People all across the planet have reported hearing a strange humming/droning noise at the dead of night usually in their bedrooms like my wife and myself heard last evening.
This is a bit off topic but as I am in an industry that makes a living out of recording sound and vision I feel obliged to report this weird phenomena that has occurred a second time over the last two years.
I was in the edit suite which is right next door to our bed room when my wife came in and asked me what the humming noise was, it was about 1.30am. I switched off all the equipment and could still faintly hear a low, almost mains hum in our bedroom, it is officially reported to be between 40-80 Hz.
I decided to see if the noise was only in the house or outside so we drove round the local area in Burnside, Rutherglen stopping and listening, strangely the noise could also be heard a quarter of a mile up the hill from my house facing south but going the same distance north, nothing.
I looked for the obvious train line maintenance or any kind of construction but once again nothing, the same happened about a year and a half ago and we went through the same exercise.
This strange low frequency hum has also been reported from Canada and England all with the same story only noticeable at night, we don’t have any overhead pylons anywhere near us so it remains a mystery.
Is mother earth being mined under our very feet ?
A recent question… “Anyone have any ideas why it’s mostly heard at night and in the bedroom?”
Editor : Night time is simple…a lot less noise from cars, birds etc its probably in every room but you are more in tune with your bedroom as you spend a third of your life in it and more importantly in the same place i.e.. your position in your bed remains a constant so your ears are highly tuned to that particular space.
“The Hum is a mysterious and untraceable sound that is heard in certain locations around the world by two to ten percent of the population. Historically, the area that has been most affected by the Hum is the United Kingdom, where reports have been frequent since the early 1970s. In the United States, Hum reports date from the early 1990s, with the two most publicized locations being Taos, New Mexico, and Kokomo, Indiana. The source of the Hum has never been located. The Hum does not appear to be a form of tinnitus and may not be an acoustic sound. More than just a noise, the Hum is also capable of manifesting as vibrations felt throughout the body and is often accompanied by a suite of physical symptoms that includes headaches, nausea, and pain in the ears. Analysis of the largely anecdotal data that are available at the present time suggests that the most probable explanation is that some people have the capability to interpret radio transmissions at certain wavelengths as sound. It is well established in the scientific literature that people can hear electromagnetic energy at certain frequencies and peak power levels. Previous studies have found that a subset of the population has an electromagnetic sensitivity that is significantly greater than the mean. Several hypotheses are considered and discussed as possible sources of the Hum. These include cellular telephone transmissions, LORAN, HAARP, and the TACAMO aircraft operated by the US Navy for the purpose of submarine communications. “
http://www.scientificexploration.org/journal/jse_18_4_deming.pdf
Here is a BBC radio program on this topic…
Glenn Marden “Anyone wishing to create the exact tone/frequency as to what they hear, can create and download an MP3 file here: http://onlinetonegenerator.com/
Maybe show to others. Have one headphone in, and use slider on tone generator to align sound until you then hear the hum equal in both ears. For me it was 36Mz.
Taken from the Largs and Millport news 30th December 2020
A Largs (A seaside town in the West of Scotland) history buff believes he has found a credible explanation for the infamous hum that has plagued the town for more than 40 years.
Robert Cathcart believes the electrification of the local railways line and how it interacts with the surrounding landscape is to blame.
He says he made the discovery, which he believes has never been put forward before, while researching the Largs hum for a timeline project.
Robert said: “I was trawling the net in recent weeks to find when the hum started as I wanted to add it to the town’s timeline we are creating from the Largs History Group, which I run.
“When I went to put it in I noticed that Largs railway was electrified at the same time and I thought it was a bit of a coincidence.
“So I looked into the description of the hum as measured by university studies, the frequency of the current and where it’s been heard from.”
Robert believes the noise comes from the hum of the railway tracks bouncing off the hills and echoing, creating a small noise only in certain areas of the town.
