Unexplained nighttime noises provoke fear, sleepless nights as residents seek answers
A mysterious hum is reportedly plaguing the residents of Cincinnati, keeping people up at night and even disturbing them psychologically.
Residents of the Northside, Clifton and Camp Washington neighborhoods have been reporting the disturbances since December. The noises are said to be louder and more noticeable at night.
"We were hearing this siren-like quality noise — whirring, oscillating, going up and down," said Clifton resident Shaun Herold, who contacted local news outlet WKRC about the noises.
MYSTERIOUS HUM RATTLES AMERICAN CITY AS RESIDENTS REPORT SLEEPLESS NIGHTS AND RISING FEAR
"My son came up to me and said, ‘Dad, the tornado sirens are going off,’" Herold said. "Usually, it starts at about 10 p.m. It can go till 3 a.m., 4 a.m. But it’s quite unpredictable."
"It kind of stresses me out ’cause I don’t know what it is. It’s kind of scary," added his son, Elijah Herold.
Herold said he spent one entire night tracking how many times he heard the noise going on and off. The duration of the noises can vary from a few seconds to several minutes.
"I feel like it’s definitely like a foreign sound," Northside's Brendan Marcum told the news outlet. "Some nights it would be a little louder, some nights it would be a little quieter."
"It kind of stresses me out because I don't know what it is, and it's kind of scary," added another resident.
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Hundreds of Cincinnati residents have shared their theories about potential sources of the sound on social media, ranging from biblical to supernatural.
On Reddit, other users blamed the recycling plant. "My favorite theory is River Metals Recycling," one person wrote, claiming that the plant moved neighborhoods when the original location "wouldn't put up with the noise from its metal shredder any longer."
Others suspect the noise is coming from a failing turbocharger on a diesel train engine at the nearby CSX Queensgate, a major freight rail yard in Cincinnati.
While the yard routinely generates loud, mechanical sounds, residents say they’ve never heard anything like this before.
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WKRC reported that an anonymous source sent recordings of the locomotive, claiming it to be the source of the sound. However, a spokesperson for CSX told the news station that he "has not heard a noise like that on our property" and suggested it could be coming from another location.
He added that any equipment requiring maintenance is "handled through established operating and mechanical protocols."
"We just hope to get to the bottom of it, figure out what it is, and if it’s, you know, a temporary thing or not," Herold told the news outlet. "And hopefully the community can rally if it’s not temporary, because it’s really impacting us."
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City officials recommend that residents report the noise to 311, the city’s non-emergency line.
Fox News Digital reached out to Cincinnati officials for updates.