Dr. Deming: "The bulk of the evidence suggests that the Hum is not an acoustic sound. This is indicated by the simple fact that most people do not hear it."
A low-frequency noise known as "the Hum" is said to be heard by approximately 4% of the global population, according to a 2019 article by the Guardian entitled "What is the mysterious 'global Hum' – and is it simply noise pollution?". Geoscientist David Deming, a Hum hearer himself, has researched the phenomenon and written an article entitled "The Hum: An Anomalous Sound Heard Around the World". He mentions:
"If the Hum is not an acoustic sound, then it is possible that it is caused by some type of electromagnetic signal that some people have the capability of detecting and interpreting as sound."
Dr. Deming continues by referring to the reports of hearing RADAR signals in the 1940 and by citing a study on the "Auditory response to pulsed radiofrequency energy", known as RF hearing or microwave auditory effect or Frey effect.
He adds that the phenomenon is associated with vibrations of the body and with symptoms such as headaches, nausea and pain in the ears.
The Hum: A sound present in the environment, or a signal that originates from the auditory system (from neuronal firing)?
(Please note that tinnitus and —indirectly—the microwave auditory effect are examples of the latter.)
"Scientists May Have Finally Solved the Mystery of the Strange Hum Heard Around the World"
"People have reported hearing a mysterious low-frequency hum for decades—scientists now think they’ve found the source"
What was the case during the pandemic when anthropogenic noise around the world was the "quietest"? Did people experience the Hum less?Post by Dr. Glen MacPherson, science teacher and former university lecturer who created the World Hum Map and Database: https://x.com/worldhummap/status/1257147761587154945
Sabine Hossenfelder, physicist and science communicator, provides an analysis of a recent scientific study on "The Hum".Selected excerpt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b52DZGBp1lo&t=352s
"These results, the authors conclude, suggest that the reason behind hearing low frequency sounds is often tinnitus. So that's the real perception of sound caused by firing nerves, but not caused by an external source of the sound."
Increased hearing acuity has been examined as an hypothesis. Sabine Hossenfelder continues as follows:
"So it's not like this paper explains every hum that's ever been heard. We know that some of them are real sounds from the cases that have been resolved, but this study makes it implausible that Hum hearers just hear better than others and more likely that it's similar to tinnitus."
By David Deming, Associate Professor, College of Geosciences, University of Oklahoma
https://theconversation.com/cracking-the-mystery-of-the-worldwide-hum-60296
Approximately 4% of the global population is said to hear a low-frequency noise known as "the Hum" according to a 2019 article by the Guardian entitled "what is the mysterious 'global Hum' – and is it simply noise pollution?". Geoscientist David Deming, a Hum hearer himself, has researched the phenomenon and written an article entitled "The Hum: An Anomalous Sound Heard Around the World".
(https://waubrafoundation.org.au/resources/deming-d-hum-an-anomalous-sound-heard-around-world)
According to Deming, the phenomenon is also associated with vibrations throughout the body and with symptoms such as headaches, nausea and pain in the ears. Based on his analysis he suggests that this is not a sound phenomenon but an electromagnetic one.
He mentions that widespread reports in the United Kingdom appear to date back to the early 1970s or mid 1960s, while the first reports of the Hum in the United States were in 1991.
In the second half of his article, he examines hypothetical electromagnetic sources associated among other with defense infrastructure.
Former university lecturer Glen MacPherson, a Hum hearer himself, created in 2012 "The World Hum Map and Database Project" (https://www.thehum.info/) which includes an interactive map of locations of over 6500 Hum hearers across the globe, associated to their description of experiences. More details can be found in his article entitled "Cracking the mystery of the ‘Worldwide Hum" (first link).
Science teacher and former university lecturer Glen MacPherson "created the World Hum Map and Database – an interactive map that has accumulated thousands of hearers’ descriptions of their experience and their locations across the globe. (He estimates that up to 4% of people worldwide can hear the Hum.)"
"Deming hypothesised the source could be very low-frequency radio signals between 3 Hz and 30 kHz, used globally to communicate with submarines. Astonishingly, radio signals can elicit an auditory response in humans – the “microwave auditory effect”. This results from radiant energy interacting with soft tissue in the skull that stimulates the auditory nerve. The effect has apparently been researched by the Pentagon as a sonic weapon*."
*https://phys.org/news/2008-02-pentagon-lasers-voices.html
Additional reference (conference article) cited in relevant article by SudOuest France
"The results of hum studies in the United States" http://www.icben.org/2008/PDFs/Cowan.pdf