- Technical (any of the following: Google Fusion Table API, GIS software, demographic statistics)
- Historical (you’ll need full digital access to the Times of London database)
- Publicity and Media (you’ll help promote the project by writing letters and networking with people who can help publicize the project)
- Scientific Liaison (you’ll solicit the help of established physicists, radio engineers, and audiologists to examine the models and evidence and provide commentary)
Contact me at glen.macpherson@gmail.com if you can help with the above. You can stay anonymous to the public, or you can be named on the website.
World Hum Map and Database Project 
A very easy receiver for 0 to 22kHz can be downloaded via software and installed on your computer. It uses your soundcard and makes an excellent receiver that can give you sound and show you what frequency you are on. It was developed by Ham radio people to hear some of the weird things on ELF like submarine stations and natural phenomenon like “whistlers”. Here is the website: https://sites.google.com/site/sm6lkm/saqrx/
I have a radio show on Spreaker on the internet called Way out there. It’s similar to Coast to coast am With George Noory which I heard you on last night. I broadcast live over a new app called Spreaker which anyone can host a radio show on the internet. I have a radio station Called GJRB which I do Way out there. I also do a show on live streaming on my You tube channel. My name is Gary Russen.
Thank you
Gary Russen
program director/owner
GJRB Online on Spreaker
Sure, sounds good. Let’s choose a date.
Hi Glen,
The estimated 2-4% of the population hearing the hum is similar to people who experience EHS ( electro hyper sensitivity) Researchers worldwide, estimate that 3-5% of the population are Electro Hyper Sensitive.. This population subset can suffer from heart irregularities,
nervousness, sleep disorders, memory problems, dizziness, headaches, tinnitus,digestive disturbances, and other problems when exposed to too much EMF/RF. Sweden recognizes EHS as a disability and people sometimes have to relocate to the countryside to lessen their EMF / RF exposure.
They become emf refugees.
Do you know if people who experience the hum are also sensitive to the increasing levels of electrosmog ( i.e.cellphones, EMF, microwaves, “smart” meters, RF, WiFi, etc) ? Thank you for your research, Glen.
my wife (77) has for yrs., hears hum/buzz all the time.. I (80) hear low hum/buzz at night/afternoon sounding like small pump/motor for past 5 yrs., since we moved into a new house, but only 1000′ from our old home where we lived 43 yrs. , me w/o any noise, but my wife had constant buzz/hum there for many yrs. we are both overweight, and I wonder if all of us hummers are same? thanks…………….
NO- Ihave lived in uk ,New Zealand- and Australia I have heard the HUM in all off above worse in N/z . Now recently heard it in Australia. The latest is it is caused by the ocean floor emiting a low hum maybe as was next to the ocean in n/z I am not mad or hearing things and not like professor said in some comments it is a incoming sound i am hearing.. not ringing in my ears ainternal the sound is real liked looking at the map
This is probably one of the most uninformed comments that I’ve ever read on this forum. But, assuming you are not a troll and are serious about your comment regarding delusion, are you assuming that Tinnitus is a delusion? If not, then why not?
I am not a scientist; I am a writer/ artist who has been dealing with the debilitating HUM since 2009. It has had a profoundly negative impact on my life. I have done a great deal of research and try to eliminate wireless sources and operate as safely as possible, but this is something that happens in the woods all around where I live in a remote, pristine area. Rather than get into everything that we have all discussed about the source of this annoying phenomenon, I was wondering if it is possible that the low percentage of people sensing and hearing the low frequency, pulsating hum are picking up on the MHz of the earth itself and doing so in conflict. Or could it be something to do with solar or magnetic energies and certain (unfortunate) souls such as myself are receiving it. Just a thought. I miss the days when I did not have to deal with this. Best to all.
Pain. I suffer from chronic pain and “nothing” shows up on tests. I am at my wits end. I think my inner self (lmao) knows about the frequencies and Multiple Chemical Sensitivities but my outter self couldnt stand a possible cause that further separates me from my peers. Being a single mom, I am very aware how the solutions to these sensitivities will also hinder my sons connection to peers and interfere with mainstream education.
Is there a site or group that addresses these issues?
I found this site after we heard a loud boom one night, but no police arrived and nearby neighbours didn’t hear it either.
Bless all of you.
