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Solving 'The Taos Hum' (?) jwr47 

The Taos-Hum (1990)1

An ongoing low-frequency noise, audible only to some, is thought to originate somewhere near thistown and is consequently sometimes known as the Taos Hum. Those who hae heard the Hum

usually hear it west of Taos near Tres !rejas. The Taos Hum was featured on the T" show

Unsolved Mysteries,

Haing studied the #ut$hen-Hum in the %etherlands, The &unich-Hum, the 'einfelden-

(chterdingen-Hum, the )ornwestheim-Hum, the *teinh+ring-Hum,  #ut$hen in %iederlndisch  /

decided to also analyse the Taos-Hum, which is where it all began.

The key to this $roject in soling the hum-$roblem had been the ast $roblems in the 0utch

community #ut$hen, where a $ower line seemed to hae induced hum-signals into the heads of 

almost 122 inhabitants of the city of #ut$hen and its neighboring illages.

/n contrast to #ut$hen, where the $ower grid formed a 3-sha$ed tree-form, the $ower grid of Taos

formed a densely woen web of $ower lines, which has been identified by searching a subset of 

sam$le lines in oogle (arth 5 &a$s6

1 (tremely 'ow 8requency, Taos Hum

1: subset of sample power lines in Taos (Google Maps)from6 9ower 'ines 1 :*oling The Hum:-$roject - #ut$hen, *teinh+ring 0, Taos ;*A

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Taos (NM)' Power Grid in Google Earth

At Taos %& nearly all buildings are coered by $ower lines, which sere as one big antenna,

s$reading the $ower line s$ectrum oer the inhabitants.

This is what / suggest as the mechanism of s$reading the hum signal. / will show some more hum-

ridden communities, which all share one common attribute6 these towns hae been located nearby a

 big $ower line or coer by a grid of small $ower lines.

 2: subset of sample power lines in Taos (Google Earth)

from6 9ower 'ines 1 :*oling The Hum:-$roject - #ut$hen, *teinh+ring 0, Taos ;*A

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The Zutphen-Hum (dozens of hum-alerts, distance 700-2000m, 2011)2 

/n <211 a website=  of hum-ridden 0utch citi>ens $ublished a oogle-ma$ oeriew of ?hum-

 $roblems@, in which alert-locations slightly hae been shifted for $riacy reasons.

These $ositions of troubled $eo$le are located at both sides of a oerhead  $ower line, which follows

a center line for the densely $o$ulated area.

This is one of those areas where a high rate of ?Hum@-re$orts hae been registered. This density of 

re$orts suggests to look for a correlation between $ower lines and hum-$roblems.

These results had been documented in the re$ort Analyse an de bromtoon te #ut$hen distance to

the $ower line ranged from 122m to ma. <,2 km, <2114.

0ata hae been ma$$ed in6 9ower 'ines 1 :*oling The Hum:-$roject - #ut$hen, *teinh+ring 0,Taos ;*A.

< Analyse an de bromtoon te #ut$hen

= 0utch elan gengroe$ romtoon #ut$hen 4 Historie

  : !verhead power lines in "utphen

  #: $um%reports in the "utphen area

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Sensitivity area for hum-reports

8rom the hum-re$orts / deried a <km-wide sensitiity area for hum-$roblems at both sides of the

oerhead $ower lines. This resulted in a T-sha$ed area for #ut$hen, in which no homes should be

 built without $recautions. !therwise the risk for hum-$roblems might be seere. This rule

obiously had been iolated.

&: ' 2m wide sensitivity area for hum%reports at both sides of the

overhead power lines

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&a$$ing the $ower line at the center of the 0utch city of #ut$hen including the neighbor town

Barnsfeld we may obsere how many citi>ens hae been included inside the <k border lines

around the oerhead $ower lines.

Suggested solution for the utphen hum-area

/n the case of #ut$hen the hum-alerts may indicate a ast im$act of the $ower line, which is too

close to the housing area.

!ne solution would inole the re$lacement of a few kilometers of oerhead $ower line by

underground $ower lines. This may be e$ensie, but the re$lacement may hel$ a few do>ens of 

families.

  : *ower lines and the 2m wide sensitivity se+tors in "utphen , -arnsfeld (./)

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The Munich-Hum (dozens of hum-alerts, 700m-2000m distance, 200)

A grou$ of citi>ens of the erman city of &unich $ublished an early bundle of hum-alerts, whhich

had been ma$$ed in a chartC.

The city of &unich doesnDt seem to be suffering from central $ower lines down town.

