws" and "existing in this universe" are somewhat antagonic concepts; well, if you think on it, the the very concept of "supernatural" deserves a whole debate!). Of course there is always the possibility of us lacking complete or exact knowledge of natural laws which might be the case here, but that would not make it "supernatural".

OTOH I cant accept either the argument (and i am not pointing to anybody in this thread since it was not the case): "There is not any known explanation ---> it does not exist or it is a hoax". Closeness of mind have never reported any benefit to science or humanity in general.

 

[illram]

I get that. But saying "this remains unexplained" isn't foreclosing an explanation, or even saying it is a hoax. (Even though a hoax is usually the most likely explanation for any weird and seemingly fantastic claims on the internet.) It is simply pointing out that there is not enough evidence that could lead to an explanation. Yet. Unfortunately lots of people mistake "unexplained" for "supernatural" and other gobbledygook. Supernatural is an explanation. An explanation with zero evidence other than the absence of evidence. Which is the same as no explanation whatsoever.

Scientific thinking is "not fun" in that respect, but at least with science you have things like: evidence, facts, that sort of thing.

 

[Thorgalaeg]

OK. But it is not an internet viral video what we have here. It is in the news around the world, there are lots of witness, an university studied it and failed to give any explanation, and even Canada government spent $60,000 to investigate it. So while there is not any explanation there is enough evidence of it being a real phenomenon in my opinion at least. Dont believe everybody will agree on what "enough evidence" is though.

 

[BvBPL]

The supernatural versus scientific explanation issue is muddied in this case because some people do attribute supernatural attributes to the hums. There are plenty of unexplained phenomena that appear to be natural, like why the moon appears bigger when it is lower in the sky or how bumblebees stay aloft, and then there are some phenomena that are strongly associated with the supernatural, like the movement of the sun at Fatima. Hums operate in an interesting middle ground between the presumptively natural and the presumptively supernatural.

 

[illram]

My point is saying something is "associated with the supernatural" or "presumptively supernatural" is meaningless because supernatural is a nothing term. Actually no, it is worse than nothing. It is prescribing an explanation where one admitted there is no explanation.

It's quackery. Like pseudo-science, ancient aliens, cryptozoology, all that garbage. E.g. aliens did it, ghosts did it, inter-dimensional beings did it, whatever.

The supernatural versus scientific explanation issue is muddied in this case because some people do attribute supernatural attributes to the hums.

Supernatural can never be an explanation. That is the point.

There are plenty of unexplained phenomena that appear to be natural, like why the moon appears bigger when it is lower in the sky or how bumblebees stay aloft

We understand the physics of why these things occur. Much to the chagrin of some creationists. Nothing beyond the realm of nature is needed to explain these things. Nothing beyond the realm of nature is needed to explain anything really. The question I would not criticize would be "are there limitations in our current understanding of nature that limit our ability to scientifically analyze the known universe," which is a perfectly fine question, but that is way different than just saying "it's supernatural!" Supernatural is a loaded term these days. It implies something permanently beyond our understanding. It's like a conspiracy theory. To proponents of conspiracy theories, evidence of the lack of a conspiracy is only further evidence that "something else" is at work that you do not understand.

and then there are some phenomena that are strongly associated with the supernatural, like the movement of the sun at Fatima.

Again--associated with the supernatural by those who want it to be the supernatural or simply are comfortable saying that the reason it happened was something that will permanently remain beyond our understanding of nature or whatever. For the sun and fatima thing, obviously, being an Official Catholic Miracle(TM), we know why people want to ascribe a supernatural explanation there.

Like I said earlier, it's a personal decision to make that leap, just don't try and pass it off as logical or rational or whatever.

OK. But it is not an internet viral video what we have here. It is in the news around the world, there are lots of witness, an university studied it and failed to give any explanation, and even Canada government spent $60,000 to investigate it. So while there is not any explanation there is enough evidence of it being a real phenomenon in my opinion at least. Dont believe everybody will agree on what "enough evidence" is though.

