A high pitched noise coming FROM a person? WTF?
September 21, 2009 11:51 AM Subscribe
A persistent, very high pitched noise coming from an individual. No, I'm not crazy. It wasn't a cell phone. What on earth could this have been?
Yesterday, I was at my parents for dinner. It was myself, my mom and dad, my mom's sister and my mom's brother. Even before dinner, my uncle, mom and myself all commented on the fact we could hear a very consistant, very high pitched noise. It was almost like the kind you get when your ears are ringing, but as high pitched as it can get. My aunt heard it as an intermittent beeping, which suggested to me it was actually at least two frequencies, of which she could hear only one. My dad couldn't hear a thing, but his hearing isn't the best anyway.
It was driving us crazy. We went around turning off everything electrical in the house. Nothing made it go away. It got to the point where we shut of the main breaker to the house, shutting off all the power. It was still there!
After a while (with the power in the house still off), we realized it was coming FROM my uncle. It was louder when he was in the vicinity of about 10 feet. It was louder downstairs, where the acoustics are somewhat better (tile floors, flat painted ceiling vs that pebbly-stuff). It was most definitely coming from him. Trust me -- we spent a better part of an hour proving this. He goes outside, (we stay in) the noise goes away. We go outside (he stays in) the noise goes away. We stand 50 feet apart and I slowly walk towards him, I can start to hear it around 15 feet away. My mom was able to start hearing it at around 10 feet away.
It was not a practical joke. I wish it was -- it would have been a good one. It was not a cell phone; we had already turned everyone's off. My uncle was just as confused as the rest of us, and he was actually starting to feel bad, because his mere presence in the room was so annoying (or at least the noise was). He of course couldn't escape the noise, and by this point is probably going to start going completely nuts with this.
According to my uncle, mom and aunt (who were together a couple days ago), the noise wasn't there then. But they were drinking, it was loud, and they might just have not noticed it then. My uncle only came to town a couple days ago, and hadn't noticed it himself before then, either.
The only explanation we could possibly come up with was he just had a couple of metal fillings done at the dentist a couple weeks ago. Is that even a plausible explanation? What else could it have been?
I wouldn't have believed it myself if I wasn't there. It was truly spooky, and very very odd. I've tried googling, but came up empty. We're not all collectively going crazy -- if only one person heard it, that'd be my explanation, too. But it was everyone hearing this noise (expect my hard-of-hearing dad).
Anyone have any ideas? Help my uncle feel better about this!
Yesterday, I was at my parents for dinner. It was myself, my mom and dad, my mom's sister and my mom's brother. Even before dinner, my uncle, mom and myself all commented on the fact we could hear a very consistant, very high pitched noise. It was almost like the kind you get when your ears are ringing, but as high pitched as it can get. My aunt heard it as an intermittent beeping, which suggested to me it was actually at least two frequencies, of which she could hear only one. My dad couldn't hear a thing, but his hearing isn't the best anyway.
It was driving us crazy. We went around turning off everything electrical in the house. Nothing made it go away. It got to the point where we shut of the main breaker to the house, shutting off all the power. It was still there!
After a while (with the power in the house still off), we realized it was coming FROM my uncle. It was louder when he was in the vicinity of about 10 feet. It was louder downstairs, where the acoustics are somewhat better (tile floors, flat painted ceiling vs that pebbly-stuff). It was most definitely coming from him. Trust me -- we spent a better part of an hour proving this. He goes outside, (we stay in) the noise goes away. We go outside (he stays in) the noise goes away. We stand 50 feet apart and I slowly walk towards him, I can start to hear it around 15 feet away. My mom was able to start hearing it at around 10 feet away.
It was not a practical joke. I wish it was -- it would have been a good one. It was not a cell phone; we had already turned everyone's off. My uncle was just as confused as the rest of us, and he was actually starting to feel bad, because his mere presence in the room was so annoying (or at least the noise was). He of course couldn't escape the noise, and by this point is probably going to start going completely nuts with this.
According to my uncle, mom and aunt (who were together a couple days ago), the noise wasn't there then. But they were drinking, it was loud, and they might just have not noticed it then. My uncle only came to town a couple days ago, and hadn't noticed it himself before then, either.
The only explanation we could possibly come up with was he just had a couple of metal fillings done at the dentist a couple weeks ago. Is that even a plausible explanation? What else could it have been?
I wouldn't have believed it myself if I wasn't there. It was truly spooky, and very very odd. I've tried googling, but came up empty. We're not all collectively going crazy -- if only one person heard it, that'd be my explanation, too. But it was everyone hearing this noise (expect my hard-of-hearing dad).
Anyone have any ideas? Help my uncle feel better about this!
