ELF AND THE HUM
by Ron Holtz
Since 1991, people in the Taos, New Mexico area have reported hearing an annoying, low-frequency hum, the cause of which has yet to be identified (Ufologist, Vol.2, No.3, 1992). Recent reports suggest that the Hum is not merely localized to Taos, but may be a nationwide, or perhaps even worldwide, problem.
Some investigators suspect the Hum may be caused by the Extremely Low Frequency (ELF) submarine communications system. The frequency of the Hum seems to be between 33 and 80 Hertz, while the USA's ELF system is believed to operate at frequencies around 76 Hertz.
The US Navy first conducted experiments on ELF wave propagation and environmental effects in 1969, using two antennas each 14 miles long located at Clam Lake, Wisconsin. Experiments with this facility continued until 1976, when when actual ELF communications with submarines were demonstrated. Shortly thereafter, the Navy made plans for an operational ELF communications system using buried antennas so as to be hardened against nuclear attack. This system, code-named Sanguine, was cancelled after studies determined that the system would be vulnerable to nuclear attack.
Despite the cancellation of Sanguine, the Navy began development of an above-ground ELF system using antennas 28 miles long, also located at Clam Lake. This system, code-named Seafarer, was opposed by environmental groups and residents of the area concerned about possible adverse health effects of ELF radiation.
President Carter cancelled Seafarer in 1978, but the program was revived by President Reagan in 1981. The revived ELF system employs antennas 56 miles long on the upper penninsula of Michigan, in addition to the 28 mile long antennas in Wisconsin. Each antenna is powered with a 660 kilowatt transmitter. This system became operational in 1987.
The ELF communications system used by the United States uses two frequency bands, 40 to 50 Hertz, and 70 to 80 Hertz. The principle operating frequency is thought to be 76 Hertz, which seems to be one of the frequencies associated with the Taos Hum.
The Commonwealth of Independent States is believed to be maintaining the ELF communications system used by the former Soviet Union. The Soviet system was probably in operation as early as the 1970s, and used two transmitters at Riga and Gomel. The Soviet system broadcast at 8 Hertz, and perhaps other frequencies as well.
In addition to the USA and the CIS, there is a British ELF site in the Glen Cally Forest in Scotland, and a French system sited at Roshay. Both the British and French systems were due to be operational prior to 1990.
As mentioned above, the ELF transmitting facilities in Wisconsin were opposed by residents and environmental groups. A number of studies of possible health and environmental effects were supported by the Navy, and there was an exhaustive review of ELF-related research by the National Academy of Sciences in 1976.
The National Academy of Sciences review looked at studies of the effects of ELF on genetics, reproduction, cell growth and division, circadian rhythms, electro-sensitive fish, insect behavior, bird migration, effects on plants, soil organisms, and effects on neurophysiology and behavior of mammals.
Apparently, though, nobody thought to study the simpler question of whether anyone could HEAR a hum from the ELF fields.
Despite a few studies that suggested that ELF fields do cause some measurable biological effects, the NAS review panel concluded that the ELF communications system was unlikely to cause any health or environmental problems. Curiously, the studies on mammalian neurophysiology that were reviewed by the NAS panel did contain some evidence that brain nerve cells could be effected by ELF fields. In fact, it was assumed that ELF fields could stimulate electrical activity in the brain, but it was also assumed that these effects shouldn't be noticable because they would be far smaller than the normal electrical activity in the brain. Despite these assumptions, there was, in fact, some evidence that changes in brain nerve cell response could occur even from very weak electrical influences, much weaker than the normal nerve impulses.
The NAS panel concluded based on extrapolation rather than direct evidence, that neurophysical and neurochemical effects would only occur for electric and magnetic field strengths much higher than those expected to be induced by the ELF system.
The National Academy of Sciences review seemed, at least at the time, nearly 20 years ago, to give the ELF communications system a clean bill of health. It's not known whether any follow-up studies have been done since the ELF communications system became operational.
Since the frequency used by the ELF communications system, around 75 Hertz, is within the range reported for the Taos Hum, the ELF system seems a natural suspect as the cause of the hum. However, it is not known why the Hum was not detected until 1991 if the ELF communications system went into operation in 1987. If there was a direct cause and effect relationship, one would expect that the Hum would have been noticed several years earlier. Furthermore, the Hum is reported to have frequency components ranging from 17 to 32 Hertz and higher, yet these are not frequencies in use for the ELF communications system. Even if the 76 Hertz ELF system were contributing to the Hum, the other frequency components would need to be explained. Perhaps the 76 Hertz frequency match is coincidental. Obviously, further investigation is needed to identify the cause of the Taos Hum.