Hi my name us Wilma and I live in the south side of Edinburgh. Since last August 2015 I started to hear a noise in my head other than my normal tinnitus which I have lived with for over 20 years now. I am 64 years old. As soon as I started to notice it it became increasingly louder. I went to my doctor who referred me to the Tinnitus Clinic to have my hearing tested to see if I had any further loss of hearing but the test proved that there was no further loss of hearing. This new noise I am experiencing is becoming extremely uncomfortable and I feel ill with it. I have vibrations in my body too which are very unpleasant. I am at a loss. I came across your research and was fascinated to read it and hear of others experiencing the same as myself. I would love some help with this. Thank you. Hope to hear from you soon. Wilmros@hotmail.co.UK or on Facebook Wilma Duncan
I have been trying to figure out the science of “the hum” for the last few years. I found the globalrfrdefenseteam@verizon.net to be very helpful. I was able to identify the hum I hear, and what it’s pulsed frequency is, by comparing what I hear with the taped version provided by the Forsensic Audio engineers – available on that site. It is apparently, confirmed by 1/3 octave band testing, 217Hz in the 250Hz narrow band. A modulating pulse bursting every second with 1/8 second micro bursts. Apparently, the Radio frequency spread spectrum of the 902MHz-928Mhz being used on the mesh layer of Global Smart metering infrastructure uses the 217Hz demodulated pulsed frequency to carry its signal.
Are the researchers connecting, to share research results? Thanks for the work that you do!
En la zona del Cable(arrecife-lanzarote); desde hace 10 años mas o menos yo lo escucho; hay periodos que mas y otros desaparece, aveces con cambiar la posicion de la cabeza desaparece(La chicharra).
Thank you for your work! I am excited and interested and hopeful there will be some sense made of this phenomena!
As long as it takes I will be checking back to review your findings and the data posted by the other folks who notice it too. I will be on the lookout for ways I can help further.
I am so glad that you are looking into this! I have hear the humm now for many years! In my current home and in a previous one, both in Michigan. I can remember living in Miami and not having the problem. I also suffer from tinnitus which has gotten very bad. I look forward to anything you can find out!
I’m curious how many of us have chronic neurological illnesses too. I remember hearing the hum even as a child. I’ve lived all over the world and it followed me. It was louder than usual while in Germany and even dissipated once in the Middle East for a few months but returned again. Saw med and it was classified as tinnitus alon with TBI. The hum present in my childhood was just as prevalent in my 20s. My hearing is one of my senses that is super heightened. Anyways, fast forward 10yrs later and I have progressive MS and have suffered several strokes, mind you I’m physically fit other than being diagnosed with MS at the time. I suffered 2 massive strokes with in a year (2013) I regained all movements and finally was at peace NO more hum! Oops not really! The is hum is back and it is louder and sharper than ever! Much like everyone else I’ve done “controls” to see what is causing the sound and through deprecation tanks and organic isolation I still hear the hum and now can distinguish the different frequencies or hums I hear. So my question to y’all is anyone have a chronic neurological issue?
Dear Dr. Glen,
I am a retired Chemical Engineer living in Bolivia. I do not experience the HUM personally but I do wonder if you have considered the possibility of BEAT Frequencies. I have seen no reference to this well known physical phenomena in writings and posts. Is it possible that two similar (but not identical) frequencies are interfering and generating the low frequency HUM that people report?
Thanks for writing. This has been speculated before, but it’s difficult to test. What I find intriguing about my own case is that on the West Coast of BC – and 2500 km away in the Canadian Prairies – I hear the same thing, with an apparent dominant tone of about 56.5 Hz.
I hear a sharp sound at the background. I use it to meditate, instead of concentrating on my breath I concentrate on the hum noise in the morning. It helps to calm down. I am based in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil.
Have been hearing a hum since I moved into our current home, some 15 years ago. Researched it the past years and I still haven’t found the source. Thought at one point that I found it in the air treatment installation of a nearby tunnel and/or a Caterpillar gas powered electrical and hot water generator at about the same spot. Did recordings at the source and found the sound to be similar to what I hear on a distance. Many sources seem to be generating hum at around the same frequencies though. After that I’ve been hearing the same hum on several other locations and I’m doubting that the source in all those cases could be similar installations. There’s more to it than simply engines and motors making noise and resonating. We should collaborate to find out what’s actually going on. Quite willing to contribute to Glen’s project.
