Nobody can figure out that blasted noise. Known as “the hum,” the freaky noise hits the town of Woodland in County Durham every night. And, no, this isn’t some lousy B-list horror flick plotline (although, it very well may turn into one).
Every night for the past two months the noise resembling the hum of a car engine has seemingly moved through the air, flooding the entire town’s population of 300 with the annoyingly undetectable sound. Sometimes it gets so strong it shakes beds. Sometimes it grows louder in different parts of the same home. But no matter how loud, it’s entirely a mystery.
(LIST: Top 10 Most Annoying Sounds)
The hum isn’t anything new to England, where reports of similar noises hitting towns has spread since the 1970s and found its way onto television shows. Some towns say the constant noise causes headaches and nosebleeds. And some towns have had the hum leave as mysteriously as it arrived.
But where is it from? A UFO or government experiments? Whatever the cause—and we may never know—the hum hits the farming community of Woodland from about midnight to 4 a.m. every day. With no factories, abandoned mines—another possible conspiracy theory—or other large structures surrounding the one-street village, townspeople can only shrug their shoulders on what to do.
One resident says she knows it isn’t in her head because she can drown it out by covering her ears. Instead, the hum lives in the air, but then leaves a buzzing in your head the rest of the day until it returns to offer another restless night’s sleep. Yeah, a movie isn’t far behind on this one.
(MORE: Planning Future Car Sounds)