The Mysterious Case of the Windsor Hum (HBO)

Thousands of residents in Windsor, Canada are plagued by a mysterious buzzing sound. It's called the Windsor hum, and it is said to come from an island in the river between Detroit and Windsor. Residents track and record the hum daily, and are desperate for a solution to the constant noise pollution. But any action from the U.S. side is met with secrecy and inaction.
VICE NEWS talks to residents, captures recordings of the hum, and then takes a journey to the notorious island in an attempt to investigate the mysterious sound.
This segment originally aired June 6, 2017, on VICE News Tonight on HBO.
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VICE NEWS talks to residents, captures recordings of the hum, and then takes a journey to the notorious island in an attempt to investigate the mysterious sound. WATCH NEXT: Watch A Bee-Theft Detective Bust A Hive Heist - bit.ly/2Vrnb7o

[@susannewman5669]

I know what it is. I know what it is. Its a hidden trickle current electrical grid.

[@whyisthisnottyping]

that fishing Captain needs his own show

[@TemenosL]

^ !!!

[@illShadMe2]

Immediately

[@bgjr2304]

"in a town called old sandwich... where the hummus loudest" @1:04

[@jamesbeta8614]

^^ perfection. Chapeau!

[@emberchord]

He lives in a town called "Old Sandwich"?

[@dropkick50]

lol... right?

[@Tanerion]

*Olde* Sandwich.

[@SoftCarno-co7wu]

Ye i actually just moved to old sandwich. I just call it Sandwich street. It sounds stupid, I am aware lol.

[@rohanmehta8148]

Lonely island

[@GaminTrollsFrmCanada]

So many canadian cities have the corniest names

[@narcoskeptic]

"I don't even know about none of this shit" - guy Vice picks to interview on a subject ahahaahahahahahsrbrhHa

[@LL.Johnson]

They picked him to give them a ride close to Zug... He's just a fishing charter guy

[@JPazb]

2:42 "There's definitely some depth to what I hear, in other words deep..." Yeah, that guy's a genius.

[@glen3155]

Cheap employees.

[@spignetti]

eloquent for sure...

Lol, I bet he was real popular in high school.

[@SirianSoul]

United States - The Mexico of Canada.....

[@stenionet]

Yes. Americans are rude.

[@SoftCarno-co7wu]

I don't think Americans are rude, I mean there is assholes in every country. My fiance is American and I am Canadian and he is literally the most amazing man I have ever had the privilege to be with and my best friend is also American whom is also one of the most amazing men I have ever had the privilege to know. Both Canada and America have good and bad qualities, Same goes for every other country.

[@UnitedStatesOfAmerica1776]

@martin joseph don't say shit about me.

[@CybershamanX]

The Zug Island plant recently "idled" and guess what? The sound has disappeared. There are still some who claim that they still hear it, but they might be hearing some other industrial sound in the area. We'll see as time goes on. It would be interesting to hear how this new development has affected those who came together in solidarity because of the hum. In a way it's kind of sad. The whole point of coming together was a weird sound. What will happen to their group without it? I don't know. That sort of sociology interests me.

[@jaysantellibeatsz]

Bro I literally work here now and just found out bout this

[@yalu2225]

It is so loud at night. I can not sleep. Terrible.

[@guhzetiix8010]

Me and my brother researched it because were hearing it right now from detroit Michigan, about 10 miles from the island.

[@timetodeliverapizzaball]

I can relate to this; place I lived 7 months ago, a new industrial area sprang up and suddenly every night there was an annoying low frequency sound that would keep me up some nights. I've lived next to a main road with traffic all hours and lived in an apartment in the night club district and both I slept like a baby but this sound was different. The solution; I moved away and now live by the ocean.

[@N0616JCProductions]

I mean, we are able to filter out most of the higher "pitched" sounds more effectively than the lower one.

[@buddyheath9219]

If I can't sleep I just turn a fan on and can't hear anything outside, a white noise thingy would probs work too

[@dingo7055]

No way. Low frequency hum is the kind of sound you don't hear, you "feel" through your body, and everything vibrates and creates higher frequency harmonics and rattling.

[@PoolesLand]

You live on west coast or east coast ?

[@tdripfiji7632]

Bruh this humm woke me up tonight I need advice I can’t unhear it now I tried a fan it’s only in my room in my house it woke me up out my sleep at 1:30 am and is currently still going at 4 am

[@delusionnnnn]

"Often known as Detroit's Area 51". By whom? Nobody I've ever known in Detroit knows it as that.

[@cringeworthyhumans160]

I think that's the point... they don't want it to be known...

