The
Hum geographic proof of an almost World-wide phenomenon linked to renewable
energy (power) systems, by
Dr Chris Barnes – Bangor Scientific and Educational Consultants.
First
published on-line 13th January 2013 e-mail manager@bsec-wales.co.uk
Abstract
The
Hum its effects and backgrounds are briefly described. The paper demystifies
the Hum and especially it removes its association with any covert military
technologies which has in the past been suggested as a possibility by Deming
and on various forums. Starting with
the premise that the Hum may be in some way associated with power systems,
world mapping is used to search for an association between the Hum and certain
types of power systems infrastructure. The present findings are a strong
association between renewable energy infrastructure, mainly pumped storage
hydropower but also wind power, and the Hum.
Mechanisms that can produce this association can be relatively simple or
very complex and have been and will continue to be discussed elsewhere.
Introduction
The Hum is a term for a
collective group of mainly unexplained geo-sporadic ‘LFN like’ phenomena which
commenced in the UK round about 1980 but was not heard in the USA until the
early 1990’s. The Hum has since been heard
throughout Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and parts of Africa and South
America.
People affected by the
Hum, estimated to be up to 2% of the world’s population, are often but not
exclusively middle aged and they perceive a low level but highly annoying
noise, often described as rather like distant, irregular firing, idling or
pulsating engine, that can either not be audio recorded or only recorded with
great difficulty. Variants of the noise
and its quasi-periodic modulation have been described which can be anything
from almost continuous through to the musical or more like slow Morse code through to very sharply rising pulses
wherein it feels as though someone is prodding a finger in one’s ear. Because the Hum is as once can see a highly
subjective phenomenon, academics treating this subject are almost forced to
rely entirely on anecdotal reports, which does not make for good science.
Fortunately, however, the
present author and some of members of his immediate family are able to perceive
the Hum which allows first hand personal experience to be brought into the
scientific realm [1,2]. Other features of the Hum are that it is
sometimes difficult to block with ear plugs and is sometimes only heard in one
ear. Also the Hum is mainly perceived at
night and is heard either distinctly to
switch on and off or to fade in and out.
The Hum also seems to be strongly amplified by buildings.
Some Hums have been
proven to be of natural origin such as the one due to volcanic tremor on the
big island of Hawaii [3]. Some Hums
have been proved to be due to tonal harmonically related multiple sources of
acoustic sound and infrasound such as the Kokomo Hum, see Cowan (2008) [4].
The present author is only aware of one other case of LFN documented in
a scientific journal, namely Noise and Health wherein there were present Hum
like effects which were traced to a communal heating plant.
However, the cause of
most Hums remains a complete mystery.
If these Hum locations are
plotted on a World map they appear, at first site, to follow centres of
population. Some have said the Hum might all be in the mind, a kind of low
frequency tinnitus or tensor tympani tremble.
On this basis one would, perhaps, expect more cases in cities. Yet
almost the opposite proves to be true. There are to be found more cases in
quiet urban suburbs and rural areas, yet almost exclusively in the developed,
Western world. This finding would tend
to suggest that the Hum is a real external phenomenon. If Hum were everywhere
one must add, of course, there could be more masking noise in big cities to
blank the Hum. I have previously
suggested that vehicular movement prevalent in big cities destroys the
coherence in time of arrivals of necessary components of the Hum [2].
The outstandingly unusual
world geographic distribution of the Hum at the time of Deming’s paper i.e.
that it was only found in Western developed countries has led to speculation
that it may be associated with some sort of Western military defence technology.
Deming [5] has commented that the
Hum best seems to correlate in time and space with the operations of TCAMO
military aircraft. Some on Hum
forums have suggested that the Hum could be due to ionospheric heaters,
especially HAARP. The Hum however
predates HAARP but not EISCAT or SURA or the early soviet OTHR ( over the
horizon radars) such as: DUGA 1 and 2.
Certainly the Hum started to be heard in the UK at about the time when
EISCAT and DUGA1 and 2 first came on the air.
It is thought, but by no
means certain, that TCAMO technology may have now been replaced by submarine communication technology. In any event if the Hum were due to TCAMO
it would either need to be due to infrasound from the circling aircraft or due
to ELF radiation. If it were due to ELF radiation it is difficult to understand
why people living near ELF transmitters do not hear the Hum unless amplitude
and/or frequency level specific quantum biological detection is implicit [1].