/ studied two hum-re$orts at the east side of the city ma$ near (ichenau at the left side of the ma$.!ne of these hum-alarms had been located at 722m distance from the $ower line. The other hum-

alarm had been found at =222m distance from the $ower line.

C Ea$$ort an de /nitiatie rummfreies &Fnchen, <22G

 0: $um%alarms in Muni+h Germany (2)

from6 Ea$$ort der /nitiatie rummfreies &Fnchen, <22G

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 3: *ower line at the west%side of Ei+henau with two hum%alerts

9ower 'ines < :*oling the Hum:-$roject - 'einfelden, &Fnchen, )ornwestheim

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The !teinh"rin#-Hum (0 hum-alerts, 2$m distance, 2011) 

The *teinh+ring-Hum is located in a rather quiet rural area, which howeer are characteri>ed by a

neighboring $ower line toward a oil $um$ station. The *teinh+ring-Hum is re$orted to hae been

alerted by circa G2 inhabitants.

/ inestigated a hum-alert which had been re$orted in a T"-re$ort7

. The distance of the hum-alertlocation is close to the <km sensitiity area around the $ower line.

G Analyse des rummtons on *teinh+ring7 0er rummton on *teinh+ring - hallo deutschland 

4: *ower lines near 5teinh6ring 

from6 9ower 'ines 1 :*oling The Hum:-$roject - #ut$hen, *teinh+ring 0, Taos ;*A

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The %orn&estheim-hum (1 alert, 1000-1700m from po&er lines, 201') 

The hum-alerts of the erman city of )ornwestheim has been re$orted at6 )ornwestheim6

)ornwestheimer klagen Fber rummton, in which one alert-address has been s$ecified at a distance

of 1722m from a $ower line.

Also this alert-location is located at a distance of 1222m from a large railway-area at the left.

Analyse 0er rummst+rungen in )ornwestheim

 1: 'nalysis of the hum%alerts in 7ornwestheim (8)

9ower 'ines < :*oling the Hum:-$roject - 'einfelden, &Fnchen, )ornwestheim

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The einfelden-hum (se*eral alerts, distance 900m, 201')9

*eeral hum-alerts at the %ar>issenweg in the erman city of 'einfelden-(chterdingen hae <214

 been re$orted in Etsel um ein merkwFrdiges rummen. 

The distance between the alert-location and the $ower line is I22m.

I Analyse 0er rummst+rung in 'einfelden-(chterdingen

  11: *ower line near the alert lo+ation 9.arissenstra;e< in /einfelden%E+hterdingen (8)

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The +ristol-Hum in 201 

Just recently, 1Ith of January <21G, The strange case of the ristol hum - K %ews L K.com

re$orted6

The ristol Hum is back, according to re$orts. ut did it go awayM /n 1I2, thecouncilDs enironmental health team inestigated.

After =G years some say they can still hear it.

*ome $eo$le in ristol say they are $lagued by a mysterious low-leel hum that no-one

can trace. /n the 1I72s hundreds of the cityDs residents com$lained to the council that a

strange noise was audible at night. (entually, it sto$$ed as abru$tly as it began, but not

 before it had s$awned re$orts of equally unidentified hums in other towns across

ritain.

/n <21= the residents of Hythe in Ham$shire made more than =2 com$laints to the localcouncil about a mysterious sound kee$ing them awake. 

(lsewhere, 'eeds had its hum kee$ing residents awake, and 'args in *cotland had one.

/n &anchester, a disconcerting wailing last year was $ut down to wind around the cityDs

eetham Tower . A illage in 0urham re$orted a strange ibrating noise in <211 - known

as :the hum:.

To me the hum seems to be a rather random noise, which cannot be allocated to s$ecial sources.

Howeer in some cases such as in the #ut$hen-Hum12 the icinity to $ower lines $lays a certain

role.

The Aust *eern 9owerline Krossing had been built before 1IG= and may hae sered as a huge

antenna for hum signals, which had been heard in the seenties. !f course the ground $attern of the

 $ower grid lines sere as another antenna.

The *eern-Bye Kable Tunnel had been built 1I7< and tem$orarily took oer some or most of the

 $ower to be transmitted11. There is no reason gien for additionally building this e$ensie and

com$licated structure with an oil-cooling deice in $arallel to a relatiely new rather sim$le Aust

*eern 9owerline Krossing.

?(entually, it sto$$ed as abru$tly as it began@.

Bell, this may eactly match the $ower trans$ort switch to the new o$erational *eern-Bye KableTunnel.