[@ronaldarchibald2506]

It's just a really polluted steel mill. Soposedly the most polluted location in North America.

[@davidwhitten3596]

Its a steel plant....they have been producing iron for over a 100 years there.

[@marifromky]

i've never heard it called that, either. this is "news" to me.

[@jewelkchatman4865]

me either

[@ROCdevelopments]

"there's definitely some depth to what I hear, in other words 'deep'".

[@wldqq]

What the heck to i know, im a "fisherman charter captain" for christ sake

[@timetodeliverapizzaball]

wldqq fishing*

[@kingofthetrill3586]

grew up in detroit, lived in river rouge for 7 years and heard this noise. it’s real. and we hear it across the river.

[@kingofthetrill3586]

you’d also be able to hear industrial clinging and metal dropping but extremely loud around 2a.m. oddly enough it was satisfying and would help fall asleep after a while.

[@yalu2225]

I hear it almost every night. It's so loud, I can't sleep. Terrible. 😱😱😱

[@upscaledesigns1075]

I live in Windsor, but I haven't ever heard the hum.......

[@darthtrudeau4907]

It turns out the hum did in fact come from the island

[@stephen3654]

Really?

[@lordjolly2267]

I'm actually from New Sandwich, we don't look kindly upon those Olde Sandwichers.....

[@desertdispatch]

hahaha good one

[@synni3379]

I live in Olde Sandwich too, by Prince Rd. It's so loud at 2am.

[@stubert94]

that's an awesome town name. lol

[@SalvaDORKiann]

Sinnipop Lolligag never hear it but I'm central of Windsor. But I dad does hear when he leaves work from midnights near mic Mac park

[@MNnytrorider]

Sinnipop Lolligag The sound probably is exhaust fans and large electric motors running. Some of the rotating equipment is probably off balance and causing noise and vibration.

[@JustinP]

i live by there, lul at the name "olde sandwich"

[@Thegayone0]

Do you still hear it

[@stratostear]

Lovely Canadians just looking for an apology. Sadly you're never gonna get one from Americans.

[@57575756]

Once the company acknowledges and apologizes the Canadians can start suing the company. All they really want is some lovely money.

[@bloodhun23]

More like redcoat tails. Remind me, what language are you speaking?

[@suchitotoelsalvador6997]

stratostear and the miners in South America will never get one from the Canadians. Sadly.

[@joebloe4461]

Because there is no soil in the Boreal due to glaciation, therefore crops can't be grown to feed big cities.

[@buddyheath9219]

People in Detroit aren't pussies I guess, I live near a major airport and I don't give a shit what giant plane is flying over

[@alextobolski1168]

What you are looking at is United States Steel's "Great Lakes Works" blast furnaces. The blast furnaces are located on Zug Island and the rest of the operations are located in Ecorse. The Liquid metal is created on Zug Island and transported to the facility in Ecorse to be cast into Slabs and rolled into coils for the Automotive industry. The Zug Island facility has a port where the iron USS mines from Minnesota is delivered. This is why it is protected by homeland security as it is a port of entry. Nothing shady is going on at Zug people. Just good old fashioned american made steel.

[@c0naNnn]

That's all the canadian wants to settle... them saying they're sorry, and then Canadian happy! xD

[@milahu]

no .... at 3:45 he suggests they TRY to reduce the noise and then, if they fail, they AT LEAST have tried ----> ethics of good intentions

[@wangson]

Huh?

[@briangriffin5701]

"Sorry" - National Motto of Canada

[@GuiltySpark]

NO It's "Surry" Eeh

[@heavymetal000]

Some of us do have a backbone and we don’t always apologize because we stand up for what’s right

[@badskroy71]

I always found it interesting how starkly different people from Windsor sound from those in Detroit. Detroit people have the nasally Northern Cities Vowel Shift (NCVS) so "that" sound like "theayt" and "lot" like "lat", while Windsor people have the regular Canadian accent.

[@danaday945]

We have a steel mill here in our town and it makes a fog horn sound at night. It's the vibrators that tamp down the dust echoing in the tower. It's just part of how steel production equipment works.

[@CommanderZerg]

lol this is gonna be really random but the music at 1:43 sounds like the music that Buzzfeed Unsolved uses sometimes

[@tragicvoices]

pretty sure it is

[@davidal00]

call me crazy...but has anyone considered using noise cancellation to try and cancel out the troublesome windsor hum??? i heard it's around 30 - 35 Hz...so if the same 30 - 35 Hz was shot back towards the Zug Island and was 180 degrees out of phase...it "should" somewhat cancel the noise...this is just an idea i had...no clue if it would work on such a large scale...but hey...it works with noise cancelling headphones...i imagine setting up some large speakers near the waterline and directing it back at the island

[@sarahberkner]

Zug Island, a place that people who live in Detroit are supposed to stay away from- as far as I've heard that's saying something. As far as the noise, Windsor has to deal with that but we have to deal with their geese so that almost seems fair.