I am one of 2 in my street who has suffered the hum both at home, work and within a 15 miles radius of Weymouth Dorset, I also heard the hum on holiday in Cyprus in May. Have had enviromental health in taking readings and recorded the hum at 40htz and below but found no source. I have just been on a 2 hour flight then a week swimming off boat and 2 hour flight back bring which my ears popped at least 4 times. Upon my return home I have found I no longer here the hum which I have suffered with for 8 months and dearly hope not to hear every again. So I hope this will give hope to others who suffer the nightmare known as the hum.
Hiya,
I reside in Florida and only hear it in the fall and winter when the windows are open. I would add that I am an introverted highly sensitive mature woman. I do have tinnitus. I wonder if the super sensitivity with the tinnitus has any bearing. In my opinion I think it may be in tune with the sound waves some of the other animal species hear like the sea life that is in connection to the Earth’s poles. It will be interesting to see where the studies lead. Cheers!
Hi.
For the very first time in my life, I had noticed the flow of some strange very low frequency buzzing noise in my both ears with similar intensity in every direction.
To my experience it sounds like the sound made coming from drilling bit on a hard material, something similar to this clip.
Date 09/07/2016
Time 2.00pm
First appearances, Location: Wembley Park – a mile north of the Wembley Stadium
I am still hearing it a different location 3 miles south of Uxbridge tube station.
I have had this noise for at least 8 years. The road traffic noise disturbs it and gives me momentary peace at night, as does passing aircraft. I hear it at 103mhtz (a low G flat). The noise is exactly like an idling lorry especially as for many years it pulsed, but when my house was given quite a lot more internet capacity it stopped pulsing and became continuous.
It’s not just in the house, I can hear it just outside the house and often in the car if things are quiet around about. I’ve also heard it outside near telephone poles with a number of lines.
No-one else in my family has ever heard it. I have come to terms with it because I know that if I don’t it could quite easily drive me mad.
The noise continues even when there’s an outage with he electricity. I have been to my doctor and environmental health about it to no avail, hence my comment on having to accept there’s nothing can be done. The low frequency and volume can actually hurt your eardrums, like someone quietly kicking them.
Elaine
Elaine –
A couple of corrections: There is no such thing as “103mhtz”. You meant 103 Hz of course. You also said ” (a low G flat”). The closest scale tone to 103 Hz would be a G#, not G-flat. Now, if you did pitch-match with a piano (not an electronic generator or computer application), and you insist on G-flat, that would be about 92.5 Hz.
Since you use the word “lorry” I am guessing you are from a country that has a 50 Hz AC frequency. If so, you would have a 2nd harmonic at 100 Hz, well in the ballpark of what you estimated, and this 2nd harmonic is notorious for being heard and called “power hum”. (In the states, we hear 120 Hz. ) You say it is also heard during an “outage”. How general was the outage: your house, your street, your city?
Since you indicate masking (such as traffic noise) I wonder if you have done my “grunt test”. You make a short grunt. Does the Hum stop for about a half a second, and then come right back? This is NOT an easy test to do. I have come to suggest people listen not for the pauses, but for the upramps back up after 1/2 second (almost immediately) and do the test a dozen times. I was describing this to someone by email the other day. At that time, I was also fighting with a fly in my face. I kept swatting him down into the junk on my desk (a safe-haven with my clutter!) and that shut him down for an instant, but he kept coming right back out buzzing again). Almost exactly like grunting down the Hum.
The interruption may be diagnostic for a common occurrence of the Hum – mine anyway.
Bernie
Hello, I am currently living In Texas and hearing low frequency sound I have turned off every electrical source in my place to see were the sound is coming from. I am outdoors allot and continue to hear it at the pool. I am in Glen Rose Texas. Not sure if any reports of it from this location. I use to hear the low frequency sound about 3 years ago in Texas. Traveled to Florida hoping I would not hear it but I did. I have reported several times, An have asked several people if they are hearing anything some say yes, mostly at night pretty loud. But of course we all look absolutely insane. I notice in Big groups an people it doesn’t seem to be a problem. I do live alone in a very small community of people Since I have no idea what the hum low sound is, I continue to ignore it not sure of what I am hearing? I guess my question is what is the sound?
I started hearing the hum in 2004. I had just returned from Santa Fe New Mexico where I was doing some work. I drove to Taos one day and could hear the hum. My dog could hear it too. Once I left Taos, I couldnt hear the hum. I returned to my home in southeastern Arizona and for several months no hum. One night while lying in bed, all of a sudden there it was, the hum. It has been with me ever since. It was very irritating at first as I couldnt sleep and it was also very loud. Sounds like a semi truck idling. I have tinnitis, but I dont think its related to the hum because I had tinnitis years before the hum. The only time it bothers me is when I am trying to sleep ar night. Also its louder sometimes than at other times. A couple of months ago it was so loud that I couldnt sleep.
