The Taos Hum — A Sound That Drove a New Mexico Town to Despair

The Taos Hum is a persistent low-frequency humming sound reported by residents of and visitors to the small town of Taos, New Mexico since the early 1990s. Sufferers describe the sound as a low, throbbing drone — like a distant diesel engine or a low musical note — that is most noticeable indoors, at night, and in quiet environments. The Taos Hum gained national attention in 1993 when residents petitioned Congress for an investigation. A team of researchers from the University of New Mexico, Sandia National Laboratories, Phillips Laboratory, and the Los Alamos National Laboratory conducted an extensive study but could not identify the source. Sensitive acoustic equipment detected no unusual low-frequency sound in the environment, yet approximately 2% of the local population continued to report hearing the hum. Some sufferers described the sound as so distressing it caused insomnia, anxiety, nosebleeds, and in extreme cases, suicidal ideation. The Taos Hum has been proposed as a case of spontaneous otoacoustic emissions, tinnitus amplified by the region's exceptional quietness, electromagnetic sensitivity, or an actual environmental sound at frequencies below the threshold of standard recording equipment.