Making noise over the [Kokomo] hum

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the phenomenon known as the "Kokomo hum," a persistent noise reported by some residents of Kokomo, Indiana. Participants explore various theories regarding its source, the impact on individuals, and personal experiences related to similar sounds in different environments. The conversation includes anecdotal evidence, hypotheses about potential causes, and comparisons to other similar phenomena.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Technical explanation

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants describe the Kokomo hum as a low-pitched drone, while others report high-pitched sounds, possibly linked to public PA systems or fluorescent lights.
  • One participant recalls a childhood experience of hearing a high-pitched whine in a store, suggesting it may have been caused by fluorescent light ballasts operating at high frequencies.
  • Another participant speculates that mechanical vibrations from electrical equipment could produce audible sound waves, contributing to the hum.
  • Some participants share personal experiences with ultrasonic motion detectors and other devices that emit high-frequency sounds, noting that only certain individuals can hear them.
  • A hypothesis is presented regarding dietary influences on sensitivity to sound, particularly concerning calcium intake and its potential effects on hearing.
  • References are made to other locations experiencing similar hums, such as Taos, New Mexico, where a significant portion of the population cannot hear the sound, raising questions about the nature of these phenomena.
  • One participant mentions a genetic condition, Williams syndrome, which includes symptoms of hypercalcemia and hyperacusis, suggesting a possible link to heightened sensitivity to sound.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a range of experiences and theories regarding the Kokomo hum, with no consensus on its source or nature. Multiple competing views remain, and the discussion is characterized by personal anecdotes and speculative hypotheses.

Contextual Notes

Some claims are based on personal experiences and may lack empirical evidence. The discussion includes various assumptions about sound perception and the effects of environmental factors on individuals.

  • #31
Far Star said:
If any of you were given the time and money to research the hum/hearers, what would your starting point be? (aside from a month on the beach sipping margaritas- we could only wish)
I suppose I'd first collect reports from the hearers, study them, and then decide what questions I'd want to ask them to get a clear picture of what the hum is like.
 
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  • #32
I'd like to study the *lack*of interest in the phenomena. From the anecdotal reports provided by hearers it's as if they're living a science fiction novel.
 
  • #33
Listen to the background noise at this site

http://www.spaceweather.com/glossary/inspire.html

it is not a perfect match but is very close to a noise i and others can hear, i think if it was a little more rhymic and a little less sharp it would be perfect match.
 
  • #34
Some times the noise from the near by motorway will drown out this sound, wet weather
is sure to, strange but the noise from the motorway seems to increase when it is raining,
the motorway is over a mile from us, i have not measured it.
I plan to take two people that can hear this noise on an around the local to find a truish
extent of the center, i have done it alone and could not find a place where it was louder
or quiter, i can hear it or not.
Things to think about.

There is no heavy industry within 10 miles AFAIK
there is a railway again not measured but at least 2 miles away
there are no high voltage power lines that are visible
the local farmers tell me that they do not run machinery at night
there is a sewerage plant nearby but as far as i can tell it makes no noise
there are hills close by but the noise has not increased with very wet weather we have just had
there are no radio masts nearby
the number of vehicles that pass through the village can be counted on one hand per hour
the noise is most notable when i want to relax, go to sleep, if i am busy i tend not notice it, i have asked several people to just sit listen and tell me if they can hear anything, 3 out of 5 can and describe the noise like the one i have posted.
 
  • #35
Wolram- from what I've read your experience isn't unusual. Many hearers are aware of their particular hum and variations even in remote areas away from railroads and motor traffic.
 
  • #36
Ok I haven't read the whole thread but what I have heard is that certain people seem to have sensitive enough hearing that they can hear the frequencies used for submarine communications. That's what the hum is. It's a very low frequency supposedly out of human hearing range. Same stuff that was causing whales to have problems.
 
  • #37
Farmfriend, whatever the case we'll probably never know. I seriously doubt anyone is going to fund research into that particular area unless hundreds of hearers start stranding themselves.

There was an interesting blurb about people that hear voices awhile back. Apparently it isn't considered a big deal unless it bothers the person hearing them. It would appear that hearers fall into the same Don't Ask, Don't Tell category. From most accounts the majority of hearers stop talking about it after a awhile. Difficult to blame them for that. Sad to say.
 
