Mysterious hum rattles American city as residents report sleepless nights and rising fear

For some time, residents of this city on the coast of Long Island Sound have believed the source of the hum to be local industry, and they're demanding a resolution. After circulating a petition and obtaining over 140 signatures, a group convinced the city council to spend $16,000 to hire a third-party acoustic firm.

There have been "numerous complaints" made about it over time, it adds, yet "the source of this noise remains unresolved. … We are deeply concerned about the long-term health consequences this persistent noise pollution imposes on us."

"My house is the loudest of all the different locations in the area," he said. "I would test in the morning and test in the evening. If I saw an elevated decibel reading, I would go up to the industrial zone and test the property line."

In a city of almost 56,000 citizens, the difference of opinion and ideas about the issue is apparently common. 

The acoustic firm hired for the task will use 10 microphones to continuously listen for the hum over the course of seven days. 

"People feel the hum differently," he continued. "Some don't even hear it. Others hear it, and they're not bothered by it. Then there's another group that finds it very disturbing when they hear it."

"I've been hearing this noise for over four years or whatever, and I thought it was just me going a little cuckoo," resident Rosemary Brooks said at a recent council meeting. "But it's gotten to the point where it just gets in your chest."

Bennett Brooks, president of Brooks Acoustics Corporation, a company based in Connecticut and Florida, told Fox News Digital, "It's a problem that should be rectified. Lower frequencies are much harder to block than the higher frequency of sound.

Connecticut has many noise ordinances, but there are few "applicable government regulations that address low-frequency noise," he said.

The hums are often, but not always, traced to factories or power plants. 

A high-pressure gas pipeline or mechanical device can sometimes be to blame, reports suggest. But some, like the one in Taos, have puzzled researchers for decades.

The mayor of West Haven is reluctant to make a quick decision about what's going on in Connecticut. 

"We have to cross our T's and dot our I's before we go to [any specific] company and cite them," the mayor told the Register. 

"It's affecting my mental health, my sleep, my well-being," Nunes said. "As well as my children's. I've noticed that my pets tend to pace and stare."