/n the course of time the ritish $ower consum$tion rose from <C2 TBh 1I7< to =72 TBh

<221<. 9robably some of the etra $ower had to be shifted from the *eern-Bye Kable Tunnel

 back to the Aust *eern 9owerline Krossing, which may hae caused the ?humming ga$@ between

1I7< and <21G. /n fact the $ower consum$tion only rose rather moderately in recent years.

12 *oling Dthe Taos HumD M

11 *eern-wye tunnel will form su$ergrid link - /((( N$lore1< ;) Historical %et (lectricity su$$lied 1I4 to <22

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The !eathrow !assle ("##$)

The last time / isited ristol in <22G / remember the stroll along the $icturesque harbor and the

gorgeous enironment of the hills, the high bridge oer the muddy Aon rier. /t is a gorgeous city

and / liked the enironment of the cityDs center. 'ots of students made u$ background of young

faces. / remember the fascinating ** reat ritain, but we didnDt hae the time to isit the

museums. Be were on a isitorsD tri$ from 'ondon to Kornwall and back...

This journey howeer a few days later 1= turned into a disaster at the return to 'ondon where

we were stuck u$ in a $eathrow $assle L $robably the worst hassle they eer had14. ritish

Airways had lost of serice $ersonal hanging around, but they closed the sho$ and left the

stranded $assengers to their fate. /nstead they $referred to smoke cigarettes in their lounge

and small-talk conersations. / am still awaiting a res$onse from ritish Airways for the

etra-costs for the 'ufthansa tickets we had to buy for a return flight to ermany. &onths

later an im$ertinent lawyer refused to answer us why ritish Airways didnDt care for their 

 $assengers, neer res$onded any $hone calls and didnDt care to res$ond emails. ThatDs when /

 $romised myself, my wife and my friends we would neer eer return to the island nor set a

foot near any ritish air$lane.

And now in my mind / return to that harbor, where / remember the Aon, the hills and the narrow

access to the ocean water.

Those days, at my isit <22G, / hadnDt been aware the hum-$roject would bring me back to ristol

ten years later.

1= at 1<. August <22G14 The Heathrow Hassle and the Heathro.

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Maps of the %verhead Power &ines

There are no documented records of the hum-alerts of those days, but / was lucky to find an !$en

*treet &a$s with a &a$ of all coordinates using !*& for the $ower lines of the area.

ristol is a large city. The $ower lines are fed by a nearby nuclear $lant, but of course nuclear 

a$$lications doesnDt really matter for the hum $roblem.

The East-Side of ristol (shaded orange)

The interesting fact is the icinity of the oerhead $ower lines to the bedrooms of the houses. The

name of the $lant is !ldbury .u+lear *lant 5tation1C, from which two lines are emerging, leading to

 =ron '+ton 5ubstation nearby >angeworthy. / just drew a line connecting these stations to mark a

 beginning of the network. This is found north of ristol.

8rom here two lines are running to 5-E? Trading Estate  in  /o+leae, a urban area at  >omney

 'venue  in the northern $art of ristol, nearby *toke 9rimary *chool. These lines are $assing in

 between the suburbans -interbourne and 5toe Gifford .

Anther $ower line follows the cityDs outline net to  $igh 5treet  in the suburbans .orth @ommon

and !ldland @ommon and from the ?ath >oad  crossing the alley rier 'von u$ to the Aeeder 

 >oad 5ubstation.

These $ower line $asses some suburban areas, coming ery close to the cityDs center. / drew my

<km1G standard sensitiity >one around these $ower lines and found almost the com$lete east-sided

half of the city of ristol being coered by electric smog from the $ower lines.

These lines hae been shaded in orange in illustration 1.

The est-side of ristol (shaded gray and yellow)

The lines to ortishead and an#e&orth. (shaded #ra.)

/ still hadnDt checked what ha$$ened to the areas at the west-side of the city, which may also be

coered by $ower lines. Another im$ortant $ower source is the 5eaban *ower 5tation, from which

two $ower lines lead to 9ortishead.

Another oerhead $ower line along the Kribs Kauseway leads to the  =ron '+ton 5ubstation nearby

 >angeworthyB These lines hae been shaded gray in in illustration 1.