  • #38
Other possibilities? http://neuro.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/11/1/97[/url]

That's not to say this is the cause. Just another avenue of research into why some people may hear sounds others don't.
 
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  • #39
Far Star said:
Farmfriend, whatever the case we'll probably never know. I seriously doubt anyone is going to fund research into that particular area unless hundreds of hearers start stranding themselves. .


I would like to find out what it is, there must be a way to detect these noises, if they are environmental, the trouble is no matter how many people try they can not detect a direction or notice any change in loudness in different positions, the noise is either audible or not, i am sure the noise is not in the mind, attempts to will the noise do not work.
 
  • #40
Wolram- there is often a distance from home where the hum becomes quieter for many hearers. Have any you know noticed this?
 
  • #41
Far Star said:
Wolram- there is often a distance from home where the hum becomes quieter for many hearers. Have any you know noticed this?

That is part of the problem, the loudness is the same within this area, the area that is accessible by road, the noise may change if i could walk across cultivated/ploughed fields,
but i think the farmers would not like that, there are (dead spots) but there seems to be nothing special about them, they are not in a hollow or behind buildings or some such.
 
  • #42
Far Star said:
Other possibilities? http://neuro.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/11/1/97[/url]

That's not to say this is the cause. Just another avenue of research into why some people may hear sounds others don't.

The two patients mentioned in that paper had a slew of other severe symptoms, and hyperacusis seems to involve a lowered tolerance for all sound.
 
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  • #43
farmfriend said:
Ok I haven't read the whole thread but what I have heard is that certain people seem to have sensitive enough hearing that they can hear the frequencies used for submarine communications. That's what the hum is. It's a very low frequency supposedly out of human hearing range. Same stuff that was causing whales to have problems.
This is what I was thinking. It is rumored and asserted here and there that the military sends a lot of signals through the ground rather than the atmosphere.
 
  • #44
Far Star said:
If any of you were given the time and money to research the hum/hearers, what would your starting point be? (aside from a month on the beach sipping margaritas- we could only wish)

I think the first thing must be to find out if this is really an acoustic phenomenon. My first idea was to use an adjustable low frequency tone generator. If the tone that is presented is of about the same volume and frequency as the hum then it induces temporal interference also known as 'beats'. The beats get more rapid when the two frequencies differ more.

But the hum could also be low frequency noise instead of a single frequency. Then I'd find out if there is some very low frequency microphones being sold. Probably one could build one with not too much effort (large membrane for sensitivity ? large resonator for amplification ? just ideas). Maybe electronic amplification is sufficient but then I ask myself why nobody has ever measured the hum.

Then I'd put the signal onto a large bass speaker again but with an adjustable phase delay. This should generate something similar to the beat for a bifrequent signal: either spatially (nodes) or temporally (beats). If this doesn't change anything that can be perceived by the subjects (even after varying volume and phase in a reasonable range, direction of loudspeaker may also be important) then I'd pretty sure that it is nothing acoustic (no vibrations of the air).

Another possibility is body sound (is this the correct english term ? I mean sound inside solids and transferred by solid-solid contacts). This is probably even a better candidate since there would be much less amplitude in the air (prevents detection by microphone) and some people's bodies seem to be quite sensitive for it, AFAIK. But then I guess the hum should be absent when subject sits in a boat that's on a lake, or even when standing on a mattress. Somebody would probably have notice that already.

Anyway if it's not acoustic then there's much room for speculation and I wonder if anyone will ever find it out.
 
  • #45
zoobyshoe said:
This is what I was thinking. It is rumored and asserted here and there that the military sends a lot of signals through the ground rather than the atmosphere.

Although I agree that it could be vibrations in the ground, when I hear this military stuff I always get the feeling that this has come to us right from the 1960s like "they put something into the water that makes you crazy".
 
  • #46
OOO said:
Although I agree that it could be vibrations in the ground, when I hear this military stuff I always get the feeling that this has come to us right from the 1960s like "they put something into the water that makes you crazy".