Can you tell us more about your uncle? Any surgeries? Pacemakers? Age? Hearing aids (which may be inside his ears and may not want you to know about)?
posted by 6:1 at 11:53 AM on September 21, 2009
posted by 6:1 at 11:53 AM on September 21, 2009
Does he wear a hearing aid? They will emit a high whine if adjusted wrong.
posted by gyusan at 11:54 AM on September 21, 2009
posted by gyusan at 11:54 AM on September 21, 2009
He had no other electronics on him at all? Watch? mp3 player?
Pace maker?
Is he the type to play a practical joke on you all?
posted by utsutsu at 11:56 AM on September 21, 2009
Pace maker?
Is he the type to play a practical joke on you all?
posted by utsutsu at 11:56 AM on September 21, 2009
Response by poster: No hearing aids, no pacemakers that I know of, nothing like that. If he did have any of those things, I'm sure he would have mentioned it. I'll call my mom and ask just to be sure though. He's around 55 or so.
posted by cgg at 11:58 AM on September 21, 2009
posted by cgg at 11:58 AM on September 21, 2009
If he wore hearing aid(s), he would know what it was and know how to stop it, unless he had gotten them that very day. It would be very bothersome to him so he would not endure it just to play a practical joke. I vote for "practical joke: other"
posted by desjardins at 11:59 AM on September 21, 2009
posted by desjardins at 11:59 AM on September 21, 2009
My grandmothers hearing aides do that when they are off balance. Also could it have been his nose whistling? Or maybe he was wheezing?
posted by meeshell at 11:59 AM on September 21, 2009
posted by meeshell at 11:59 AM on September 21, 2009
Used to be you could buy these devices that made that noise in order to repel mosquitoes. It was supposed to be above the human threshold of hearing, so only the mosquitoes could be annoyed by it. (Philosophical question: can mosquitoes feel annoyed?) But I could definitely hear it; some other members of my family could, and some couldn't.
Anyway, this was ten or fifteen years ago. I don't know if these doohickeys are still for sale — and they didn't seem to do jack shit against mosquitoes, so I can't imagine why your uncle would carry one. But stranger things have happened, I guess.
posted by nebulawindphone at 11:59 AM on September 21, 2009
Anyway, this was ten or fifteen years ago. I don't know if these doohickeys are still for sale — and they didn't seem to do jack shit against mosquitoes, so I can't imagine why your uncle would carry one. But stranger things have happened, I guess.
posted by nebulawindphone at 11:59 AM on September 21, 2009
You mentioned your dad not hearing too well, perhaps your uncle also? Many of my former patients would take hearing aids off (vanity) in company and pocket them. Unfortunately, they did not turn the aids off and so the feedback/whine was constant until they put them back in (realizing they were still on) or someone else pointed the fact out to them.
+1 also to a poorly fitted hearing aid. Even the In ear or in canal models which you are less likely to see can be seated improperly and cause this pitched whine.
Many of those hard-of-hearing cannot always catch this frequency. The fact he could hear it, and may have been embarrassed to admit, or really didn't know the source is just a little amusing. It'd be weird if it's related to his fillings though. Good luck!
posted by emjay at 12:03 PM on September 21, 2009
+1 also to a poorly fitted hearing aid. Even the In ear or in canal models which you are less likely to see can be seated improperly and cause this pitched whine.
Many of those hard-of-hearing cannot always catch this frequency. The fact he could hear it, and may have been embarrassed to admit, or really didn't know the source is just a little amusing. It'd be weird if it's related to his fillings though. Good luck!
posted by emjay at 12:03 PM on September 21, 2009
Perhaps even with the cell phone turned off, it continued to make a noise as the battery slowly discharged due to crap wiring?
Does he have anything on a keychain (garage door opener?) that's particularly gadgetty?
posted by lizzicide at 12:09 PM on September 21, 2009
Does he have anything on a keychain (garage door opener?) that's particularly gadgetty?
posted by lizzicide at 12:09 PM on September 21, 2009
Capacitors can emit high-pitched noises when they are faulty or failing, but that's usually the larger (>0.5cm) barrel-shaped ones. Perhaps he had a device in his pockets with capacitors in it (older remote control, garage door opener, key finder)?
I've also heard high-pitched noises coming from baby monitor remotes that were flaky. Many things that have speakers and use RF to receive their audio signals can fail in weird ways. Hard to say.
[joke]At this point the only option is to pat him down and grill him 'till he 'fesses up.[/joke]
posted by Hardcore Poser at 12:10 PM on September 21, 2009
I've also heard high-pitched noises coming from baby monitor remotes that were flaky. Many things that have speakers and use RF to receive their audio signals can fail in weird ways. Hard to say.