Historical Information Files
Mysterious Elf Sound Agonizes New Mexico - Spreads Across
The Nation, Sept 29, 1992, Jim Moore, Phoenix Foundation
Map of areas in the USA where this effect has manifested [GIF]
Sourcing
the taos hum - Thomas Begich
ABC
NEWS REPORT
Tentative speculations on the
Electromagnetic Origins of the Hum
Date: 97-11-04 10:00:36 EST
From: west@sonic.net (Wes Thomas)
Sender: owner-ewar-l@sub.sonic.net
Reply-to: west@sonic.net (Wes Thomas)
To: EWAR-L@sonic.net
Some tentative speculations on the electromagnetic origins of the Taos
hum
follow.
First a summary of recent reports on the Taos Hum list
:
"Sara T. Allen"
reported an informal study by
a team from U. of New Mexico along with technical members from Sandia
National Lab, Phillips Air Force Lab, and Los Alamos National Lab. She was
able to perceive beat frequencies at about 33 HZ, 44 HZ, 67 HZ and 73 HZ,
with no simultaneous audio signal pickup. She also reported that no
attenuation of the subjective effects within a Faraday cage were noted in
tests at Sandia labs.
I speculated that these might be U.S. ELF submarine communications
frequencies. Anders
noted that these frequencies (at least
the first three) are
approximate harmonics of 11 Hz.
Steve Ekwall
described the hum as "diesel like in sound,
BUT,
being a bit [of] a mechanic myself.. WASN'T QUITE TIMED RIGHT!... Like huff
and puffing (but pausing occasional in between?).. Constant BUT NOT
STABLE! On-Going (Loudest never Louder... Softest never Softer) then there
is always the nanosecond(?) slip of time to the next idle stroke."
"Sara T. Allen"
added: "At first, when I heard the
irregular "beat" of the hum, I thought perhaps that I was actually
hearing
my own pulse and movement of blood through my body and head. I counted the
hum pulses and counted my pulse, close but not quite in synch. Where my own
pulse at rest is normally 59, or 60 bpm, the hum is always 62, 63, in that
region. I did try to count
pulse and hum beat at the same time but got confused as to which was
which. Then I concentrated on my pulse and the hum and it kind of is in
sync then obviously loses sync like a windshield wiper keeping beat to a
song, but not quite exactly and then it is out of sync. That convinced
me that I was not hearing my own body noise."
Based on these subjective reports (and others), can we agree that the hum
waveform appears to be a pulse form rather than sinusoidal and that the
pulses appear to have a low-frequency phase, frequency or amplitude
modulation superimposed?
One key question: is the central nervous system an efficient transducer
of
RF signals? Frey's classic paper [7] reporting on research on perception of
UHF and microwave signals amplitude-modulated by pulsed audio concluded
that "using extremely low average power densities of electromagnetic
energy, the perception of sounds was induced in normal and deaf humans. The
effect was induced several hundred feet from the antenna the instant the
transmitter was turned on, and is a function of carrier frequency and
modulation.
"... average power density can be at rf as low as 400 _u_w/cm2"
with an
ambient noise environment of 80 db." In an anechoic room, "rf
sound could
theoretically be induced by a peak power density of 3 _u_w/cm2 measured in
free space. Since only 10% of this energy is likely to penetrate the skull,
the human auditory system and a table radio may be one order of magnitude
apart in sensitivity to rf energy." Frey cited some evidence that the
sensitive area for detecting rf sounds is a region over the temporal lobe
of the brain.
Ron Hill
asked for information about
Schumann resonance and its relevance to the hum. Some basics: the two
predominant geomagnetic frequencies are Schumann resonance
(Earth-ionosphere cavity), which is 7.8 Hz fundamental, and the resonance
of the Earth itself (10 Hz fundamental). You can get a feel for the
relative strength of these signals (and other ELF signals) . Note
that the 60 Hz signal is now greater than the earth's natural frequency.
As stated by leading Schumann resonance authority Dr. Martin Fullekrug
, Stanford U and
Visiting scholar at the Institut fur Meteorologie und Geophysik, [1]
"These [Schumann] resonances result from the interference of
propagating
waves within the spherical shell bounded by the conducting Earth and the
ionosphere, denoted Earth-ionosphere cavity....The Earth-ionosphere cavity
resonances are mainly excited by atmospheric sources , i.e. tropospheric
lightning activity in continental thunderstorms ocurring in the tropical
belt around the world."
