Rumbling Again...But THIS Time, I finally I Got an AMAZING Recording. I Need Your Help Deciphering!

Rumbling in Skagit County, WA on 1/6/2015 at about 10:50 AM

I have started a couple of other epic threads here on ATS in the past, and I haven't been around much lately, but I'm excited about this one. Why? Because I FINALLY captured, in all its glory, what has been haunting me now for several years. I say haunting, because it's kind of a scary thing to experience, but almost impossible to record, due to the low frequency. You FEEL it as much as hear it.

However, I recently purchased a professional recording mic with built-in sound board so I could narrate and produce my own audiobooks. So, not only is it a great mic, but it works by hooking up to my laptop and using the audacity software. Meaning...it's portable. So, today when the rumbling started up and it was REALLY loud, I grabbed my stuff and went out in the driveway. I sat the mic (on its tripod stand) on my cement driveway to capture it.

And WOW...did it ever capture it!!!!

This part is EXTREMELY important. ***DO NOT TRY TO LISTEN TO THIS WITHOUT QUALITY EARPHONES*** Because it won't work. Trust me. If you respond to this OP with: "There's nothing there!", then we know you didn't read this. It really is there and it is VERY loud, but it's a waste of your time if your speakers don't register the lower decibels. I can't hear it over my lap top speakers, hardly on my cheap earbuds, but its almost defening with my professional Sony, MDR's.

What is this noise? No one knows. The most popular speculation from my family and friends (yes, they hear it too. It's not just in my head. ) is that it's coming from the NAS Whidbey Base (Naval base). A couple of years ago, they began a program where they test engines out on the deck. They are very loud, I guess. My problem with this, however, is that my house is 30 miles NE of the base, and I know someone over 60 miles to the East that heard it one particular night when it was really loud. Today, I would believe that if I were ON the base...but not 30 miles from it. (and I've been hearing it for nearly 8 years now)

I have always thought it geological in nature. WHY? Because I have experienced two large quakes. A 6.1 in California and the 6.7 Nisqually quake right here in Skagit County. This is what it sounds like: that low rumble that builds in intensity until the shaking starts. Only, right when you think the shaking is going to start: it cuts out abruptly. So...I am clueless.

I would LOVE some help in determining what sort of sound this is. I have no doubt it is a sound wave. It registered a couple of different times on a special seismometer out in that area as a sound wave.


Follow THIS LINK to listen to the sound. it starts out with the rumble and it drops off at :39 seconds. A helicopter then flies directly overhead and the rumbling starts again at 1:24, literally drowning out the helicopter. There are birds chirping, a couple of cars go by, you can hear a train in the distance at one point...these are all totally and completely drowned out by this rumble.

(this is an MP3 file that is totally unedited or mastered. I left the entire recording intact for integrity)

Using my audacity program, I ran a couple of passes to highlight the frequencies:






Here is a map showing where I took the recording, in relation to the Naval Base:



So what say you, ATS? Any ideas, thoughts, speculations? Anyone interested in the RAW audacity file so you can deconstruct it and nail down the freq? (I have a message in to TA)

a reply to: westcoast

Thank You..

I tried to describe it as a mix of a drone circling coming in and out and interdimensional sounds.. I also said I wasn't completely sure I was hearing it with my ears..

I can find all of this after much searching.. I heard this sound you recorded in March 2012..

One of the weirdest parts about the sound is that it scares you.. It just "feels" weird..

The recording doesn't do it justice, and yet it does.. I didn't think I would have been able to record it, but I also wasn't sure it was actually sound.. Was like I was about to warp or something.

I was in the mountains alone at night.. No one or anything was there.. No planes fly that way except very rarely, and never with audible sounds.


I thought all the recorded youtube videos of "sky sounds" were faked..
And then it happened to me.. I had to go back on my posts here on ATS. I knew it was fake.. I KNEW it.. And then it wasn't, cause there it was..


I'm listening on blown out old speakers... But I'm actually a little unnerved right now.. Even barely hearing "that sound" gives me an odd feeling.
I'm so glad you got that.. I may link my old posts about my description of the sound later.. I have to go, and won't be back on tonight unless it's real late..

To me it sounds like the 747's engines as it starts its take off run.
I live right near an airport behind a small hill.

Has almost the exact same rumble.

a reply to: KnightLight

Yes.

I have described it before as a sound that makes the hairs on the back of your neck rise. As if instinct is telling you to get away from it. I don't know how else to put it.

a reply to: Sovaka

Yes, it 'feels' as if you are standing under a jet about to take off...except that I am a good 45 minute drive from the nearest base.

I heard bids chirping wild life tends to flee when natural things like earthquakes ect happen.
Also heard a helicopter in there,

Is there a large motorway /highway within a 50 mile radius of your location.
That's what it sounds like to me the rumbling of heavy traffic .

Sound can bounce of mountains an travel for very long distances given certain atmospheric conditions.

Is there Frakking going on any where near you as you can feel it as well as hear it?

a reply to: westcoast

we have heard the same sound several times over the last two years. i never bothered to try and record as we are at the coast and people will just say it is the surf, having lived her 20 years I can certainly tell the difference. It is similar to the sea on a stormy day at high tide but with an added machine sound underneath the rumbel...the waves were not high on any occasion we heard the sound and it actually woke us up two of the times and once it was during the day.

a reply to: westcoast

Ok so a link to start off.. Something I saw after the fact.. I saw this link if I remember correctly 6 days later. The link was about the time in question.

picture

That picture comes from a video where there was missing data.. the data was captured before it went missing and it looked like a magnetosphere reversal.. Don't know the veracity of all of that, going off of almost 3 year old memory.


