Since this thread was started, we discovered that the "hum" we heard upNorth was coming from the renovation of the lighthouse
that is out in the lake about 3 miles from us.

The hum has stopped since they finished the years long work.
It is now open as an "overnight, 2 day weekend" or afternoon visit by tourists.

I haven't heard it the last two summers at all. Either that or the quarry machinery...etc was changed.

I wonder if it's a malfunction of our electrical system, sending signals to our hair cells...
I have sensitivity to high pitched noise, and occasional tinnitus in one ear or the other occasionally. Don't hear this though...thank goodness...

After re-reading this thread, this is what comes to mind.

I remember in Watership Down, and Fern Tree Gully there was mention of a noise or hum in the distance. The sound of machines in those cases.

I also remember something in the book Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak about a hum but it was more ethereal.

I must go see if I can find it.

Edited to add: Can't find it right now. Will post when I find it as it is quite superb.

I have fairly sensitive hearing. I hear noises that others don't. My son who is on autism spectrum was troubled terribly when he was younger by certain sounds that none of us could hear.

Nitrates and nitrides are in our water also, manure from dairies penetrating into our aquifer .. a cow is like eight people .. but people have to have digester's.

I get up around midnight to four and start a fire .. rural Idaho .. and then go out on my front porch to see "what's going on" .. are the coyotes coming in on my Boer Goats .. and the mares in heat and the stud is about to jump the fence .. did the water get loose and is flooding my roadway .. is my neighbor drunk in his front yard and talking to himself .. you know .. the usual things which are odd enough!

But! The other night about 2/1/12 .. a truck is going by three miles away but the wind makes it sound quite loud and I hear something else and as he can no longer be heard .. it sounds like this driving on gravel noise coming from the sky. Two summers ago there were flashers in the sky .. In the bottom of Orion a flashing about every seven seconds for twenty minutes and way out of our solar system .. they were everywhere for about a month and then .... nothing. There are other things I see also .. objects moving very fast dark and small during the day .. there for a second and then gone. I freaked my barber out and quit talking about them. Know what I mean Vern?

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Dream warriors? U.S. military to research 'battlefield illusions' to baffle enemies
American military's technology research division Darpa is to investigate hi tech 'battlefield illusions' designed to baffle enemy troops, according to budget figures announced this week. Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency is investing $4 million in the project, which includes research into causing 'auditory and visual' hallucinations in enemy troops. Technologies could be similar to current measures designed to confuse radar systems, but applied to human beings. Illusions' would likely use optical technology, and will be...

Just ran across this ...

I've heard it almost all the time since i moved into my new house four years ago this July. At first I thought it was a generator being used on the building site but now know it wasn't. The hum is only inside the house and disappears when I open the doors / windows. Environmental health - noise pollution cannot help as they cannot pick up low frequency sounds on their equipment! I have just had to learn to live with it. I wear ear plugs at night but they only make it sound a little fainter. I can still feel the vibration. Sometimes we just have to sleep out to get a good nights sleep. Any ideas to help will be greatfully appreciated!

josiecromack,

Hello and welcome to NeuroTalk. Happy to see you have come to be with us. Here are a great number of dear friends to listen when you are in need of ears. Please let us know how we can help you out. You will find out we are supportive and relaxing place.

Have fun here just roaming around. Again welcome, looking forward to seeing you around. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

Darlene

I live in the UK and have heard the hum for some 8 or 9 yrs now. Mostly at night when it’s very quiet, as I suffer from tinnitus it’s actually a relief to hear another sound. It sounds like vary low rumbling in the distance, like you would hear from distant traffic or aircraft landings, sometimes like thunder rolling away in the distance far off. First time I heard it I opened the bedroom window to hear where it was coming from but it didn’t help, in fact it is better inside the house.
It’s with me every night and sometimes I concentrate on it to try to figure it out but mostly I just go to sleep. It doesn’t bother me, I just accept it as earths natural low frequency hum. Good to know I’m not alone though, now realise 2% of the population hear it. We moved house right out into the country 5 yrs ago and the hum came with me, albeit slightly louder and clearer now.