He said: “I believe that the noise is an interference pattern resulting from an almost inaudible electric hum interfering with its own echo from the hill behind Cathcart Road.
“This creates pockets where the crests of sound are doubling up and becoming audible, even though you cannot hear anything when you stand beside the railway.
“Poor shielding, cable problems and proximity to magnetic fields cause hum, which may be inaudible at source but when crossing its echo every second wave doubles in volume.
“The people hearing it are mainly between the hill and the railway line, which also supports the electrification theory.”
Although there have been other ideas put forward by locals over the years, Robert believes his explanation stands up to scrutiny.
He said: “My theory definitely explains why it’s heard in certain locations and measured loudest just to the east side of the main road.
“I’ve never read any of the theories where people have mentioned windmills and activity at Hunterston.
“To me any source of sound could be pointed to, walked towards and pinpointed, except of course an interference pattern.
“It beats me how 10,000 people could wonder and debate it for 30 odd years and still not agree on the cause. I just wanted to throw this theory out there.”
Hope this maybe useful to others.
Hi everyone it is great to see that I am not alone on this matter. I just heard this last night probably around 2:00 a.m. and at that moment I was lying down in bed playing an App game on my phone before lights out. This low frequency humming noise came out of nowhere and the strength would amplify up and down. Sometimes it would maintain a certain strength and other times decrease. This may sound funny, but my dog and I looked at each other when this came about. It probably lasted about an hour and a half and it just faded away completely. I live in NJ and I know this is not the first time I heard this noise. It probably has been a year or so since I last heard something like this so the duration differently relates to others encountering sound wave if I can call it that. Maybe it happens more than we think. A Quarry is like not even 4 minutes away from me. Their setup is not like in my back yard, but more into the mountains and they are pretty quiet for the most part. The dump trucks that pass my house in the a.m. hours during the week (living here for 7 years) I already turned out. This would have to be the first time a humming noise of this type of a frequency made me concern. What in the world is going on??
This is happening as I report this sound, it’s continuous and when you are in bed you can’t sleep. Turned off electric and you can still hear it. Some times it goes on and on and on. Doing my head in
What we need here is some kind of map app where we can all pin the problem areas? Anyone recommend best way to do this, I can host, googlemaps was an option but they make it kinda awkward. Anyone?
Jan Lund:
It’s exactly the same for me, I can hear it now as I type. It’s a continuous droning low frequency hum. I first noticed it early last week, if it was there before then I never noticed, but I doubt it was to be honest. I recalled my sister once said something about a noise she hears late at night that sounds like a car outside, so when it recently started to happen to me, that’s when I did a search to see if it was just me going mental…and apparently it wasn’t. I did think it had gone a couple of days ago though, but it was daytime and I was working etc…then as soon as it was late night and mostly quiet, that’s when I noticed it was still here. It does seem to get louder when your head hits the pillow at night, although I don’t let it keep me awake. I suppose, unless somebody has some answers, and some sort of way to stop it (I doubt they have) then we will just have to live with it. We’re living in strange times in this world of ours, there’s lots of corruption, and abuse of powerful technology going on, not to mention chemtrails etc. We’re probably guinea pigs for the crazies at the top doing weird experiments on us. Some people do say though, that we might be tuning into planet Earth itself as it spins around…possible? Who knows. We’re not all going crackers though, that much I do know 🙂
Im hearing this humming noise as I type im in Yorkshire UK its 3:13 am here not a plane or helicopter in sight the weather is mild not raining ot windy and is a clear sky but its a little foggy I dont know what it is but it goes louder and quiter but the noise is constant
The sound is changing in frequency I don live near any main roads or roadworks I hear this noise quite often but never as loud it almost sounds closer if that makes sense
Well… it does indeed seem we are all reporting the same.. Up and down, sometimes changing frequency ever so slightly, and difficult to locate (LFN always is as it will reverberate off anything it hits (hence usually louder indoors than out). Any of you guys within range of wind turbines? There are numerous reports of their disturbances if you’re within 25km of em. I am, but just curious about the rest of you guys. Also, now you’re aware of it, you’re gonna become more sensitized to it, only place I’ve found that was blissful silence was out of the UK… Crete/Greece to be exact. I’ll describe it in one word, see if you agree.. ‘drone’
I have just moved into a new flat about three weeks ago, and I have just starting hearing a humming, droning, vibration sound for the last four days constantly! Its driving me mad, especially as no one else can hear it. It is intermittent and gets louder at night, but it is there all day. The previous tenant advised me that she could hear it, but in the end she sought help from a health care professional, as she thought it was all in her head! I can definitely hear it, but does anyone know how to stop it!