[@JoeLeonardo]

They found out what it was and it's furnaces deep in the island that finally got shut off. So that sea captain was spot on!

[@GamingMiloJay]

"All we want is a sorry and we'll be happy" jeez Canadians really are nice.

[@indoelmo]

I live 10 minutes from Zug and I could always hear it from home on the American side. It stopped once US Steel went idle though

[@brandoncalleja4294]

Why can't I hear it in Detroit?

[@zake062]

"That's what I'm guessing from what I'm hearing what the heck do I know? I'm a fishing charter captain for Christ sake" This speech was priceless.

[@lezlieflora297]

I lived in windsor for 1 year and 3 months and i always thought that the hum was just my mind and im shook af i never knew about zug island😂💀

[@yalu2225]

I can't sleep, because I hear it almost every night. Terrible. Today is May 20, 2022.

[@deveron62]

And now?

[@ikoitem9256]

i repeated the sound like many times and yes its driving me crazy. no wonder they're all depressed

[@mranderson2215]

Is it bad that I live 31 km from Windsor and I’ve never heard about the hum until today?

[@ritalpha17]

Its all Cthulhu's fault...you might say it's the call of Cthulhu.

[@desrosiers3420]

I was born in west windsor the whole city is above a salt mind it’s proboly tremors from machinery like earth movers and dozers

[@freddieg.4206]

Can hear it in Amherstburg near the Detroit River close to Ranta Marina. It's a low hum almost like a big truck idling or a car with a flowmaster exhaust running at low RPM. It is extremely loud right now at 10:30 pm but I hear it mostly at 2 am

[@DeadWhiteButterflies]

I've only just realised that Detroit is literally a river crossing away from Canada. I never knew Detroit was that far north and practically on the US border. #themoreyouknow

[@jenniferjoyjones]

Check out info on Ambassador Bridge and the Windsor Tunnel

[@MarijuanaCanada]

Living in windsor I never realized how weird it was to have a town named Sandwich and olde sandwich lmap

[@Dixy3]

I was surprised that no one has tried what Radio Amateurs and Aerospace engineering do to improve sound, we did similar when improving audio communication on WWII Lancaster Bombers aircraft with 21st century technology.

[@wsnow555]

I hear it all the time, I even think that is how my hearing loss was do to it. I live 20 miles from Detroit in Farmington ,Mi.

[@yalu2225]

I hear it at night. It is so loud. I can't sleep. Terrible.

[@GreenLight11111]

I feel for those suffering from it, I used to live across the road from a hospital and at night the sound of the fans or something from there was ruining me. Had to move. I feel for yoos

[@klau8177]

That sounds like some sick-ass bass. wub wub wub

[@exbladex99]

Canadians need to hear our super amazing dubstep weapons, this is revenge for justin bieber. That's why only Canadian side can hear it.

[@Crazy__Canuck]

I'm born and raised in Windsor... 37 years. I've heard OF the hum but I've never experienced it. I didnt know it was best heard in Sandwich... but that makes a lot of sense to me if its from an industrial plant or something.

[@schweatty]

its a steel foundry. thats some top notch investigative journalism vice. lolz

[@user-sg2yt6nc1z]

schweatty why does a foundry need to be protected by homeland security?

[@roanoke5462]

If it has an international port, than it falls under Homeland security

[@twopianomanGAB_D]

This low pitch noise just started in Prescott Ontario also. Now it makes two weeks I hear this groan-like, rumbling, intermittent sound. I even hear it in bed, late nights and early mornings. Not during the day cause I make my own noise. I watched an episode of Unsolved Mysteries on Amazon Prime video and they described the noise I am hearing season 7 last episode. STRANGE!!! PS: Prescott is also on the St.Lawerance river, close to the USA border.

[@scottieray]

Truly awesome song by Protomartyr "Windsor Hum"

[@darknecropsy]

That certainly looks like some sort of steel mill

[@aaa2cool]

dont steel factories zap steel with electricity to melt it? Its probably loud AF. But I am just guessing.

[@alextobolski1168]

Only if they are using a Electric Arc Furnace. Zug Island does not use and Electric Arc Furnace. They use a normal Coal fired Blast Furnace.

[@rosekirby3907]

I've heard it from my bedroom in the evening many times

[@romeysiamese6712]

Could be the winds blowing in, through or around the abandoned structures on zug island. Like the sound of whistling through thru trees.

