What’s the story with the mysterious hum in Taos, New Mexico? I remember it was a popular subject among screwballs and scientists with nothing better to do in the early 90s, but I haven’t heard much about it since. Is it a seismic phenomenon? Alien signals? Why can only certain people hear it and not others? –Tokamak, via AOL
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Neither Ian nor Jill had heard the hum, but Ian thought his mother had. On inquiring, however, he learned that it wasn’t his mother, it was a friend of his mother’s, and said friend had heard it in Los Alamos, not Taos. But think about it: what’s in Los Alamos? The atom bomb lab! Whoa.
There is (of course) the Taos Hum Homepage at www.eskimo.com/ billb/hum/hum.html. Perusing said page, Ian found that major hum foci include Calgary and, um, Detroit. Ian, listen. You think Taos hum, you think: resonating with the deep vibe of the universe! Whereas with the Detroit hum you think: too much truck traffic. Stick with Taos.
Anyway, UNM hearing researcher James Kelly tells me they’ve done enough investigation to know this is more than just wacky Taos residents eating funny mushrooms. For one thing, tests show all the hum hearers hear pretty much the same low-frequency tone, making it unlikely they’re imagining it or suffering from ordinary tinnitus. Research continues. Sure, it’s all in their heads. The question is, what’s “it”?