In any event one would perhaps only expect coastal Hums with TCAMO
whereas they are now quite well distributed.
Some such as Dawes [6] have been adamant since the outset
of the Hum that power systems technology is involved [6] and now as evidenced by Hum forums in the USA there would seem
to be a growing lobby trying to blame
PLT/BPL technologies. These
technologies are not implemented widely in the UK yet here the Hum is
rife.
It is some twenty years
since Deming’s paper and the Hum is now found in other non-western alliance
countries such as some in Africa and South America. Based on visits to a website for those hearing the Hum or concerned
about it in 2009 there is now even a case of the Hum in Russia from the region
of Zagorsk which has the only pumped storage power station in the county.
Russia also has wind power but only in remote off-grid situations.
I have previously shown an association with one
specific Hum in Bangor Wales and the surrounding area with renewable power in
the shape of Dinorwig pumped storage scheme. I have further observed an unusual parametric electromagnetic -acoustic
excitation in the region of the 400 KV
double circuit and 132 KV Scottish Power Circuits nearby when under significant
wind power excitation [7].
From the above and the
available geographic observations the
hypothesis is now formulated that the majority of world Hum has one cause and that is
renewable energy power systems. The
purpose of this present work is simply to confirm the link. Mechanisms for the radiation of the Hum from
such systems and perception of the Hum by humans have been and will continue to
be discussed elsewhere. The present
author wishes to stress, however, that the mechanism for generation and perception of the Hum should
not necessarily be expected to be a simple one.
He believes the generation to involve a complex interaction with
harmonics and oscillations from power systems’ infrastructure, their ability to
produce acoustic, seismic and electromagnetic fields and the ability of these
in turn to involve the earth’s lithosphere and full atmosphere and the
perception to include infrasound, acoustics and magnetism. Quoting NASA
recently regarding something equally as controversial as the Hum, namely, solar
influence on global climate change, just because a hypothesis is complex does
not mean it should be ridiculed or is wrong. Despite my complex hypothesis I adhere to the
principle of Occam’s Razor when considering the Hum.
Before looking at the
geographic data we should remind ourselves of the history of the Hum. In the UK
and Europe this dates back to about the mid
1970’s. The mid 1970’s saw the bulk of pumped storage power plants been
built. The first building boom of pumped-storage plants, between 1970 and 1990,
occurred because facilities were needed to draw the surplus electricity of the
large fossil and nuclear plants in times of light load and to deliver
sufficient amounts of electricity in times of peak load. After adequate
pumped-storage capacity had been developed by the end of the 1980s, few new
facilities were constructed. Between 1990 and 2010, only 15 plants with a total
capacity of 5.6 GW were built in Europe [8].
Long-time Hum
investigator John Dawes has always asserted that the power grid must have
something to do with the Hum in that somehow the 50 Hz signal modulates the
local gravitational field [6]. John is not a trained scientist and so has
not put forward a theoretical hypothesis as to how this could happen but has
nevertheless acquired a lot of reports from affected people. John’s maps show the homes of Hum sufferers
to be distributed throughout and close to the main high voltage power grid in
the UK. Although power grid
distribution technology changed during the 1970’s and 80’s this changed
technology has now also become available to other countries from where there
have been no Hum reports until recently.
I believe we have not
only to look at power grid technology alone but also at power grid generation
technology and in particular power flows.
In other words it is a matter of considering what we are connecting to
our power grids in the way of both principal and embedded generation and how
these generating units interact with each other via the grid and via earth,
atmosphere and even space which is the critically important factor for the
Hum.
The
Geographic data
Geographic mapping data
on the locations of wind farms and renewable power systems around the world is
readily available on-line. There are
only two world Hum maps. One is based on internet inquiries from people hearing
the phenomenon in 2009 and the other is the start of a new database dated 2013. The relevant comparisons are shown below:
Top
left Hum Database 2013 Top Right Hum
Enquiries 2009
Bottom
Left: Wind farms Bottom
Right: Renewable energy
Looking at the above mapping, whichever model of
renewable power is used and whichever of the two available Hum databases is
employed the spatial correlation appears solid and remarkably undeniable. The
above hypothesis is strongly supported.
