The Taos Hum


The Rio Grand Gorge near Taos, where you can hear the Taos Hum

The incessant murmur of an idling semi in the distance. The hum of a factory’s machinery. The rumble of a small earthquake. The ceaseless pounding of a distant oceanic tide. These are just some of the ways people describe the Taos Hum. 

The Taos hum is a constant, ongoing, low-pitched sound that some people hear in Taos. It is worse at some times than others. Only about 2% of people in Taos hear it, and there are even more people who say they can’t hear it yet they sense a vibration that gives them headaches and nausea. Enough people swear it exists that the Hum is now considered ubiquitous with Taos.

According to three different studies, this Taos Hum is in the range of 30-80 hertz. It is believed to be in the note E flat. Middle-aged people are more likely to hear it than others. Males and females are both equally able to hear it. The hum is strongest during cool days with slight breezes and in the early morning, deepening the mystery. A 1993 study found it is confined to a 30-mile radius and people can move away from it.  

The Taos Hum is not entirely unique, either –  people in other parts of the world report similar ongoing hums. There are hums reported in China, St. Louis MO, and northern Ireland, among other places. In Windsor, Ontario, there is a hum that is thought to emanate from an industrial island. In Germany, another mysterious hum was reported, but it was found to come from faulty energy generator plant equipment. A hum in Myrtle Beach was found to come from an electrical substation. Other hums remain unexplained.

No one knows exactly what causes the Taos Hum, though there are many theories, some scientific and some not so scientific. One thing that is clear is that it is not machine-based, as Taos is not a heavily industrialized area and the hum is not concentrated near buildings. However, the Taos hum only started being reported in the 1990s. It is not an ancient phenomena reported by indigenous people from the region. So I believe it has a modern, possibly technological origin. Power lines, perhaps?

Some think the hum is related to seismic activity under the earth. However, geophones placed underground in this study did not find evidence of that and there is not much seismic movement underneath Taos. Taos is fairly close to several dormant volcanoes and a couple low-magnitude earthquakes have been reported, including one near Cimarron in 2021.

Another theory is that the Taos Hum is emitted by a jet stream moving over Taos and causing buildings and power lines to vibrate. This theory has been dismissed by other experts.

A Cambridge expert audiologist named David Baguley theorizes that the hum is possibly psychosomatic. A person might hear a background noise, such as semi in the distance, and then over-focus on it until their brain manufactures the sound.

Low-frequency noise has also been found to be a symptom of a type of tinnitus. Or it could be a spontaneous otoacoustic emission, or spontaneous noise created by the ear, a phenomena affecting up to 60% of adults with normal hearing.

Some suggest that people experiencing the Taos Hum are hearing different things and therefore the Taos Hum is a figment of the collective imagination that is heavily socially influenced. After all, if you hear a bunch of people saying they hear this hum, you might just strain to hear it too, and then your brain lets you hear what you want to hear.

Of course, there are a handful of people who think the hum originates from super secret military activity underground. It has even been attributed to activity from the Dulce Base or supersonic bullet trains underground. It may even be the result of psychological warfare conducted by unnamed individuals in power.

Extraterrestrials have been blamed for the Taos Hum, too. It is thought that aliens may have a base under the mountains near Taos. Or they make the noise as they whizz overhead in UFOs. New Mexico has a long and deep history of alien lore and so this conspiracy theory is hardly surprising.

I think my favorite legend is that there is a giant motherly spider spirit under the earth of Taos. She is angry at how Earth is being harmed by humans. The hum is her growl. I think this legend has been borrowed from the Navajo Spider Woman, a motherly spirit central to Navajo spirituality. Spider Woman emerged from the sacred turquoise to weave three different worlds, each of which she has destroyed and transformed into the next world. Now she keeps fate balanced and protects people. She is the inspiration for the rich Navajo weaving tradition.

Spiritualists in Taos like to say that Taos accepts and rejects people. If you hear the hum, it means that Taos has accepted you and you will have a good experience living in the town. I’m not sure if no hum means you’ve been rejected. Lots of people love Taos – and lots of people hate it. Some people describe a heavy feeling there that drives them crazy until they leave. That’s a sure sign that Taos is not for you.

I have visited Taos and the energy is undoubtedly…strong. I can’t say if it is negative or positive, it just is. It definitely makes you feel different. For me, Taos’s vibes didn’t feel nearly as strong as the energy around Sedona or in the Gila, though. 

I have never heard the hum, though. Have you? Drop your experience in the comments!