Scivillage.com Casual Discussion Science Forum

"The mysterious Moodus noises in south central Connecticut for many years frightened the Puritan settlers.

They weren’t alone. The Wangunk Indians had told the colonists of the fearful noises that they tried to appease. In fact, the Indians called the land around Mt. Tom “Machemoodus,” meaning place of bad noises. The settlers shortened the name to Moodus, now a village in East Haddam.

Today, people can still hear the strange Moodus noises, though they don’t pack the same terrifying punch they did in days of yore.

The Moodus Noises seemed to come from underground. Sometimes they sounded like thunder, sometimes like pistol shots. Sometimes they disappeared for years, then they’d return furiously.

The Wangunk Indians believed the Moodus noises originated from the god Hobomoko, who sat on a sapphire throne underneath Mt. Tom. Hobomoko kept the Indian medicine men busy trying to interpret his voice, which sometimes raged and sometimes spoke gently. The medicine men tried to figure out the right combination of sacrifice and prayer to calm the angry god.

The Puritans, of course, thought their angry God caused the Moodus noises. They first recorded hearing the noises in 1702.

In 1729, the Rev. Stephen Hosmer of East Haddam, Conn., wrote a letter to a friend in Boston referring to ‘fearful and dreadful’ sounds that frightened local residents..."

https://newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/...nnecticut/

9 Strange Sounds Noone Can Explain..

"Earth is its own frontier of intrigue and unexplainable phenomena. From mysterious bloops to baffling sonic booms and puzzling hums, our planet rings with unexplained sounds. Here are just a few that continue to confound scientists."

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/6273...an-explain

Connecticut instead of Massachusetts, but I felt before reading it that it was surely one of the inspirations for Lovecraft.

#Geographical: "The book, which Lovecraft seems to have read, also describes noises emanating from the earth near Moodus, Connecticut, which are similar to the Dunwich sounds decried by Rev. Abijah Hoadley.

Do microbes emit a sound as they move about? What about untold gazillions of them at once? AI answers the first question….

Quote:. Yes, microbes do make a sound when they move, but the vibrations are billions of times too small for the human ear to hear. Scientists have been able to record and even synthesize the sounds of microbes using highly sensitive technology.

The sounds of bacterial motion

Nanomotion: All living cells emit vibrations, a phenomenon known as "nanomotion". Researchers at Delft University of Technology used ultra-thin membranes of graphene, a material sensitive to tiny movements, to detect these vibrations from single bacteria. The bacteria's biological processes and movement, including the thrashing of their tails (flagella), produce these tiny beats, which the scientists converted into sound recordings.

A sonic "pulse": These tiny vibrations essentially function as an audio heartbeat. When exposed to antibiotics, the sound from living bacteria diminishes over time as the microbes die. This breakthrough could allow doctors to quickly determine if a specific antibiotic is working.

Synthesized sounds: In other research, scientists attached microscopic polystyrene beads to the tails (flagella) of bacteria and tracked their movement with lasers. By feeding the movement data into a computer program, they were able to synthesize the sound of a bacterium swimming. The recording revealed a sound described as a high-pitched, winding noise.

Apparently each virus makes a sound, a unique sound for each. Imagine identifying a virus by its call, could happen.

In fact, according to AI, there are several sounds that can originate in the ear. From a low drone to a loud bang, all some type of tinnitus.

(Oct 15, 2025 08:14 PM)Zinjanthropos Wrote: [ -> ][...] In fact, according to AI, there are several sounds that can originate in the ear. From a low drone to a loud bang, all some type of tinnitus.

Yeah, I often hear either crickets or countless frogs chattering in symphony. But since we sleep at night with a droning background noise, my brain is accustomed to automatically tuning out sounds that are monotonous or lengthily continual. The condition just doesn't annoy or exasperate me like it does others, since I really don't hear it unless I deliberately focus on it.

While I don't have Exploding Head Syndrome, I have been jolted awake suddenly by bright lights/sudden panic reactions. Once I leaped out of bed in terror to turn on the light because I thought there was a snake in my bed! Here's a little about EHS and an official Harvard medical school demonstration video:

"EHS is a rare sleep disorder characterized by the sudden perception of a loud, explosive noise, often described as a bang, gunshot, or thunderclap, occurring just before falling asleep or upon awakening.

Symptoms:
Sudden, loud noise in the head
May be accompanied by a brief flash of light
Feeling of shock or fright
No physical damage or injury

Causes:
The exact cause of EHS is unknown, but it is believed to be related to an abnormal electrical activity in the brain during the sleep-wake transition. Some proposed mechanisms include:

Brainstem dysfunction,
Abnormal auditory processing
Release of neurotransmitters in the brain"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0FnfGblLr8