The only way i can reduce the noise is thru wearing earplugs ,im also trying to track down a audio sound frequency generator and have heard thru another blog that this actually reduced it considerably ,ill let you know what happens.
Ear plugs dont help me 🙁 will be very interested in the audio sound frequency generator… I thought it might be connected to all the sky dishes that are around everywhere these days.. My housing association dont allow dishes on the outside wall and i have a sky box above my bedroom in the loft feeding every flat in the building except mine as i don’t have sky .!!!!! I just feel i want to pull the plug to stop the noise…
I live in Baillieston near Glasgow in Scotland and I can hear it. It’s ruining my sleep and has done for the past 18 months. Been referred for hearing tests but I doubt that will do much!
Welcome to the site Kirstie. I was wondering if i was the only one in Scotland with this problem….
Hearing test waste of time was given a machine to block out the noise but the noise it made was just as bad if not worse as i had to put the volume up soo loud to mask the noise.Doc sent me to Mental Health board!!!!!!!! waste of time….I have been through every medical test… Inviromnmental health people have been out 4 times all can hear it but cannot find source. University guys been at flat took readings of noise but cant find source……so no idea where to go next….except maybe move to another area. Unfortunately this noise seems to be spreading all over the country….
I live just north of Seattle, Washington and was awakened early Sunday (10/27) morning (3-4am) by a resonant hum which seemed to vary slightly in pitch and lasted for maybe 5 to 10 minutes and faded away. It started up again a few minutes later. I counted 3 separate occurrences but there may have been more before I woke up. It seemed to me that it might have been harmonics of 120hz and I suspected the distribution transformers on several poles in my neighborhood but I visually inspected them today and all seemed fine and quiet. The power company had no complaints or outages reported in my area. My neighbor also was awakened by this noise and it seemed louder than what you would expect from a transformer. At first I thought it might be coming from inside my house but I opened a window and confirmed it was outside but hard to locate where it was originating from. This was the first time I had ever heard this and was significant enough to cause me to investigate and find this site. I will be listening again and will report any future occurrences.
Thank God I’m not the only one. I’ve started hearing this humming noise last winter, upstairs in my bedroom. As it got warm this summer the noise stopped, and now the temp is falling it has started up again. It gets worse at night because the temp falls at night. Ive had everything checked and even switched off the mains, the noise does not stop. Earplugs and looking for a house where I cant hear it.
Hello Everyone, I live in the North East of England near to the coast and i am hearing the low hum sound as i speak, it has happend a few times recently but always in the early hours of the morning. I am also having difficulty sleeping and over the past week or so have been feeling dizzy and nauseous and pressure type of headache. Thank goodness i am not alone in this. Incidentally i have a strong belief in Angels and have recently completed an Angelic Reiki course. I am now wondering if there is a link. Is this possibly spiritual awakening i wonder. Best Regards Ann.
Hello I am in the Bronx and started hearing it too have had a a bad cold for a week thought it was maybe fluid pressure or something.. its kinda driving me crazy… but if I move my head from side to side i dont hear it as im moving… anyone does that happen for anyone else?