Wonderful to finely learn I am not alone in hearing the Hum. At first I thought it was the sound of the irrigation water through the pipe or the river, then winter came and the water was shut off and the river froze. So I thought it was the traffic, but it goes late into the night when traffic stopped. I started hearing the hum about ten years ago and it seems to be getting louder. I am seventy female and live in the Colorado mountains. Retired Registered Nurse
I would like to contact others who have posted on the map that are close to me, is that possible? I think that if we work together in our areas together we would stand a better chance of solving this problem.
Hi Dr. MacPherson,
I just filled out my location and data using your data entry form and was wondering if you’ve documented frequencies relative to location.
I’m a musician and found the tone on my guitar tuned properly and it’s close to an open “D” string although the string is octaves higher (587.33 Hz). The octave the hum is in is 4 octaves lower, D is 73.42 Hz. I did use the online tone generator and the hum I hear is in the 75-77 Hz range.
Seeing the wide range of frequencies across locations, do you think it’s possible they are related? Perhaps due to distance from the source? I live in southwestern Ontario.
That’s a really interesting speculation, and one that I don’t recall having heard before. The perceived frequency of the Hum is probably an important clue, yet it’s the one form field on the Hum Database that’s the least populated. If you have time, try to find a geographical area where a number of people have done tone matching, and compare their entries.
Hi Dr. MacPherson,
I just sent an email to your Gmail account.
Robert –
The data on pitches heard is extremely valuable, but most valuable when it comes from someone like yourself who is a musician and it is reported within a few Hz. I think you are correct that reported pitch varies a good deal, perhaps mostly from 40 Hz to 100 Hz. Yes – it should mean something of interest.
If the source of the Hum were one thing (one very big loudspeaker, transmitter, etc.) it can be argued that all hearers should report the same pitch. No variation of pitch with distance would be expected (loudness would of course fall off with distance). [Small, temporary, circumstantial shifts might be noted if the source is moving (Doppler) and/or path length varying. ] No linear system (like a filtering) would change the pitch, nor would a NON-linear system except to generate and/or rearrange the amplitudes of harmonics (overtones that do not change the pitch). Only a specific “modulator” (like a single-sideband modulator) could shift the frequency.
Accordingly, a scattering of pitches, as is apparently observed, would indicate widespread, multiple, local external sources; or more simply, internal generation of the Hum sensation.
Bernie
Hi Bernie,
Scientifically sound explanation and I agree. However without knowing the source, we cannot conclude that wind speed or air pressure will not have an effect on frequency (much like a train horn changes pitch as it speeds by) or if it’s naturally caused, seismic for example that the pitch will change due to how much earth it must travel through. Other criteria to take into accout is that it may not be one source but rather multiple sources and each source uses a different frequency as to not interfere with each other much like radio stations.
Robert –
Well, to get from 50 Hz to 75 Hz, you would need a (Doppler) shift of a 375 mph wind, day in, day out. It’s not wind. Pressure changes only the speed of propagation, not the frequency. The amount of earth does not matter. It’s claimed to be a a DRIVEN system (external source) after all.
Multiple pitches strongly suggest an internal source. Don’t you agree? IF not, what SPECIFICALLY do you disagree with?
Bernie
Here the Hum appears as slightly flat C (I’ve checked this against a digital guitar tuner). It’s consistent enough to use as a tuning note (if you don’t mind being slightly flat that is). I noticed this about the Hum about a couple of years back, it hasn’t changed in that time. I havent checked it in other places apart from here – another one for the to-do list I guess.
Oh yes, more from the world of idle speculation – As I understand it the speed of sound is dependant on the material it’s are being transmitted through. Sound travels faster through water than air. If the speed of transmission varies wouldn’t the frequency vary as well?. If, for example infrasound were travelling through rock maybe the density of the rock affects its speed and frequency.
Hi Charley –
You said you hear a slightly flat C. I assume that is C2 =65.4 Hz so you hear very close to the 64 Hz I do. Glen hears 56.5 Hz if I recall correctly, and a range between roughly 40 and 100 Hz seems populated.