A correlation based on
visits to a website and anecdotal registrations into a data base is one thing
but can this hypothesis explain any or all of the early high profile Hum cases
or the more recent ones reported in the press for example.
|
HUM EUROPE |
DATE |
SOURCE? |
VALID Y/N |
|
Bristol |
1975 approx |
? |
N |
|
Largs |
1975 approx |
PSHEP |
Y |
|
2003 |
WP |
Y |
|
|
Loch Ness |
2008 |
Foyers/WP |
Y |
|
Sudbury |
2008 |
WP |
Y |
|
Copenhagen |
WP |
Y |
|
|
Llanidloes |
2009 |
WP |
Y |
|
Barnard Caslte |
2012 |
WP |
Y |
|
Kerry |
2012 |
WP |
Y |
|
HUM AUSTRALIA |
|||
|
Tuncurry |
2013 |
WP |
Y |
|
HUM NEW ZEALAND |
|||
|
North Shore |
WP |
Y |
|
|
Wellington |
WP |
Y |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Key PSHEP =PUMPED STORAGE HYDRO-POWER WP= WIND POWER
From the above it can reasonably be argued that renewable
energy in the form of either pumped storage or wind could be responsible for
all high profile Hum cases except the original Bristol Hum.
The original US Hum location of
Kokomo 
is very close to a huge
pumped storage facility as is Windsor Ontario. Taos is in the very north of New
Mexico close to the neighbouring state which has three large pumped storage
hydro-plants. Add in wind power and no
wonder most of the US has the Hum.
·
·
Europe’s vast Hum problem can be visualised by examining the density of pumped storage power production, see below:
The
Hum in other Countries
Nagarjunasagar in the southern
state of Andhra Pradesh has pumped storage and presumably has the Hum judging
by visits to the 2009 Hum database map.
India also has recent wind power close to that site as well. Hong Kong and Japan both now have the Hum and
pumped storage and wind turbines not of these places had the Hum at the time of
the original Deming paper. Ukraine has
the Hum since gaining an operational pumped storage plant at Dneister in 2009,
and the list goes on. Australia has the
Hum and visits to the 2009 mapping database came from close to Tumut, Talbing,
Wivenhoe and Kangaroo Valley. These are all locations with pumped storage
hydro-power.
New Zealand’s North
Island has had Hum since about 2006.
Although reference has been found to hydropower, no reference to
specific pumped storage sites other than one proposed which has not yet built
has been found. There are
however, extensive new wind farms and an extension to a geothermal energy plant
in the region where the Hum is being experienced.
Conclusions
Renewable
energy mainly in the form of pumped storage but also wind seems to correlate
with the Hum throughout the modern World.
In Europe and the USA pumped storage alone could probably account for all the Hum cases
we experience but there are some sites and countries which only have wind power
or even solar PV power and have started experiencing the Hum since the
connection of these forms of power as embedded systems.
Regarding
Russia, for example, it is only just
beginning to exploit these sorts of technologies and its power grid
infra-structure is somewhat different form the West. This will be discussed
elsewhere. Regarding China, because of censorship this might account for why
there are no significant Hum reports but there are also differences in its
power grid technology which will be discussed elsewhere.
Further work
The
author intends to review and criticise where necessary his previous work in the
light of these most recent findings.
Mechanisms for the generation and perception of the Hum will also be
re-examined although the author’s present view is that the mechanisms he has
previously deduced are fairly concrete.
Other
academics are now urgently encouraged to confirm the author’s findings and give
support in confirming mechanisms and seeking methods of prevention. The present author will be glad of any collaboration.
References ( added in January 2016)
1.
Chris Barnes
Letter to the Editor, The Hum: An anomalous sound around the world, Journal of
Scientific Exploration, Vol. 21, No.4 , pp 754-755, 2007.HTTPS://WWW.SCIENTIFICEXPLORATION.ORG/SPEAKERS/CHRIS-BARNES
2.
http://www.drchrisbarnes.co.uk/lfnhum.htm
3.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/90JB02781/abstract
4.
http://www.icben.org/2008/PDFs/Cowan.pdf
5.
http://www.think-downloads.com/download/Health/jse_18_4_deming-1.pdf
6.
www.johndawes.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/