The /ust !e*ern o&erline rossin# as an antenna (shaded .ello&)

3et another line shaded yellow in illustration 1 leads between Aleston and Thornbury to cross the

5evern rier at the Aust *eern 9owerline Krossing, featuring the ery high 5evern ?ridge with a

s$an width of 1,G1 m and an altitude of 14.7C m. At this altitude the $ower lines may act as a ery

large antennaO

The longest $owerline rier crossing in the ;) is the Aust *eern 9owerline Krossing

oer the Eier *eern  at  Aust, stretching 1722 m C,=12 ft between towers 14 m

4 ft high. This $ylon crossing is $aralleled by the *eern-Bye Kable Tunnel beneath

it, at almost the same location. 17

1C %uclear 9ower *tation, !ldbury %aite, !ldbury-on-*eern, ristol, *outh loucestershire *=C 1EP, "ereinigtes

)+nigreich1G The <km standard sensitiity >one may be found in the case of the hum-alerts documented by the $o$ulation of the

the 0utch city of #ut$hen in *oling Dthe Taos HumD M17 9owerline rier crossings in the ;nited )ingdom 

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/n the ma$ / also entered the coordinates of the huge 14Im tall $ylons6

Point Coordinates

Aust $ylon C1.G2<GQ% <.G==<QB

&id-$oint C1.G2C7Q% <.G41=GQB

eachley $ylon C1.G12<Q% <.GC=1QB

The $hotogra$h of the 9ylon of the Aust *eern 9owerline Krossing 1  is from 1< August 1IG=,

which im$lies the $ylon must hae been built earlier.

The !e*ern-.e ale Tunnel 19

The *eern-Bye Kable Tunnel should be com$leted in 1I71, and the 422k" cables

installed in 1I7<. At that time the <7C k" oerhead crossing already has eisted for some years, and will continue to eist.

The tunnel will carry two 422k" cable circuitsR each circuit will be designed for a

maimum rating of <G22 &"A. /nitially, the circuits will o$erate at half the rating, but

they should be o$erating at the full rating by 1I7<.

/f the *eern-Bye Kable Tunnel really absorbs most of the humming noise after beginning its

o$erational $hase this is a most suggestie hint to bury $ower cables under the ground in urban

territories. The o$erational statistics allow the $ower su$$liers to tell us the $eriods of time in which

the *eern-Bye underground cable has been actie in a solitary mode L that is6 without using the

additional ca$acity of the 'ust 5evern *owerline @rossingB

1 8rom geogra$h.org.uk  1I *eern-wye tunnel will form su$ergrid link - /((( N$lore

 12: 5T&34 : Airst 5evern >oad ?ridge under +onstru+tion

@opyright ?en ?roosban  and li+ensed for reuse under this @reative @ommons /i+en+eB

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The map of Power &ines near ristol

/f we acce$t the #ut$hen-model for hum-generation within a <km wide sensitiity area around an

oerhead $ower line only a few region of ristol remain unreachable for the humming $ower lines.

The solution for this $roblem would require to transform these lines to shielded underground lines.

The crossing of the *eern by a huge 1C2m tall bridge $oses another $roblem. /s this hugeconstruction a large antenna for hum-signalsM

These $ower lines belong to the %ational rid, but they certainly for a large grid antenna. !nly a

few sections of the grid form underground $ower lines. The &a$ of $ower stations and national

grid also confirms the density of the high $ower lines at the east-side of ristol center.

The $ylons hae been built before 1IG= and the underground cable started o$erations from 1I7<

onwards.

 1#: ?ristolCs overhead power line networ with 2m wide sensitivity areas at both sides

f rom6 9ower 'ines 1 :*oling The Hum:-$roject - #ut$hen, *teinh+ring 0, Taos ;*A, ristol .

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lifton, edland, estur.- on-Tr., otham, /*onmouth

The ristol Hum was first re$orted by around 2 $eo$le liing in different $arts of the

city. The sound was re$orted to be heard in Kotham, Eedland, Klifton, Bestbury-on-

Trym and Aonmouth. <2

ack in the 1I72s com$laints came from Klifton, Eedland, Bestbury- on-Trym, andmost $eo$le affected lied on the to$ of hills rather than in alleys<1.

!er the $ast two weeks, $eo$le from across the city hae re$orted hearing the hum L 

 $articularly in the Klifton and Bestbury-on-Trym areas. !wen *mith, who lies in

Klifton, was ke$t awake by the sound last night. He said6 :Kan anyone else hear the low

 $itched DhummingD noise in ristol tonightM /Dm u$ in Klifton and itDs becoming

unbearableOO: <<.

And it seems the sound - which has been described as DunbearableD has returned in <21G

as for the $ast two weeks $eo$le hae taken to Twitter to declare the infuriating noise

has returned.

