By James Donahue

It has been called the Taos Hum because it was first publicized in Taos, New Mexico. But the same phenomenon has been reported in Kokomo, Indiana; Mount Vernon, Washington; Loch Ness, Scotland; and various locations in Auckland, the United Kingdom and various other points around the world.

After the Taos noise was reported in 1991, similar complaints were heard from Taiwan, many western states in the United States, Wisconsin, Michigan, Vermont, Massachusetts, New York and Maryland.

The noise, heard by only about two percent of the local population, is said to sound like an idling truck diesel engine in the distance. It is a low-frequency humming noise, always of unknown origin, that has a way of driving those who hear it to distraction.

People say the noise starts without warning, never abates and is more noticeable inside a building than outside. People who hear the noise complain of loss of sleep, dizziness, shortness of breath, headaches, anxiety, irritability, deteriorating health, inability to concentrate, read or study because of the constant hum.

The incidence of people hearing the hum appears to be increasing since the problem was first publicized at Taos. Various scientific studied have been conducted in the areas were the hum is noticed, with no answers as to the cause. But there has been some data.

Most people hearing the hum are 50 years of age or older. At least one deaf person claims to hear the hum with his hearing aid turned off. Steel enclosures with walls over an eighth inch in thickness tend to reduce the effect. And the hum is perceived as loudest when the modulation frequency is 2.5-3.5 Hz. And the hum can be detected and recorded using various types of coil detectors connected to battery operated cassette tape recorders.

Theories that the hum is being caused by various military installations such as HAARP or ELF appear to have been ruled out through scientific research. The noise is not just affecting people who suffer from tinnitus, which is a disease of the ear that causes a constant ringing. This is verified by the fact that victims can move to new locations and no longer bothered by the hum.

Researchers have theorized that people who are hearing the hum may be unusually sensitive to the growing number of electromagnetic noise coming from the volume of new electronic gadgets, especially microwave communications and cordless phones. Researchers Joe Mullins of the University of New Mexico, and Dr. Nick Begich, author of books and reports concerning the effects of the government’s H.A.A.R.P. program, suggest this growing volume of electronic noise may be the true culprit.

Mullins notes that we are surrounded by all kinds of low frequency devices, all of them operated at about 60 Hz. He noted that an invention of the Neurophone TM, by Patrick Flanagan, designed to help deaf people hear by modulating radio waves into a neural modulated signal bypassing the cranial hearing nerve, suggests that it is possible for some people to actually be “hearing” these frequencies without actually hearing them.

Flanagan’s device is a low voltage, high frequency, amplitude modulated radio oscillator that acts on the skin of the listener. It uses the skin as the neural transmitter instead of the inner ear. The concept is based on the discovery that unborn babies, while still in the womb, use the skin as the primary sensory organ. Flanagan recognized the skin as an organ like the ears, and found a way to transmit information through the skin directly to the brain by running radio waves through small electrodes connected to the skin.

If Mullins is correct, the problem will be to find a way to help these ultra sensitive people find a way to escape the growing volume of low frequency waves that are blasting us all from every direction. So far the solutions include hiding in thick iron-sheeted buildings, moving to isolated areas (which may be fast disappearing), or living in a cave.

The long-range effects of the constant bombardment of our bodies with these electronic frequencies may be harming everyone’s overall health. It might be best for mankind if we gave up our love for these amazing electronic gadgets altogether. Perhaps a global economic collapse, which appears eminent, will be good for us all.