[joke]At this point the only option is to pat him down and grill him 'till he 'fesses up.[/joke]
posted by Hardcore Poser at 12:10 PM on September 21, 2009
desjardins: It would be very bothersome to him
I can provide one anecdotal account that my grandmother's hearing aid would whine like this, inside her ears or on her bedside table or on the bathroom sink, and she would have NO CLUE that it was going on, and certainly was not being bothered at all by it. We'd have to tell her it was happening.
posted by so_gracefully at 12:10 PM on September 21, 2009 [2 favorites]
I can provide one anecdotal account that my grandmother's hearing aid would whine like this, inside her ears or on her bedside table or on the bathroom sink, and she would have NO CLUE that it was going on, and certainly was not being bothered at all by it. We'd have to tell her it was happening.
posted by so_gracefully at 12:10 PM on September 21, 2009 [2 favorites]
Could it have been something in or on your uncle interacting with the electrical wiring of the house? You said he would go outside and those of you remaining inside didn't hear the noise, and vice-versa - can you also try having everyone go outside (in a large yard or park or somewhere away from electrical devices) and see if you still hear the noise coming from him?
posted by LolaGeek at 12:16 PM on September 21, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by LolaGeek at 12:16 PM on September 21, 2009 [1 favorite]
There is such a thing as objective tinnitus, where one can hear a high-pitched ringing coming from someone else, but the articles I just glanced through suggest that it's something you'd need a stethoscope to hear.
posted by statolith at 12:22 PM on September 21, 2009
posted by statolith at 12:22 PM on September 21, 2009
Does he wear a Bulova Accutron or some other watch with a tuning fork movement? Tuning fork driven movements produce a tone (typically between 300 and 720 Hz) that's quite audible if the environment is sufficiently quiet.
posted by buxtonbluecat at 12:46 PM on September 21, 2009 [2 favorites]
posted by buxtonbluecat at 12:46 PM on September 21, 2009 [2 favorites]
I'm voting for "he has an off balance hearing aid in his pocket he didn't want you to know about."
posted by jrishel at 12:54 PM on September 21, 2009
posted by jrishel at 12:54 PM on September 21, 2009
For what it's worth, Mythbusters tackled the whole "radio signals via metal fillings" story and declared it as busted. I actually saw the episode, and they tested multiple types of metals in order to rule everything out.
Now, it could be argued that Lucille Ball receiving a Japanese radio transmission is altogether different from your uncle turning into a dog whistle. But, if you're talking solely about radio frequencies being emitted/amplified from fillings, well, you can probably rule that out.
posted by Rewind at 12:57 PM on September 21, 2009
Now, it could be argued that Lucille Ball receiving a Japanese radio transmission is altogether different from your uncle turning into a dog whistle. But, if you're talking solely about radio frequencies being emitted/amplified from fillings, well, you can probably rule that out.
posted by Rewind at 12:57 PM on September 21, 2009
Just a quick tip: if you try to pinpoint an audio signal, get a cardboard tube (from a roll of paper towels), press it to your ear and search with the other end. It might look ridiculous, but this kind of directional hearing is really great when you try to find the source of a noise in, for instance, an engine or a computer casing.
posted by PontifexPrimus at 1:17 PM on September 21, 2009 [3 favorites]
posted by PontifexPrimus at 1:17 PM on September 21, 2009 [3 favorites]
Having a horrible time finding a non-subscription link to the paper, but here's a Google book excerpt that mentions a family with "high-tonal objective tinnitus" which could be heard from several feet away in one of the kids.
posted by gimli at 1:26 PM on September 21, 2009
posted by gimli at 1:26 PM on September 21, 2009
Yeah, I came here to suggest something along the lines of what gimli linked to. Strangely enough, our ears do make sounds, even perfectly normal ones (I attended a seminar where one of the most distinguished researchers in this field recorded the sounds coming from a volunteer's ears). In persons with certain disorders, such as tinnitus, these sounds are audible.
posted by peacheater at 2:21 PM on September 21, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by peacheater at 2:21 PM on September 21, 2009 [1 favorite]
The same thing happens with my boss. Whenever he talks, all I hear is a high freqency whine....
But seriously, there has to be some piece of electronics on his person that's making the noise. A watch, remote, hearing aid, something.
Or he swallowed a whistle....
posted by Jon-o at 2:37 PM on September 21, 2009
But seriously, there has to be some piece of electronics on his person that's making the noise. A watch, remote, hearing aid, something.
