Another mysterious humming noise is plaguing residents in the community of Highland Park outside of Rochester, NY. The monotonous droning sound adds itself to a growing list of cities across the world experiencing a similar phenomenon that persists without clear explanation.

Described as a throbbing pulse, or distant fog horn, residents of Highland Park are demanding an answer, or at least a stop to the insufferable hum heard throughout the day. They say the hum keeps them awake at night and distracts them from being able to focus on daily tasks or enjoy leisure time.

According to one Highland Park resident, the hum never stops. And though she says she has only found about two dozen others in her city who hear it, a recent investigation by a local news affiliate was able to record the hum in multiple locations with the same tone.

Other cities from disparate points on the globe have reported a similar hum, including Windsor, ON; Taos, NM; Bristol, UK; and Auckland, NZ. But what makes these strange sounds so bizarre is that they are only naturally audible to a small fraction of the population. The hum has driven those who hear it wildly frustrated, while most of their neighbors are entirely unbothered.

Gaia recently spoke to a resident of Taos who is, unfortunately, privy to its hum, describing it as sounding similar to an idling diesel truck engine or the low end of a stereo system – sometimes droning on for weeks at a time. She said it occasionally leads her to consider moving out of the city.

The Windsor Hum in Ontario has probably received the most media coverage as of late, with thousands reporting it to government agencies. Most residents believe its source is a massive, and somewhat clandestine, steel operation in the middle of the Detroit River, on Zug Island. Access to the island is restricted by local and federal authorities, leading many to believe the steel industry’s operations are not only the source of their sonic sorrow, but also incredibly detrimental to the environment.

Residents of Windsor say the hum is more than a mere annoyance, but that it has started to cause health issues, including insomnia, nausea, heart palpitations, and depression.

Aside from industrial operations, a number of other theories have surfaced in an attempt to explain the hum. Some say it could be caused by top-secret military programs involving ELF radiation. Others say it may be the result of subtle vibrations given off by the microseisms; faint tremors caused by the ocean moving against the planet’s surface. While others say it’s simply tinnitus — though it seems silly and offensive to write off a phenomenon this large with such a simple explanation.

For now, residents experiencing the hum continue to conduct their own research with some help from local news stations. But unfortunately, most explanations have not sufficed. As this obnoxious phenomenon continues to spread, one can only hope that their range of hearing won’t pick up on the hum if it ever plagues their local neighborhood. But just because we can’t hear it doesn’t mean it might not have negative health impacts on the population at large. It seems this may be something worth paying more attention to.

Jeromy Johnson provides information on how to create an EMF-free zone in this episode of Open Minds: