Top 10 Creepiest Unexplained Sounds Ever Recorded

UVB-76 is perhaps better known as “The Buzzer,” owing to its distinctive sound. This is a mysterious shortwave radio station that broadcasts a repeated buzzing sound every minute of every day. Every once in a while, the buzzing sound is interrupted by a voice speaking in Russian. The radio station is officially owned by the Russian Armed Forces and is broadcast from Moscow, although its true purpose has never been confirmed by government officials. Various theories have been put forth, ranging from military communications to measuring changes in the ionosphere. The scariest possible explanation suggested to date? That it’s a “Dead Hand” signal that would trigger a retaliatory nuclear response should it be interrupted.

Many creepy and unexplained sounds have been captured in the Pacific Ocean. On May 19th, 1997, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration captured “Slow Down,” which is theorized to be a large ice sheet in Antarctica moving over land. Just two months earlier, the Equatorial Pacific Ocean autonomous hydrophone array captured “The Train,” so-named because it sounds like train wheels grinding against tracks. Experts have stated that The Train is the sound of a large iceberg dragging against the seafloor (kind of like train wheels dragging against railroad tracks!), although that is just an educated guess. It could also be Cthulhu.

A narrowband signal picked up by a radio telescope, the Wow! signal was captured by Ohio State’s suitably-named Big Ear telescope back on August 15, 1977. Today, it continues to be considered to be among the most compelling auditory evidence for extraterrestrial life. It was discovered by astronomer Jerry R. Ehman, who circled the evidence on the computer printout and wrote “wow!” in red pen, leading to its now-iconic name. The radio signal was never found again, despite numerous attempts, and while countless theories have been put forth regarding its origin, the astronomical community has never come to an official consensus. It came from the direction of Sagittarius, so if we want to find alien life, that’s where we should be looking.

The Hum is a famous phenomenon that’s been reported worldwide since the 1970s. It’s even appeared in various pieces of pop culture, including “The X-Files,” “Criminal Minds,” and “Unsolved Mysteries.” People who can hear The Hum report a very low, very annoying humming or droning sound - usually in the range of 32 to 80 Hz. Despite being reported worldwide, various areas have become famous for their reports of The Hum, including Taos, New Mexico and Windsor, Ontario. Like the Wow! signal, various explanations have been put forth regarding its origin, but a consensus has never been reached. These include mechanical sources like factories and industrial plants, loud animals such as toadfish, and simple ol’ tinnitus.

In February 2016, a mysterious banshee-like screeching was heard in Forest Grove, Oregon. A video detailing the noise was shared to the city’s Facebook page, and it was described as a giant flute, a mechanical scream, and a steam whistle. Regardless of the varying descriptions, no one had any idea what it actually was, including the city’s Public Works and Fire Departments. Over 200 calls were made to the city as people attempted to explain the noise, but no one was able to come to a consensus, with everything from frogs to Bigfoot being put forward. The Forest Grove Fire Marshal, Dave Nemeyer, suspects that the screeching originated from an attic fan or a heat pump, but once again, this is pure speculation.

Despite the fact that we’ve lived here for so many millennia, the Earth and its properties are still a mystery to us. Case in point - skyquakes. Skyquakes are unexplained noises emanating from the sky most often compared to cannon fire. The sound has been reported across the globe, and some reports even state that nearby buildings have been hit by the resulting shock wave. Again, there are a ton of explanations but no clear consensus regarding their origins. Some of the more believable explanations include biogas erupting from nearby lakes, meteors exploding in the atmosphere, and coronal mass ejections from the sun generating massive shock waves.

No, this isn’t the name of some Englishman traipsing through the woods and snatching all the game. It’s actually an English folk song detailing the “joys” of poaching. It’s also the name of a creepy shortwave radio station. The station once consisted of bars from the folk song (hence the name) and a pre-recorded female voice that read out various number combinations. The radio station continuously ran from the mid ‘70s to June 2008, when it mysteriously ceased transmission. Direction finding revealed the location as a Royal Air Force base on the island of Cyprus. It’s speculated that the station belongs to MI6 and that it was used as a secret transmission for British spies.

When something is described as a “syndrome,” you know it’s going to be bad. Beginning in late 2016, American and Canadian embassy staff in Cuba began experiencing the so-called “Havana Syndrome.” Symptoms included memory loss, headaches, and nausea. Most of the symptoms began with a persistent vibrating noise, which some described as the sound of driving with the windows down. A study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association confirmed that the diplomats had suffered a brain injury. The leading hypothesis is that they were subjected to microwave radiation and that the noises were the result of the Frey effect, which are auditory hallucinations induced by pulsing radio frequencies. That being said, none of the investigations have pointed to a definitive cause.

Julia has a lovely name, but don’t let that distract you from the fact that it is terrifying. This is yet another noise recorded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, only this one was captured in 1999. Julia is an odd whining noise with a duration of about fifteen seconds. What makes this so freaky is that it was loud enough to have been picked up across the entirety of the Equatorial Pacific Ocean autonomous hydrophone array system. Like The Train, experts theorize that Julia is an Antarctic iceberg slamming into the ocean floor, but once again, that is simply an educated guess. (We still prefer Cthulhu).

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

Upsweep
An “Upsweeping” Sound Was Recorded Throughout the Pacific in 1991

The Whistle
This May Be the Sound of a Submarine Volcano, But No One Really Knows

The Ping
A So-Called “Acoustic Anomaly” That Frightens Sea Animals in Northern Canada

The Trumpet
Weird Trumpet-Like Noises May Be Connected to Skyquakes, But Who Knows

The Bloop might be the most famous underwater noise ever recorded. It was originally caught back in 1997 by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and was roughly triangulated to the south Pacific Ocean. When the sound is sped up, it makes a very distinctive “bloop” sound, much like that of an air bubble. The noise was originally attributed to an animal, but the fact that it was captured on sensors nearly 3,000 miles apart led to widespread speculation. If that was the case, then the animal would be far louder than any known mammal on Earth. The modern consensus is that Bloop was generated from an ice quake stemming from glacial motion in the Antarctic, likely seabed gouging or ice calving.