The SR is measured every 15 minutes at UC Berkeley Seismographic Station
electromagnetic field measurements
.
(As for the increased SR myth, UC Berkeley Seismographic Station
electromagnetic field measurements show that SR is still in the range of
roughly 7.5 to 8.1 Hz (as you can see from the data, the frequency varies
throughout the day, with an average around 7.8 Hz).
Michael Persinger speculates [2] that these basic geofields may have
influenced all life forms in the evolution of their basic neural
functioning. For example, 10 Hz is the universal tremor reflex in all life
forms (you can confirm that by measuring your finger's micromotion) because
the strong magnetic field somehow affected molecules in an early stage in
the development of life and evolved as magnetic drivers for universal
circadian rhythms.
Persinger has also stated that [3] "The possibility that masses of
susceptible people could be influenced during critical conditions by
extremely small variations (less
than 1%) of the steady-state amplitude (50,000 nT) of the earth's
magnetic field such as during geomagnetic storms (50 to 500 nT) [6]. Recent
experimental evidence which has shown a threshold in geomagnetic
activity of about 20 nT to 30 nT for the report of vestibular
experiences in human beings and the facilitation of limbic
seizures in rodents is consistent with this hypothesis." [2]
"Sandyk [4] has discerned significant changes in vulnerable subjects
such as patients who were diagnosed with neurological disorders
following exposure of short durations to magnetic fields whose
strengths are within the pT to nT range but whose spatial
applications are multifocal (a fasces-type structure) and
designed to introduce heterogeneous patterns within a very
localized brain space. The effective components of the field
(which are assumed to be discrete temporal patterns due to the
modulation of the frequency and intensity of the electromagnetic
fields) are not always obvious; however, the power levels for
these amplitudes are similar to those associated with the signals
(generated globally by radio and communication systems) within
which most human beings are exposed constantly."
The key variable here is to what extent these signals are bioactive,
Persinger states [3]: "If the temporal structure of the applied
electromagnetic field contained detailed and biorelevant information
(Richards, Persinger, & Koren, 1993), then the intensity of the field
required to elicit a response could be
several orders of magnitude below the values which have been
previously found to elicit changes. For example, Sandyk (1992)
and Jacobson (1994) have found that complex magnetic fields with
variable interstimulus pulse durations could evoke unprecedented
changes in melatonin levels even with intensities within the nanoT
range."
In other words, small variations in a magnetic field ("the
nanosecond(?)
slip of time to the next idle stroke..."?) at the right bioactive
frequencies
and phases might have disproportionately large effects on neural activities
(such as hearing).
Persinger goes even further out with this line of thought [3]: "The
most
parsimonious process by which all human brains could
be affected would require (1) the immersion of all the
approximately 6 billion brains of the human species within the
same medium or (2) a coercive interaction because there was
facilitation of a very narrow-band window of vulnerability within
each brain. For the first option, the steady-state or "permanent"
component of the earth's magnetic field meets the criterion. The
possibility that masses of susceptible people could be influenced
during critical conditions by extremely small variations (less
than 1%) of the steady-state amplitude (50,000 nT) of the earth's
magnetic field such as during geomagnetic storms (50 to 500 nT)
has been discussed elsewhere (Persinger, 1983). Recent
experimental evidence which has shown a threshold in geomagnetic
activity of about 20 nT to 30 nT for the report of vestibular
experiences in human beings and the facilitation of limbic
seizures in rodents is consistent with this hypothesis.
"The potential for the creation of an aggregate process with
gestalt-like properties which reflect the average
characteristics of the brains that are maintained with this
field and that generate the aggregate has also been developed
(Persinger & Lafreniere, 1977) and has been labelled the
"geopsyche." This phenomenon would be analogous to the vectorial
characteristics of an electromagnetic field which is induced by
current moving through billions of elements such as wires
contained within a relative small volume compared to the source.
Such gestalts, like fields in general, also affect the elements
which contribute to the matrix (Freeman, 1990).
"The second option would require access to a very narrow limit
of physical properties within which all brains are maintained to
generate consciousness and the experience of self-awareness.
This factor would be primarily loaded by the variable of brain
temperature. Although the relationship between absolute
temperature and wavelength is generally clear [an example which
can be described by Wien's law and is well documented in
astrophysics (Wyatt, 1965)], the implications for access to
brain activity have not been explored. The fragile
neurocognitive processes that maintain consciousness and the
sense of self normally exist between 308[degrees]K and
312[degrees]K (35[degrees]C and 39[degrees]C). The fundamental
wavelength associated with this emission is about 10 micrometers
which is well within the long infrared wavelength.