Hi Hannah, I got a notification of your comment, and as I started reading (before I got to your comment about angels) I actually had a sudden thought that, maybe WE are angels??? Sounds mad, but when I got to what you said it was a bit of a wow moment :O I’ve been giving this hum noise some thought lately, and there’s many things it could be, and we ALL seem to be affected the same with it here. I pretty much have it permanently now, but like everyone else it’s more prominent at night in the early hours, and i’m a night owl anyway so i’m just sat here at night online, and if i’ve not got music on through my headphones then I hear it…I can hear it now, i’ve just got used to the fact it’s there now. I hope one day we will ALL find out what it’s all about…Are we all here on this page for a reason? Are we gifted in some way? I too have thought that this could be some sort of spiritual awakening, and i’ve definitely felt a heightened awareness of things just lately. I would hope it’s source is something natural, rather than the possibility that it’s something more sinister. People talk about HAARP, but I don’t know a great deal about that to be honest. Hope you get to find out what it is 🙂
i have heard this noise for 6 days now,day and night,i live in country and everything was at rest on sunday,no trucks foghorn etc.and still there.no ships shown on iss map either!there are electric cables by me,and recent high sun activity,could this cause reaction,very unlikley,but the sound is there outside,as if coming from distance out at sea,but it vibrates louder inside my building ,it is pretty bad.there is a neighbor who has been blasting a 4 kw sub base speaker in daytime,could he be causing this with feedback?
Hiya, I live in Caister on Sea ,on the east coast of the UK, as i write my comment i can hear the humming,it is a loud continual drone that pitches high & low,there are not many nights that i do not experience this droning.In reply to Steve,we do have 30 wind turbines within a couple of miles,they are situated out to sea,i had not considered them before,but they should not be ruled out! The noise is external & can be heard during the day sometimes.I suffer from tinitus already & this drone just adds to my misery.The vibration drives me mad, there really is no escape!!!
Denise
I live in Kalgoorlie,Australia ,its now coming into summer and the drone has dissipated to nothing ,Ive only heard it for the last 2 years ,the colder the weather the louder the drone ,its great to sleep without ear plugs at the moment ,ive read that audio frequency generators with some people have proven successful ,im trying to borrow one before investing large amounts of money,i probably wont be able till test the theory until Mar apr next year when it starts to get colder again.
I know your frustration -its maddening.
hi all,i live in country victoria
australia and same drone,humming can be heard at night,iv noticed it for weeks now,funny thing is speaking to a friend in cairns the other side of australia can also hear it,one again in a rem ote country area,no wind turbines or cars for that matter,how can one one explain this?
Hello to all, i live in Melbourne Australia and have been hearing this low hum type fluctuating noise for over 12 months, it wakes me up at night as it did this morning at approx 2 am and continues for some time,does not happen all the time,when it does i look outside and its a still clear sky with no wind and all stars visable ?? maybe we need to really question what we have done to this earth, esp since the industrial age with pollution etc,and all the concrete jungles we build (buildings) could tall buildings have anything to do with it ???…hope everyone sleeps well….cheers
Not sure if I am experiencing the same as others but for the last year I can hear a droning / humming / chugging type of noise which is more noticable in the early hours of the morning. I live in north west kent UK and have addressed all that is near me.ie:the rail line, wind turbine, numerous arials on office blocks, generators, mobile phone masts and a few others where I am told it could not possibly be any of these. My household seems to be the only ones who hear this noise. Apart from lack of sleep, it physicly drains the energy from you and leaves your ears muzzy. I had the mic set up with the envionmental health but did not pick this noise up. When a window is opened to hear outside you can’t hear it…is it water pressure maybe…then others would hear this also. I am totally at a loss, I really am.