Or he swallowed a whistle....
posted by Jon-o at 2:37 PM on September 21, 2009
I'm going for practical joke... sounds like something I would do..... iPod with the mosquito program loaded on it... (it's loaded on my iTouch, I use it to confound kids at work)..... and, I'm older than he is..
posted by HuronBob at 4:18 PM on September 21, 2009
posted by HuronBob at 4:18 PM on September 21, 2009
> "high-tonal objective tinnitus" which could be heard from several feet away in one of the kids.
So, on a subtler, subliminal level, there's one more physiological basis for "vibes".
Interesting.
posted by darth_tedious at 5:20 PM on September 21, 2009
So, on a subtler, subliminal level, there's one more physiological basis for "vibes".
Interesting.
posted by darth_tedious at 5:20 PM on September 21, 2009
I wonder if I used to work in the cubicle next to your uncle. For the longest time I thought we had an air handler that was squeaky until someone pointed out that it was the guy sitting 10 feet from us. Freaking annoying.
posted by jewzilla at 5:54 PM on September 21, 2009
posted by jewzilla at 5:54 PM on September 21, 2009
It is so funny I came across this post. During my high school years, I mastered being able to emit an incredibly high pitched noise by pinching my vocal cords nearly shut. I am able to emit this ear splitting noise from the back of my throat, not my mouth, thus I can emit the noise with my mouth shut, passing the air from my gradual exhalation through my nostrils.
I taught high school algebra last year and used to emit the noise whilst my students were taking their tests, and none of them could figure out it was me, but the noise would flood the room, but no one could figure out its source. Many of my students thought someone had the grenade app cranked on the iPhone. I of course, pretended not to hear it becuase I'm just their old fart math teacher (even though I'm only 25).
Anyways, this is the first thing I thought of when I heard your post. The tell tale give away is this: Does the noise cease when your Uncle speaks? In my instance, I am not able to speak/whisper while emitting the noise.
Regarding your Uncle not knowing what the noise is.... I don't know your uncle, but I used to have SO MUCH FUN putting people on with this. Back when I was in HS, I could emit the noise for extended periods of time during tests or sitting at lunch all while keeping a straight face, mouth shut.
To describe what I actually do, its like taking the sound "uhhh" in a whisper, and closing the back of your throat so tight that only an incredibly small amount of air can pass (usually my mouth is wide open like a yawn at this point), then once I get the wistle, I can shut my lips and sustain this high pitched noise for extended periods of time. Spy your uncle and see if you notice his throat or lips acting in an unorthodox pattern....... happy sleuthing.
posted by yoyoceramic at 8:37 PM on September 21, 2009 [2 favorites]
I taught high school algebra last year and used to emit the noise whilst my students were taking their tests, and none of them could figure out it was me, but the noise would flood the room, but no one could figure out its source. Many of my students thought someone had the grenade app cranked on the iPhone. I of course, pretended not to hear it becuase I'm just their old fart math teacher (even though I'm only 25).
Anyways, this is the first thing I thought of when I heard your post. The tell tale give away is this: Does the noise cease when your Uncle speaks? In my instance, I am not able to speak/whisper while emitting the noise.
Regarding your Uncle not knowing what the noise is.... I don't know your uncle, but I used to have SO MUCH FUN putting people on with this. Back when I was in HS, I could emit the noise for extended periods of time during tests or sitting at lunch all while keeping a straight face, mouth shut.
To describe what I actually do, its like taking the sound "uhhh" in a whisper, and closing the back of your throat so tight that only an incredibly small amount of air can pass (usually my mouth is wide open like a yawn at this point), then once I get the wistle, I can shut my lips and sustain this high pitched noise for extended periods of time. Spy your uncle and see if you notice his throat or lips acting in an unorthodox pattern....... happy sleuthing.
posted by yoyoceramic at 8:37 PM on September 21, 2009 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Thanks for all the suggestions. I'm pretty sure it wasn't a prank -- he's not that good an actor, and it's so out of the realm of his personality. My vote's for either a hearing aid in his pocket (never found out if he actually has one though), or some sort of audible tinnitus as mentioned. (The noise was still present as he talked, so I'm guessing my uncle doesn't share your talent, yoyo). Thanks again!
posted by cgg at 10:31 PM on September 21, 2009
posted by cgg at 10:31 PM on September 21, 2009
Maybe your uncle has a hearing aid, but doesn't want the rest of you to know? Some of the newer models are surprisingly stealthy, and it's not unusual for people with early hearing loss to want to keep their condition private. Ask him when he's on his own and see if his answer changes.
posted by embrangled at 4:12 AM on September 22, 2009
posted by embrangled at 4:12 AM on September 22, 2009
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by muddgirl at 11:53 AM on September 21, 2009 [5 favorites]