MYSTERIOUS HUMMING SOUND HAS BEEN KEEPING RESIDENTS IN BRISTOL AWAKE FOR 40 YEARS

Mysterious humming sound has been keeping residents in Bristol awake for 40 years

11:29, 20 Jan 2016

By Emma Flanagan , Shanti Das

The bizarre noise has resurfaced every few years since the 1970s - but no one has been able to explain what caused it

This eerie video captures the mysterious humming sound which has baffled a city for decades.

For nearly 40 years frustrated people have complained of being kept awake at night by an 'unbearable' low-pitched humming sound.

Reports of the so-called Bristol Hum have resurfaced every few years since the 1970s but no-one has been able to explain what causes it.

A variety of different theories have emerged which all have common factors - although strangely, not everyone can hear it.

The humming is only audible indoors, it is a low, rumbling noise which is louder at night and is more common in more rural areas.

SWNS Bristol hum
Mystery: Steve Burden's spooky video captures the Bristol hum

The debate surrounding the hum has been reignited by a man who recorded it from his attic earlier this month and posted the footage online.

Steve Burden, 36, picked up the sound of the wind and a few birds singing - with a low-pitched humming clearly audible behind them.

When he shuts the window the contrasting silence is unnerving.

On the video he says: "I have been hearing some strange noises outside now for a bit.

"It has been happening over kind of ten minutes.

Read more: Mystery hum? Listen to spooky sound that baffled scientists for 40 years after new claims it is now recorded on camera

"I don't know what it is but there has been some strange cloud formations.

"It's freaking me out. I have heard about these noises in other places, but I never thought I would hear it in Bristol. I don't know what it is."

SWNS Bristol hum
Strange: The noise has been keeping residents awake for four decades

Dad-of-one Steve, 36, lives in Yate, South Gloucestershire - around 12 miles from the centre of Bristol - and runs a flooring company from his loft.

He added: "I had no idea what it was or where it was coming from.

"There is a construction site nearby and I know there is some work going on there, but it really didn't sound like that."

Steve said the sound lasted for around 20 minutes - and he hasn't heard it since.

Hums have also been reported in Hythe, Hampshire, where 30 people complained to their council, and in Leeds, Manchester and Largs, Scotland.

It has been estimated that where town hums are reported, only one in 50 people can hear them.

Of the 105,000 people who have watched the latest video of the Bristol hum, not one has said they cannot hear anything on the recording.

SWNS Bristol hum
City: Residents of Bristol have been reporting the noise since the 1970s

Last year, scientists claimed to have finally solved the mystery behind the hums.

French researchers said it was not wind turbines, power lines, or even UFOs as has been suggested over the years.

Fabrice Ardhuin of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique said the elusive sound was actually caused by the pressure of waves vibrating on the ocean floor.

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He said they generated seismic waves which cause the Earth to oscillate and produce sounds which can last from between 13 to 300 seconds.

They can then be picked up by a small proportion of people in the world sensitive to low frequencies.