There is a rumoured, very large central ammunition store close to me, this is mostly underground, and again rumoured, is very large ie miles in extent, if you want to look up cad kineton, or cab kineton as it is now, there is a direct rail link to this facility, but no one has seen any activity for some years, other than that i have no idea where the nearest military base is.
 
  • #47
Zoobyshoe- yes. The paper is just a reminder that there are people that can hear sounds below or above standard thresholds for a variety of reasons. Following along that line of thinking, *if* communications exist through the ground and some people are sensitive to them, it stands to reason they might also be sensitive to seismic events. It's the lack of meaningful study that prevents this being validated or not. Hearers often live near freeways, airports, railroads, rivers and have sewer/water lines underfoot. The array of possibilities is endless in this day and age. Even nature areas have rivers and underground water sources.

Wolram, I can picture you taking off cross country."Never mind me, just following this hum." Other hearers also report dead zones. Perhaps there is some sort of canceling effect taking place in these areas?

OOO- hearers have reported being unable to hear the sound underwater. Putting their hands under running water may also prompt this effect. It would be interesting to know if the sense of vibration stops, yet the sound remains, when they in/on watercraft.
 
  • #48
Far Star said:
Wolram, I can picture you taking off cross country."Never mind me, just following this hum." Other hearers also report dead zones. Perhaps there is some sort of canceling effect taking place in these areas?

Just as a side comment: one must not forget that frequencies at e.g. 20 Hz have a wavelength of about 15 meters in air. That will be the scale at which standing waves at this frequency can have their maxima and minima. That's quite unusual compared to phasing effects from your stereo (approx. centimeters to millimeters).

Have their been any reports of people who were able to tell at about what frequency the hum occurs ? Is it more like a tone or more like remotely rolling thunder ?
 
  • #49
Far Star said:
hearers have reported being unable to hear the sound underwater.

That would be consistent with the assumption that it is "air sound" because waves will be reflected at the water surface (as you might have noticed when diving in a pool). If the sound came from underground I'd naively expect that it was louder underwater.

Far Star said:
Putting their hands under running water may also prompt this effect.

This sounds more like the sixties stuff... I remain skeptical.
 
  • #50
OOO said:
Although I agree that it could be vibrations in the ground, when I hear this military stuff I always get the feeling that this has come to us right from the 1960s like "they put something into the water that makes you crazy".
It goes back to 1919, apparently:

http://www.rexresearch.com/rogers/1rogers.htm#wx319

The technology was patented, it seems. There are links to the patents at the top left.
 
  • #51
OOO said:
This sounds more like the sixties stuff... I remain skeptical.

Skeptical about what, exactly?
 
  • #52
zoobyshoe said:
It goes back to 1919, apparently:

http://www.rexresearch.com/rogers/1rogers.htm#wx319

The technology was patented, it seems. There are links to the patents at the top left.

I didn't question that there is such technology. But what does this prove ? Indeed fear is the main cause for superstition. To make it clear, I don't want to say that the military can't be responsible for that phenomenon. But having recognized a psychological motivation for such an assumption I tend to look very carefully at the evidence or the lack of which.
 
  • #53
Far Star said:
Skeptical about what, exactly?

Does it sound familiar to you that music stops when you put your hands under water ? Is it normal that a hurt in your legs stops when you do something to your hands. Maybe I just didn't understand. I am skeptical about whether the subjects report a physical phenomenon.
 
  • #54
OOO said:
Maybe I just didn't understand. I am skeptical about whether the subjects report a physical phenomenon.

What I meant by this "Putting their hands under running water may also prompt this effect" is that a few have said they do not sense the hum when their hands are under running water.

Do you mean you are skeptical about whether the hum is a physical manifestation vs purely psychological?
 
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  • #55
Far Star said:
Do you mean you are skeptical about whether the hum is a physical manifestation vs purely psychological?

Yes, I would consider reports like "hands under running water" as a weak indication that the hum could be purely psychological. Of course it could also have some psychological component in addition to a enhanced perception of a real physical phenomenon, who knows.