[@mrmattson]

I had this hum in my house for a week. Sounded like an engine idling. Thought I was losing my mind and was about to start asking my neighbors. Ended up being a DVR receiver fan failing.

[@Mentally-insane-person]

Well talking about this it’s 6:am and I haven’t slept since the noise!

[@jc-ox1go]

idk it makes sense to me why it would be louder in canada across the river, sound travels better through water than through air

[@litefeather3332]

It's underground tunneling, the sounds come from the machinery that dig out the earth

[@kf9346]

I'm in Toronto and ever since the 2nd COVID lockdown I hear a constant electrical/cicada-like hum. I've heard it before but never this loud and never non-stop.

[@emhummingbird]

that sounds like spontaneous otoacoustic emissions!! you should look into it, it’s pretty common

[@kf9346]

@@emhummingbird Thanks for this info, I'll look into it.

[@RaimoLis]

if they smelt metal in that factory, then this noise sounds kind like a huge electrical furnace where metal is melted by driving huge amounts of electricity through it - that forms strong hum, similar to this one. If it is more frequent at night because at night electricity is cheaper

[@Axgoodofdunemaul]

One cause of a noise like this can be a very low-frequency "whistle" caused by a breeze blowing across an opening such as the top of a smokestack or even an open window. The opening has to lead to a cavity of the right size and shape to reverberate like a whistle. With the exact right wind (speed and direction), opening, and cavity shape and volume, the air blowing across the opening will set up a reciprocating "flutter" of turbulence. What you then hear is a series of small sonic booms at a frequency of about 20 or 30 beats per second. Hearing this at a distance, people will describe it as a "hum" or a "rumble." I learned this from a car I had once, a Toyota Corolla Station wagon. If you drove this car even at low speeds with one of the rear windows open, the inside of the car would be filled with an ear-busting flutter of shock waves that nobody could endure for long. You could make the problem go away by opening any other window. That destroyed the "whistle" effect.

[@TemenosL]

Isn't a 'Sonic Boom', what occurs when an object passes the sound barrier?

[@susanb4816]

isn't there a salt mine under the lake there?

[@burlives7481]

Susan B my thoughts exactly. Huge salt mines there

[@willyn3178]

nah. the mine would collapse and the salinity levels would go extremely high for a lake and people would eventually find out.

[@TheTapeandscissors]

its not active, unless the city wants to salt the roads.

[@susanb4816]

actually, i looked into it, it is owned by morton and actively mined for table salt

[@susanb4816]

there is one 2000 feet below the lake owned by the morton salt company for making table salt

[@alie6626]

Shout out to everyone in Windsor

[@Godsdaughter530]

I hear it too in Huber Height Ohio between 2am n 4am every few nights its creepy

[@THECONDOR98]

The hum is produced by underground drilling, the reason zug island is guarded is because of precious metals found underground.

[@brianlampe75]

Sounds just like a regular day living in Sault Ste Marie Ontario.

[@AshishGupta-ql9lq]

8 terabyte that man is loaded

[@burnttoast111]

I know, right? That guy easily has over $270 in hard disks! Who has even seen $270 of stuff in one place? I know I haven't!

[@ubaidrahman2963]

I live here in windsor and I never witness any of this.

[@SkatingBearStudios]

OM freaking God. I am hearing the sound right now in Ohio. It’s almost 3am and the low pulsing humming sound is emanating from the south.

[@dgenxryan]

Today we figured out it was the blast furnaces at the steel plant operating at higher than normal speeds. Sad to see it end.

[@garyclarke9557]

I think the hollo towers reverberate together to form a low hum. Also I think freighter propellers have something to do with this when there docking next to Zug

[@garyclarke9557]

And it hasn’t totally gone away

[@TheHannibalTV]

Weird

[@Anonymous-ut2bg]

I'm so curious I'm gonna check it on Spotify

[@iamlegion6147]

Why can’t they hear it on the Detroit side? Makes no sense

[@jamesbeta8614]

wavelengths. It's the same way a kid in a Honda with a subwoofer doesn't think it's loud, but the people in the bus shelter a good distance ahead, are getting their brains rattled, or grandma's china is rattling off the shelves from a few blocks down.

[@joygarlick9350]

I'm hearing this in NSW Australia, 2021.