First, the news stories all were basically reporting on the youtube videos, they were not actually investigating anything, so that is really meaningless. Witness the echo chamber in action. Second, two studies that failed to reach a conclusion (were they even really studying this phenomena specifically? Is this one phenomena?) does not mean people can still jump on the supernatural bandwagon. This goes for anything. Third, saying something is a phenomena doesn't mean much. Did these sounds happen? Sure, I will assume for the sake of argument that in several of those clips we are hearing a genuine deep, creepy sound that was not altered and for which no one has provided an adequate explanation. The Devil Ray's game was a pretty convincing piece of that clip, for one. I have heard Devil Rays games and those are the announcers. Certainly sounds like some weird creepy sound was going on there and I doubt the announcers are in on some elaborate hoax. But any further explanation I provide after that is going to be pure speculation. Yes, it is fun to think of what it could be, and provide some sort of fun speculative "supernatural" explanation in my mind, but I know that is me entertaining myself. Nothing more.

 

[Thorgalaeg]

The supernatural versus scientific explanation issue is muddied in this case because some people do attribute supernatural attributes to the hums. There are plenty of unexplained phenomena that appear to be natural, like why the moon appears bigger when it is lower in the sky or how bumblebees stay aloft, and then there are some phenomena that are strongly associated with the supernatural, like the movement of the sun at Fatima. Hums operate in an interesting middle ground between the presumptively natural and the presumptively supernatural.

AFAIK bumblebees fly becuase are able to develop a huge amount of power to its size so it keeps flying pushing the air downward through brute force. Didnt know the moon thing though. I always believed it was indeed larger at the horizont due to some refractive effect, but in fact it is still unexplained. Pretty interesting.

@illram. I am not implying there is something supernatural here, only that there is something.

 

[BenitoChavez]

While I agree people use the term supernatural too liberally, it seems like there could be phenomenon that we simply cannot explain due to the limits of being human. For example, the current laws of physics break down at the center of a black hole. This is probably because physics is flawed is some fashion, but it seems at least conceivable that it is outside the realm of human understanding because it is so far outside our normal experiences. If it is in fact the case that we simply cannot understand the center of a black hole it could be described as supernatural.

 

[illram]

Sure. Pardon my exuberance on this issue. I usually avoid walls of text responses...

I fully embrace the idea that there is a large iceberg of unknown stuff beneath the surface level of understanding we currently have. "Supernatural" as a term today just is a huge red flag for me. But I would never say "we will never understand" something like the center of a black hole, and thus it could be supernatural. Maybe there is weird stuff going on in our understanding of the universe, or maybe there are other universes at play, or our understanding of reality needs to change at a micro-level of quantum gravity or something... but to me all of it is within the realm of the universe we currently inhabit. As an observer within the universe I have to accept that fundamental flaw in my understanding of things--I cannot remove myself from the experiment.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

Around 1:30 this morning, I heard The Hum.

It lasted for about an hour. I was laying in bed trying to fall asleep when I noticed an unusual sensation. I rolled over, sat up, walked around the room, looked out the window, nothing changed its power. I didn't feel like I was "hearing" it, per se, but it was definitely not blood in my ear vessels nor tinnitus, both of which I have experienced many times. It was extremely low frequency, sort of like that initial sound you hear when a helicopter is approaching and you are indoors. Its omnipresence made it feel like it was literally inside my head, I imagine a few more hours of that and I might have gone insane. Other rooms in the apartment offered no relief or change, the only thing which did change it was stepping onto the balcony, which I did to see if there was some large boat moving up the Clyde, or some other discernible industrial origin of the Hum. There was not, although it did seem louder outside, but less intense, if that makes any sense at all.

After about half an hour it started to recede, and my head stopped hurting, although I could still notice it. Only after an hour was I able to consider trying to go to sleep again.

It was nothing like the ridiculousness in those videos.

Perhaps it was The Great One calling me?

Spoiler :

 

[Kyriakos]

^I dislike found footage movies