Sounds to me like a train engine idling close by. The funny thing is there are no trains I know of here for miles in all directions. I live way on the east side of El Paso, TX. The closes trains I think are way on the north east and central sides of town and maybe the west side too. I don’t recall seeing any trains out east, but this humming sound is real close and only in my house, especially my bedroom. It started last night around 0200 and it carried on thru the morning. Last night I couldn’t stay asleep and had a series of sleep paralysis issues and what felt like, what people describe as out of body experiences (OBE). Was a very strange night! I hear it very very faintly now with everything turn off. last night I had the TV and a CPU game turned up pretty good and could still hear the engine sound. I checked everything electronic and turn all off. I went outside, didn’t hear it outside. I went back in my bedroom and even put my head next to all the speakers. Once with them on and then again with them off. I didn’t hear anything! When I stood up and moved over to my bed I could hear the train engine hum very good. I hope I can get some better answers as to what is going on.
Had exactly the same problem the colder the weather i found the louder it got and i only heard it outside when it was really cold,the local council came to my house and the noise that day to me was extremely loud ,he couldn’t hear it ;but,said his equipment registered something he couldn’t identify,its comforting to know your not nuts but it is maddening at times,im trying to locate a audio frequency generator that some people say has been successful,ear plugs are the only thing that has worked to date..
Hi to Steve back in October. I do in fact live near a wind turbine (1 mile) but have noticed that I can still hear the drone even when it is not rotating which as it was my first thought have kind of dismissed it now. I was going to say that we should be looking at all the new additions to your areas over the years like wind turbines or phone masts (many arials on a building near me) but I understand a noise has been around since the 1950s. I thought of aquarium pumps as well but again told this is not possible. I even thought it might be the springs in the bed mattress acting as an arial picking up some waves as people say it’s mainly in the bedrooms. Now I know iv’e gone mad!!!!
I am in NJ also and been hearing this since July. Its a harmonic hum that oscillates and is very disruptive and impossible to track down. I’ve made many calls with no help, any ideas what we can do about it?
A friend of mine (possibly the same Kerry as 20th October, above) has a low-pitched hum in her flat. I’ve identified the pitch as being around an F sharp, I can’t quite determine the octave but it is either at 46.25 Hz or 23.125 Hz – quite possibly the lower given its qualities. I have read much about the possible sources of these low frequencies. Can I offer another possibility – that these low sounds could be produced by two higher sounds or frequencies. Let me explain: whenever two sounds or frequencies sound together, they will naturally produce a “difference tone”, which is the difference between the two frequencies & will often be audible as a note. This occurs in music as do “sum tones” which are the sum of any two frequencies. This phenomenon can be synthesised & is known as “ring modulation” – best known as producing the voice of the Daleks.
It is quite possible that the two main frequencies could be very high & beyond the range of human hearing but their difference tone could be a very low frequency sound. I don’t know if this is of any use, but it’s surely worthy of consideration.
Hello everyone. I am new to the site and just wanted to say that I too hear a low pitched sound. It gets worse when I pay attention to it. I have also noticed that my ears hurt also but I think I cause this type of Phantom Pain if so to speak. I think it is hearable its just that not a lot of people focus on the noise so they do not notice it at all. To me it comes and goes.
It reminds me of when i was a boy and the tv channel used to shut down at night. Long hum….
I have been hearing this since the late 90s.
I’m just pleased i’m not completely mad. lol.
I too am hearing a constant, oscillating, humming noise throughout my home for months now. I constantly run my ceiling fan during the summer months as I live in California, plus I set my tv to a timer when I go to bed, so of course during the hot months, I didn’t hear anything. As it started to get a bit cooler and I don’t need my ceiling fan, I started to hear the humming sound around September. At first I thought it was me, but then when I leave my house I didn’t hear it. I asked my roommates and best friend, and they didn’t hear anything, then finally I got tired of it and called an electrician on Monday. He measured the magnetic field in a few areas and determined that my house had an average of 1.5 magnetic frequency, desired is 0 of course. However, around appliances it shot way up and on the wall where the panel and meter is, it went way up to 24 which is the wall outside my bedroom. We turned off all the power and still could hear it, the electrician said he heard it, so now I know it wasn’t just me, at least I hoped. In July I replaced my meter with a ‘Smart Meter’ by SCE. On Monday, I called SCE to have them replace the meter in case it was that, they finally came out today, and when he took off the meter, I could still hear the humming, he replaced the meter with the previous meter, but I still hear the humming noise. The crazy thing is that when I went to my boyfriend’s house last night, I heard it as well in his apartment. I am thinking of calling a specialist to come and analyze my home. Does anyone have any recommendations?
just in reply to Ana
Don’t worry about it!