"However, the ratio of this normal range divided by the
absolute temperature for normal brain activity which maintains
neurocognitive processes is only about 0.013
(4[degrees]K/312[degrees]K) or 1.3%. If there were a subharmonic
pattern in naturally occurring or technically generated magnetic
fields which also reflected this ratio, then all brains which
were operative within this temperature range could be affected
by the harmonic. For example, if 11.3 Hz were one of these
subharmonic electromagnetic frequencies, variations of only 1.3%
of this mean, i.e., 11.3 Hz +/- [plus or minus] 0.1 Hz, would
hypothetically be sufficient to affect the operations of all
normal brains. If this "major carrier frequency" contained
biorelevant information by being modulated in a meaningful way,
then the effective intensities could well be within the natural
range for background radiation (microwatts/cm2) and could be
hidden as chaotic components within the electromagnetic noise
associated with power generation and use."
Hmmm, that 11 Hz number again...
Ehud Ahissar has recently reported on experiments with 8 and 10 Hz
behaviors in rats and the relation to thalamocortical loops implementing
phase-locked loops:
[5]: "The temporally encoded information obtained by vibrissal touch
could
be decoded "passively," involving only input-driven elements, or
"actively," utilizing intrinsically driven oscillators. A previous
study
suggested that the trigeminal somatosensory system of rats does not obey
the bottom-up order of activation predicted by passive decoding. Thus, we
have tested whether this system obeys the predictions of active decoding.
We have studied cortical single units in the somatosensory cortices of
anesthetized rats and guinea pigs and found that about a quarter of them
exhibit clear spontaneous oscillations, many of them around whisking
frequencies (10 Hz). The frequencies of these oscillations could be
controlled locally by glutamate. These oscillations could be forced to
track the frequency of induced rhythmic whisker movements at a stable,
frequency-dependent, phase difference. During these stimulations, the
response intensities of multiunits at the thalamic recipient layers of the
cortex decreased, and their latencies increased, with increasing input
frequency. These observations are consistent with thalamocortical loops
implementing phase-locked loops, circuits that are most efficient in
decoding temporally encoded information like that obtained by active
vibrissal touch. According to this model, and consistent with our results,
populations of thalamic "relay" neurons function as phase
"comparators"
that compare cortical timing expectations with the actual input timing and
represent the difference by their population output rate."
Since 8 and 10 Hz played a significant role in the study, I asked the
author to consider Persinger's hypothesis that the 8 Hz Schumann resonance
and the 10 Hz universal tremor reflex (approximate earth-ionosphere cavity
and earth resonances, respectively) may be phylogenetically linked to basic
neural functioning and circadian rhythms. If so, could spontaneous (or
experimental) bioactive ELF modulations entrain cortical oscillations using
CNS phase-locked loop functions?
References:
[1] ''Schumann-resonances in magnetic-field components '', Journal of
Atmospheric and Terrestrial Physics, Vol. 57, No. 5, p. 655, 1994
. See also:
for a bibliography
of Persinger's papers and books.
[2] ELF and VLF Electromagnetic Field Effects, Editor, Michael A
Persinger,
Plenum Press, 1974
[3] ON THE POSSIBILITY OF DIRECTLY ACCESSING EVERY HUMAN BRAIN BY
ELECTROMAGNETIC INDUCTION OF FUNDAMENTAL ALGORITHMS, M.A. Persinger,
Laurentian University, Perceptual and Motor Skills, June 1995, 80, 791-799
[4] Sandyk, R. Successful treatment of multiple sclerosis with
magnetic fields. _International_Journal_of_Neuroscience_, 1992, 66,
237-250.
[5] Ehud Ahissar, Sebastian Haidarliu, and Miriam Zacksenhouse,
"Decoding
temporally encoded sensory input by cortical oscillations and thalamic
phase comparators," Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, Vol. 94, pp.
11633-11638,
October 1997),
[6] Persinger, M.A. The effects of transient and intense geomagnetic
or related global perturbations upon human group behavior. In
J.B. Calhoun (Ed.), _Perspectives_on_adaptation,_environment_
_and_population_. New York: Praeger, 1983. Pp. 28-30.
[7] Frey, Allan H., Human Auditory system response to modulated
electromagnetic energy. J. Appl. Physiol. 17(4): 689-692. 1962.
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THE HUM (UK)
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