We could use a lot more reports from hearers who have experience matching pitches.
You asked: “If the speed of transmission varies wouldn’t the frequency vary as well?”
No – it would not. Suppose I wave my hand to you (in the distance) at a rate of once per second. You see this 1 Hz signal arrive at the speed of light. If the speed of light is somehow reduced (to say, the speed of sound), you would still see a 1 Hz handwave (just delayed). (It’s the wavelength that does change,)
Bernie
Thanks for setting me straight on the frequency/ wavelength issue – your explanation makes perfect sense. I really should have made the effort to look it up beforehand.
The reason I didn’t specify which C (ie C2, C3 etc.) is that I can’t really tell. The best I can say is that its like C2, C3 and C4 being played simultaneously. Mainly its C3 with a varying amount of C2 underneath it. As I said before though it’s not exactly C, the Hum is somewhat flat.
Using the online tone generator I get predominately 126 Hz, with some 63 Hz as well. If the tone generator is open in three different tabs its possible to produce 63, 126 and 252 Hz at the same time – if I play around with their respective levels I can produce a rough approximation to what the Hum sounds like to me.
Outstanding !
Looks like a classic “missing fundamental” (well – weak fundamental) case. If you play harmonics 2f, 3f, 4f with f missing (or very weak), the pitch is f, even if there is no Fourier energy at f. It’s the repeat rate of the pattern.
Does the Hum have harmonics? Almost certainly it seems to. Some folks describe it as “fuzzy”. [ By the way, the upper harmonics make it much much easier to hear. Without the harmonics, we might not notice it.] But, shouldn’t it be easy to just look at one cycle of the Hum to see if it is a perfect sinewave or not? NO, we have never seen such a plot (or a spectrum) of the hum?
Your synthesis result is seems very helpful.
Just started hearing this deep hum about a month ago. Mostly at night. Woke me up out of a sleep. Got in the car and drove around the vicinity where I live. I thought someone was doing construction. Could not hear anything. When i came home I couls hear it again. Only inside my house. now i can hear it in the garage as well. The Edison company is doing work on a Tehachapi project that is across many counties. Thought it could ve related to that? Sometimes it is a steady hum and other times it sounds like it is pulsing. Any suggestions?
I’m not technical. Just wanted to know if anyone had a suggestion. Can we get rid of the hum?
Hello, I’m French, sorry for my poor english.
Many thanks to Dr. Glen MacPherson who has spent a lot of energy and time to understand the hum.
After several months trying myself to find the origin of the hum, I discover that it is not a pure frequency as a C note, but a noise filtered at center of special frequencies.
A pure frequency should produce nodes and antinodes as a standing wave. A random noise has no phase relation and then no nodes and antinodes noticeable. It should be a reason the hum can be heard everywhere and looks coming from every directions.
I have experimented my theory with Audacity by generating a noise and applying some low pass filters: It looks for me as realistic as the real hum.
The origin should be human life noise everywhere on earth reflected by atmosphere layers. In this case it is a bad new because is it will not cease to increase in the future.
It is just an hypothesis, perhaps I have it all wrong, I hope.
Bye Alex
Alex –
Why would you suppose it would be a “standing wave” and what evidence for this is there? Do you mean as opposed to a propagating wave? Are you confusing time and space?
Bernie
Hello Bernie,
Sorry, my background in physical theory is not very high
You’re right, “standing” was the wrong word. Sounds are illustration of propagating waves.
I just tried to discuss about the nature of the hum :pure waves or random noise.
Alex
The Hum is organic, you can ask it to appear when its all quiet and it will, also you can get it to vibrate at a pulse or speak, I use hebrew words, or mantras, even rieki words. This last week or so, its at an almost deafening level. Its main function is to get us to focus and clear away negative thoughts. Its a negative Ion generator.
I’m afraid I have no idea what you are talking about, but everybody gets at least one chance here. What, exactly, is generating negative ions?
Also we are all travelling through space and time, the sign for this is usually after you realise you have been lost in thought about a specific person then suddenly a car races off outside your home or office, as if it was listenning. I have been shown clearly a human/alien thechnology that has us all in an interdimensional universe where time and space are folding or being controlled, we are all under the inflence of a spiritual/phsical mutating energy, we just hide the truth from our conscious minds. So we can function
Hum could be organic for me, because it appears suddenly each time after a couple of days in very quiet location. If it was a real noise I can hear it all the time.
Alex58430