The people of Omagh, a small town in Northern Ireland, have been complaining about a mysterious humming sound that can be heard at night and disrupts their sleep.

In recent weeks, the Omagh District Council has actively been trying to identify the source of a nighttime noise that several residents from all over the small Northern Ireland town have been complaining about. Unfortunately, all their efforts so far have ended in failure, leaving them with no other choice than to call in sound experts to solve the mystery. People “usually characterize it as a persistent buzz or hum” that differs from the sound of passing vehicles and that can only heard late at night, usually around 12:00 am – 01:00 am. While some have gotten used to it, others claim that it is interfering with their night sleep and demand that something be done about it.

Photo: Kenneth Allen / Omagh / CC BY-SA 2.0

“Officers are currently investigating the use of specialist equipment, or procurement of a specialist company, to assist in detecting the source of the noise,” a council spokesperson told the BBC. “Due to the wide area where the sound has been reported it is difficult to pinpoint the exact source(s).”

“I appreciate that when a story like this is kind of draped in mystery and intrigue that it can very easily become a subject of trivialization but certainly from people I have spoken to … they are very concerned about the ability that they have to make sure they get a good night’s sleep,” Alliance councilor Stephen Donnelly said.

Some of the theories being thrown around about the source of the mysterious hum range from farm or factory machinery to flying saucers. Unfortunately, local authorities don’t have much to go on as of this writing, which is why they plan to bring in sound experts.

“It’s like a vibrating noise, real loud at night, about 12 or 1 every night,” one man described the sound.

 

Interestingly, Omagh isn’t the only place plagued by a mysterious sound. For years, the English village of Holmfield has been affected by a mysterious noise that has come to be known as the Holmfield Hum. A similar phenomenon has been occurring in Windsor, a Canadian city near Detroit. That sound has been dubbed, you guessed it, the Windsor Hum.