Unexplained noises heard worldwide

Recently there have been reports of strange, eerie noises that have been heard worldwide. While there have been no explanations from any official sources, there are many theories that try to explain the phenomenon.

If you go to YouTube now and search for strange noises that occurred during the second week of January 2012, you will be inundated with videos from around the world in which people have caught these strange sounds. (I have included a compilation at the end of the post.)

They same terrifying groaning sound could be heard in parts of North and South America, Russia and parts of Europe. Some people have described the noise as coming from the sky while others have heard it coming from within the Earth itself, accompanied by small but prolonged vibrations.

While the recent noises have received a lot of attention, this isn’t the first time it’s happened: these have been similar but much quieter noises happening for around three years. People have heard but ignored the sound before, but when faced with (in some places) over half an hour of the eerie, other-worldly noise, they have no choice but to question how and why this is happening.

The big theory on the internet is that this is part of the alleged apocalypse that is coming 21^st of December 2012. On websites and forums all over the internet people are wildly discussing the prospect that this is the beginning of the end: that the giant tectonic plates the Earth’s crust is made up of are beginning to shift too fast and that this will spell doom for mankind, the likes of which are seen only in films such as Roland Emmerich’s 2012.

Another theory is that the sounds are linked to the increased number of UFO sightings. Across the globe people have captured images and videos of strange, unidentified flying objects. In January of 2011 there were around 500 UFO sightings reported to MUFON (Mutual UFO Network). In the first week or January 2012 there were 233 reported sightings. While this idea may be dismissed as preposterous by some, the sheer number of people that are behind this idea should give this theory some credence.

More earthly hypotheses are that the sounds are a result of the controversial oil drilling technique called hydraulic fracturing, or ‘fraking’ which involves cracking the oil bearing strata to release otherwise locked in oil and minerals. They have also been contributed to strange weather patterns.

And of course there are other more dismissible theories: that this is an ‘act of God’ and that the noises are ‘the sound of Heaven’s trumpets’ heralding the second coming of Christ. That the sounds are a viral campaign for a new movie that is to be released. That the sounds are part of some sort of unspecific government conspiracy. All of which are scientifically and/or logically flawed in some way.

Wherever the noises are coming from and whatever is causing them, they have sparked a great debate that is dividing opinions around the world. Whether there is a simple or rational explanation or not remains to be seen, but in the meantime you should have a listen to the sounds yourself and make up your own mind.