/ marked these locations Klifton, Eedland, Bestbury- on-Trym Kotham, and Aonmouth as dark 

green labels, most of which are ca. =-4 kilometers away from the high $ower grid lines. Aonmouth

of course is ery near to an oerhead $ower line. The other locations are in the middle between two

sectors6 the gray and orange shaded areas.

/n <21= the troubles of the inhabitants of the $lagued sectors seems to be quit annoying6

&r 0ais said6 :About one in C2 $eo$le can hear it and it is a com$letely annoying

noise that wonDt go away. /n the 72s there were suicides and numerous $eo$le drien to

distraction oer this.

<=

A s$okesman said6 :Be hae had only three com$laints about a humming noise this

year and all hae been in 0ecember. Two came from Bestbury-on-Trym and one

suggests it may be connected to the wind farms.: <4

He said6 :/t is like a low hum that comes and goes, and it can be really annoying. /t is

kee$ing me awake at night and the worst thing about the whole thing is that it has really

disturbed my slee$ $atterns. <C

<2 Has the Dristol HumD returnedM Eesidents re$ort the mysterious sound is back to $lague the city y *S9rideau  9osted6 January 17, <21G

<1 The :ristol Hum: - has it returned to $lague the cityM - y *S9rideau  9osted6 January 17, <21G

<< The :ristol Hum: - has it returned to $lague the cityM - y *S9rideau  9osted6 January 17, <21G<= y The ristol 9ost  9osted6 0ecember <2, <21=

<4 y The ristol 9ost  9osted6 0ecember <2, <21=<C y The ristol 9ost  9osted6 0ecember <2, <21=

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  1 ?ristolCs overhead power line networ with 2m wide sensitivity areas at both sides from:  *ower /ines (1) D5olving The $umD%proe+t % "utphen 5teinh6ring (8) Taos (U5') ?ristol (G?)B

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!ol*ed and 3nsol*ed hum-alerts

*ome of the hum-alerts hae been soled such as the hum-$roblem in 0onaueschingen, which had

 been identified and re$aired in a local beer brewery.

Another hum-$roblem *chonach had been soled after re$airing an underground $ower cable,

which had not been buried dee$ enough<G

./n 8urtwangen  an unsoled hum-alert cannot be related to any oerhead $ower lines in the

neighborhood.

onclusion

To date, more than I222 $eo$le hae entered their locations and data in The Borld Hum &a$ and

0atabase 9roject. The cause for the noise source is unknown.

/n ermany hum-alerts seem to hae been initiated in &unich around <22G.

*ome of the most densely concentrated areas with hum-alarms may be related to a central oerhead

 $ower line. !ne eam$le of the densely concentrated areas with hum-alarms is the 0utch city of #ut$hen.

/n such cases the re$lacement of the oerhead $ower line by an underground $ower line may sole

the $roblems.

The transfer mechanism of the humming noise may be unknown or misunderstood, but by re$lacing

an oerhead $ower line by a an underground $ower line may $roide us with some im$ortant results

in inestigating one of the Unsolved Mysteries, including the Taos%hum.

<G  Beitere rummton-!$fer melden sich

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Tale of *ontents

The Taos-Hum 1II2......................................................................................................................1

Taos %&D 9ower rid in oogle (arth....................................................................................<

The #ut$hen-Hum do>ens of hum-alerts, distance 722-<222m, <211..........................................=

*ensitiity area for hum-re$orts..................................................................................................4

*uggested solution for the #ut$hen hum-area............................................................................C

The &unich-Hum do>ens of hum-alerts, 722m-<222m distance, <22G........................................G

The *teinh+ring-Hum G2 hum-alerts, <km distance, <211...........................................................

The )ornwestheim-hum 1 alert, 1222-1722m from $ower lines, <214........................................I

The 'einfelden-hum seeral alerts, distance I22m, <214...........................................................12

The ristol-Hum in <21G...............................................................................................................11

The Heathrow Hassle <22G....................................................................................................1<

&a$s of the !erhead 9ower 'ines..........................................................................................1=

The (ast-*ide of ristol shaded orange.................................................................................1=

The Best-side of ristol shaded gray and yellow..................................................................1=

The lines to 9ortishead and Eangeworthy shaded gray.....................................................1=The Aust *eern 9owerline Krossing as an antenna shaded yellow..................................1=

The *eern-Bye Kable Tunnel.............................................................................................14

The ma$ of 9ower 'ines near ristol.......................................................................................1C

Klifton, Eedland, Bestbury- on-Try, Kotham, Aonmouth..................................................1G

*oled and ;nsoled hum-alerts...................................................................................................1

Konclusion.....................................................................................................................................1