Here is the thread:

thread on strange sounds



so yea..
the thing to focus on is the weird metallic, dimensional, meditationy, trancy, vibrational tones underneath.. The rumble itself seems involved, both it's that other part.. Set off my animal get the f out sense..

Also I was in the ARMY, and worked at RDU airport for sometime.. This is not just a jet engine sound.

I played this on my home theater system and it's hm....It hits a low frequency that in no way resembles a plane, but then as it gets louder it sounds exactly like a plane going over head. Once it fades out, we get the really low bass again that just seems to go on and on.. Perhaps I'm hearing both the low frequency and a plane go by overhead at the same time?

EDIT: Ok, Nevermind, I read the last part of your OP, you did say there was a helicopter that went over head. Sounded like a plane to me, but no worries!

Anyway, weird, thanks for sharing.

PS - Yes there are birds chirping as well.

Are there any volcanoes in the area?

That was the first thing that popped into my head.

A strange sound though.

I would say keep trying to get recordings. Hopefully without the helicopter next time!

Nice capture!

originally posted by: ecossiepossie
I heard bids chirping wild life tends to flee when natural things like earthquakes ect happen.
Also heard a helicopter in there,

Is there a large motorway /highway within a 50 mile radius of your location.
That's what it sounds like to me the rumbling of heavy traffic .

Sound can bounce of mountains an travel for very long distances given certain atmospheric conditions.

Is there Frakking going on any where near you as you can feel it as well as hear it?

Yes...there is a Highway about a mile from my house, you can here that ALL the time. There is also a railroad track about a mile or so from my house...you also hear those trains going by ALL the time. There is actually one going by at some point in this recording...but you can't really hear it, because it is drowned out by the much lower, louder frequency of the rumbling. (as is the helicopter and freeway noise) There is just NO comparison to those things...or even a jet going over. I have lived near planes, traines and freeways all my life.

(Did you listen to this with good quality headphones? Because if the noise didn't drown everything else out, you didn't really hear it)

a reply to: westcoast

I am sooo glad you got this.. Need to find some good headphones, but..

thank you.

gotta go, be back later.

One last thing.. Ever listen to those "jupiter sounds??"

Holy moly that... is... SPOOKY. I think it comes back a little but much quieter between 4:40 and 4:50.

Great catch! At first I thought maybe it was caused by the oncoming train making the tracks rumble/vibrate but theres no way because its way too loud and the way it stops and comes back does not seem like a train would do that. Plus you would be noticing it every time a train went by.

Astounding! I live in south king county and im just outside of the projected path for a lahar coming from mt rainier so volcanism/earthquakes are occasionally on my mind. Nice to see there are so many Washingtonians here! Some of us may have crossed paths and not even realised it lol! "It's a small world after alll..."

a reply to: Wookiep

Hi Wookiep!

Good idea...I have a good surround sound with extra Base speaker. I should try it!

And yes, lots of normal, background noises. I will run some filters when I have time to remove most of the other background sounds and isolate it, but I wanted to share the raw recording for some comparison.

originally posted by: Darkblade71
Are there any volcanoes in the area?

That was the first thing that popped into my head.

A strange sound though.

Funny you ask. The very first time I heard it, I thought for sure that Mount Baker was erupting. I ran inside and checked all the seiesmometers. Nothing. Yes. I have several volcanoes near me. Mount Baker (40-50 miles) Glacier Peak (about 40) Mount Rainier (about 90) and Saint Helens. However, the sound is coming from the the direction of the ocean!

Which also makes me think of soundwaves coming from a very far distance?

a reply to: ecossiepossie

If it was from traffic she would be hearing it all the time, on a daily basis. Practically 24/7. But I'm glad you mentioned that possibility so we could eliminate it as a possible cause through the use of logic, as I did with my "train theory". So, thank you for playing! Better luck next time!

originally posted by: Wookiep
I would say keep trying to get recordings. Hopefully without the helicopter next time!

Try listening to it with some good headphones. The sound totally drowns out the helicopter and before the helicopter I have about 40 seconds of rumble without it.

originally posted by: 3n19m470
Holy moly that... is... SPOOKY. I think it comes back a little but much quieter between 4:40 and 4:50.

Great catch! At first I thought maybe it was caused by the oncoming train making the tracks rumble/vibrate but theres no way because its way too loud and the way it stops and comes back does not seem like a train would do that. Plus you would be noticing it every time a train went by.

Astounding! I live in south king county and im just outside of the projected path for a lahar coming from mt rainier so volvanism/earthquakes are occasionally on my mind. Nice to see there are so many Washingtonians here!

Some of us may have crossed paths and not even realised it lol! "It's a small world after alll..."

Thank you.

Obviously, you listened with good headphones.

Yes, I would have to be standing literally right NEXT to the railroad track as the rain was running me over, to get this kind of sound. I think the train, helicopter and traffic noise in the background is the perfect contrast (IF YOU LISTEN WITH GOOD HEADPHONES).