In a statistical investigation it doesn't matter if there are subjects that imagine the effects. As long as you keep track of all necessary information (i.e. that there are subjects who say...) you are able to get correlations. However in practice one has to concentrate on a finite dimensional search space, you can't change every variable and so you will have to rule out certain possibilities.
 
  • #56
OOO said:
Have their been any reports of people who were able to tell at about what frequency the hum occurs ? Is it more like a tone or more like remotely rolling thunder ?

Backtracking a little. I believe there have been reports about frequency. I will have to research this.

The initial sound most reported is that of a motor running in the distance. For some hearers this is their "base" noise and can vary in intensity. I believe a rolling thunder sound is also fairly common. Others report the base noise in addition to high and mid-frequency tones. A few report musical sounding notes, or what sounds like some sort of code. At least one hearer described one of the variations as the sound of a jet engine being tested. In many cases these sounds overlap. Bear in mind that almost all of those reporting hear the engine idling first and most consistently. AFAIK those that 'hear' additional sounds usually do so months or years after they start hearing the hum.
 
  • #57
Far Star said:
Backtracking a little. I believe there have been reports about frequency. I will have to research this.

The initial sound most reported is that of a motor running in the distance. For some hearers this is their "base" noise and can vary in intensity. I believe a rolling thunder sound is also fairly common. Others report the base noise in addition to high and mid-frequency tones. A few report musical sounding notes, or what sounds like some sort of code. At least one hearer described one of the variations as the sound of a jet engine being tested. In many cases these sounds overlap. Bear in mind that almost all of those reporting hear the engine idling first and most consistently. AFAIK those that 'hear' additional sounds usually do so months or years after they start hearing the hum.

That's an awfully wide spectrum of sensations. I wonder how one could hope for a single explanation for all these sounds. This is the reason why I'm inclined to think that the whole thing could be some sort of mass hysteria. This doesn't mean I call people stupid or crazy. Rather its a regular mode of normal brain functioning.

If your neighbour asks you whether you hear "that sound" you will probably say "no" at first. But when you go into your house you will, in the silence, probably notice the lo-freq tinnitus that you have had for several years now but you had totally forgotten because it's always there. Or maybe it's not a tinnitus but your fridge or the flourescent lamps, etc. etc.

The act of communication with your neighbour has raised your attention so you become aware of what you normally ignore. It seems clear to me that our brain works this way because we couldn't learn from each other if it didn't. Your neighbour could well have told you that he had eaten from that dead animal he found in the cave nearby and that he's got a stomach-ache now. It's vital for you not to ignore him because if you do you may die.

I don't say this is the case with the hum but it could be.

Just my 2 cent.
 
  • #58
Far Star said:
Backtracking a little. I believe there have been reports about frequency. I will have to research this.

The initial sound most reported is that of a motor running in the distance. For some hearers this is their "base" noise and can vary in intensity. I believe a rolling thunder sound is also fairly common. Others report the base noise in addition to high and mid-frequency tones. A few report musical sounding notes, or what sounds like some sort of code. At least one hearer described one of the variations as the sound of a jet engine being tested. In many cases these sounds overlap. Bear in mind that almost all of those reporting hear the engine idling first and most consistently. AFAIK those that 'hear' additional sounds usually do so months or years after they start hearing the hum.

Post 33 has a link to the best approximation of the noise i can hear.
But one must understand (in my case) the sound is at the limit of hearing and it is easy to
mix other sounds with it, so the link is the best i can come up with.
I tried putting my hands in water, it has no effect.
 
  • #59
zoobyshoe said:
The two patients mentioned in that paper had a slew of other severe symptoms, and hyperacusis seems to involve a lowered tolerance for all sound.

Many of the symptoms do not appear to be unusual for some hearers. At least initially, or during rounds of intensity shifts. Neck pain, muscle aches, skin problems, trouble sleeping, headaches, brain fog, vestibular disturbance and vision problems have all been reported in relation to the hum.
 
  • #60
wolram said:
Post 33 has a link to the best approximation of the noise i can hear.
But one must understand (in my case) the sound is at the limit of hearing and it is easy to
mix other sounds with it, so the link is the best i can come up with.
I tried putting my hands in water, it has no effect.

Do you mean the "Manmade signals: 60 Hz Hum" section ?
 

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