[@phuturephunk]

Blast Furnaces are huge machines and they are really, really f*ckin loud. Notice this went away in 2020 when US Steel idled the furnaces on Zug Island. The Security is because we only have a handful of integrated mills left in the US (minimills are just more economical and can draw on plentiful recycled scrap) that can turn taconite into pig iron and then virgin steel. I'm sure you'd get a face full of security if you tried to get close to the Gary Works as well, another of the handful of sites that can do this kind of production. The hum though is fascinating. I bet there's some sort of Geological formation under the island that causes the vibration to resonate out. Kevin the Fisherman dude in the video actually nailed this. You may be a fisherman, but that's a pretty darn intuitive conclusion.

[@imanvellani7567]

I live in the hamlet of New North East Sandwich or NNES for short. Hopefully one day they will let us out of the basement where the hum causes dripping on my face in the middle of the night. In the dark, my dad tells me to keep the lights off so I can finish the hum

[@Natashahoneypot]

G#0Ab0 25.96 frequency 1329.14 cm wavelength and D#4Eb4 311.13 fequency 110.89cm wave length

[@Roccatansky]

Any salt mines over there? Could be it. There's one in southwest detroit but I never hear a hum from the mine.

[@ReidHenderson]

Theres a sound similar to this near me in Prosperity SC . Georgia Pacific ls near me in a low lying creek bed area and its one of there press board and plywood plants. I live at a higber elevation and sometimes at night even though im 3 to 4 miles away you can hear this deep acoustic bass hum and the sounds of machinery coming out of the slight valley that georgia pacific lies in. If ots rea quiet in my area at night it will make me think theres a low music playing off in the distance or hear voices that are not there and sometimes it mames the floors very gently vibrate in my house but when you go outside you dont hear it just a very distant sound of machinery. Also this are of south carolina is in the piedmont region which is very hilly amd jas lots of clay and white granite and moisture in the ground i think yhe sound and vibration travels through the earth and rock and water at this point.

[@1hillbilly]

I know for a fact that if the people in Windsor listened to really really loud HipHop like Detroit ,they would not have the Windsorhum Blues.

[@c61dyn]

People in Windsor do. We pick similar airwaves as Detroit.

[@Dante-nm2sc]

It's actually horrible at times. The Fumes are insane. It will run for 3 days straight at times. Our own side does the same thing with some sort large incinerator. But if you complain that is not a good idea at times.

[@HiDefinition1080p]

What's the name of the soundtrack in this video?

[@HiDefinition1080p]

in the beginning of it

[@philfarrell5533]

itll be resonance frequency from a ball mill or crusher processing magnetite iron ore is my guess. Magnetite is very black ore and very hard compared to hematite which is softer. reverb through bed rock magnified by ocean waves.

[@YorangeJuice]

Probably either the salt mine or zug island, I live in Windsor and often hear banging from the salt mines deep underground

[@soneybarbosa3951]

It reminds me the incident in Havana when someof the embassy staff had a sound atack.

[@rainmayhem7043]

they obviously have a military contract and that's why it is so well guarded.

[@brianhuntington6347]

If it is the steel plant, 180° around the plant should hear it. Why don't they complain on the Detroit side of the plant?????

[@diGritz1]

I wonder if any of these people documented the weather during the rumblings. I would almost bet it's created when wind blows over the tops of those large chimney stacks. It's the same kind of low frequency sound you get when blowing over the top of a bottle.

[@maciejpociecha6357]

diGritz1 Helmholtz resonator, is what you are talking about. It would explain why the sound is directional.

[@user-sg2yt6nc1z]

diGritz1 this actually makes a lot of sense

[@Floatingaxe]

Windsor Salt mine produces hums and low rumbles that sound like big idling trucks.

[@Werdnasemajjamesandrew]

Its restricted because its an international crossing from the river.

[@richgutierrez132]

You can hear it downriver in melvindale

[@garyclarke9557]

I agree with the smoke stack theory however I think it’s a combination.

[@brodymatisz5689]

You should have investigated the salt mine. I'm convinced that's where the sound is coming from.

[@engenheiromachado]

Typical sound of a steel plant. I lived many years beside one in Volta Redonda.

[@effinnelle]

Not to be confused with a Windsor Hummer which is a BJ delivered by a member of the UK royal family, probably Prince Edward

[@marcodelasierra8483]

THAT SOUND IS BAD ASS.

[@1337BananaL33TVostok]

It has to be high voltage transformers, for a steel plant there cant be without noise

[@garyclarke9557]

I heard it today and I think I’ve figured it out.

[@MUCKFOOT⁶⁶⁶]

I think the ground is solid rock under the top soil around there, so it might be vibrating across...

[@EddiefbutlerIII]

Harp?

[@SapphireX413]

They live next to a bunch of industry.... And are wondering about the noise...?

[@davidwhitten3596]

Been making steel a 100 years there. How long have they lived near by