The Taos Hum: New Mexico’s Unexplained Acoustic Phenomenon

Amidst the mindblowing mesas of New Mexico, strange noises have been bewildering residents since the early 1990s. So what is the auditory enigma known as the Taos hum? Where does it come from, and what - or who - is making it? Is the Earth singing a seismic symphony, or is it altogether more sinister?



In the stunning Sangre de Cristo mountains in northern New Mexico is the historic town of Taos. The northern boundary, the Taos Pueblo – believed to be one of America’s oldest continually inhabited communities – has been occupied for a thousand years. In recent generations it has made its name as a laid-back arts colony, but since the 1990s, the town has become even more famous for the Taos Hum.

In the early 1990s, a group of Taos residents reported hearing an incessant, low-grade drone. Unlike other natural and man-made noises, this odd New Mexico hum has the peculiar distinction of being heard by a relatively small percentage of the population, sparking a debate on the very nature of its existence.

In the realm of science, phenomena that are currently unexplained do not necessarily remain beyond explanation. Consider how lightning, once a profound mystery in past centuries, is now well understood. Similarly, the hum of Taos currently eludes explanation, remaining an enigma – for the time being at least.

After studying the Taos Hum, a joint research project by the University of New Mexico, Los Alamos National Laboratory, the Phillips Laboratory (part of the US Air Force Research Laboratory) and Sandia National Laboratories, using highly sensitive and sophisticated sound equipment to monitor acoustic, seismic and electromagnetic energy, was reported to have been concluded with, ‘we are left with a mystery.’

Let’s take a trip out to New Mexico in an attempt to shed some light on the baffling Taos humming noise.

What is the Taos Hum?

Much of humankind lives in a constant ocean of background noise and much of it goes unnoticed until people start to focus and hone in on particular sounds. Like other mysterious hums reported worldwide, the Taos humming noise has been the subject of much speculation and investigation. The theories about its source range from scientifically grounded hypotheses to fringe theories and those of a more outlandish nature.

Industrial Sources

One of the more mundane explanations is that the Taos Hum could be an amalgamation of sounds from industrial machinery, such as engines and compressors, which might emit noise at low frequencies that can travel long distances across flat plains with very little in the way of obstacles.

Acoustic Resonance

It’s possible that particular geological formations or atmospheric conditions could create standing waves or acoustic resonances that are audible to some people.

Tinnitus or Spontaneous Otoacoustic Emissions

For some individuals, the hum may be a form of tinnitus, a perception of sound in the absence of an external source. Similarly, the ear itself can sometimes produce sounds known as spontaneous otoacoustic emissions, which might be mistaken for external noise.

Electromagnetic Sources

Certain equipment or installations that emit electromagnetic fields could theoretically generate audible sound under the right conditions, though this has not been demonstrated conclusively in relation to the Hum of Taos.

Other Theories

Moving into the realm of less common theories, infrasound – sound waves with frequencies below the lower limit of human audibility – is one of the suggestions that has been put forward as a reason why so few people can hear the Taos Hum, and there are also theories about the natural vibrations of the Earth and psychoacoustic phenomena. This posits a perceptual anomaly where certain individuals are more sensitive to specific low-frequency sounds, possibly due to unique physiological or neurological characteristics.