I would say you’re just one of many (inc myself) that has awareness. Are you spiritual/ lean towards metaphysics?
If so, just means you’re in “tune” with life.
From 1:30 am till around 3:00 am, I listen to this penetrating, pulsating, grinding sound, like a machine carving up the earth from a 1 – 2 mile distance, this is a quiet seaside town, St Ives, Cornwall in winter. It keeps me awake, I asked my neighbour, he has heard it too.
Not every night, and then it just disappears.
There must be an explanation for this.
Im from Melbourne Australia, and my partner and I heard it about 10 minutes ago (9:50pm – 27/11/2013). lasted about 5 minutes and oscillated slowly between 40-80hz. we went outside for afew minutes and it seemed to be moving awy form our place. going to talk to my next door neighbour and see if he heard it too. my partner said that’s the 2nd time shes heard it in 2 days
I live in Kilbarchan, Renfrewshire and lay currently in my bed fed up with the low frequency hum. This noise has been bothering me for over a year as soon as i park up my car i can hear it but as others have reported its much worse at night. My partner doesnt hear it nor do my neighbours, I live near a quarry, airport and hv pylons but i am not really sure whats causing it. If i could be certain that where i moved to would be hum free i would move but other than the hum i love living hear.
I hear this hum every night from 1 to about 5 A.M! It goes in about 3 second bursts sometimes longer and sometimes in really quick bursts. I live in great falls Montana
my wife hears this sounds every night and now i here it,and it is constant.we also drove around,and even into the woods wear no power was located,and my wife still heard it.we live in show-low Arizona,the white mountains.
i’m in portland, ore and hearing that same sound for almost 2 years now, night after night with only a few nights here-and-there without it. during the day its there but quieter, probably being drowned out by daytime activity traffic/noise, etc. i am relieved there are others experiencing this as i thought i was losing my mind. its so bad at times i often entertain the thought of selling my home and moving somewhere else. that vibration/frequency gets so inside your head, i have lost so much sleep, and i am so angry. my prayers go out to those who hear it that one day it will stop and we can be at peace inside and sleep better. it is taking its toll on us.
I am in Kelowna, British Columbia. Glad I found you all! This is not feeling like tinnitus… yes low roar,intermittent but usually around 6 am in morning PST and later in the evening is most noticeable, sometimes seems not as loud,and sometimes not there at all. Have heard outside in the summer. Putting earplugs does dampen it so I cant believe it is just in my ears(meineire’s or tinnitus or other medical problem)No one else has heard it so far. Having bad headaches and fatique from time to time… dont know if it’s linked. THere are powerlines on our property where we live in the hills. Thank you all for posting. I will not rule out medical reasons but feels good to know there are others- sorry about your misery though! good luck dealing with this. Seems a little strange that it is all over the world!
I live in Albuquerque, New Mexico , the “hum” is constant here. It is the same inside & outside. My husband heard it first & I was unable to hear it, but my brain has tuned into it & I wish I was able to tune it out. I always have a fan on, TV, or music playing to try and distract my mind from focusing on it. I have very little hope that my life will ever be without this hum again. Count it a blessing if you cannot hear it.
I’m in Blue Springs, MO. I hear it as well. It’s kept me up all night. It sounds a lot like a car idling in the distance, maybe like someone warming up their car in the wintertime. But, yes it does change in intensity and pitch. Enough that I can’t ignore it. I’ve heard for it a few months now, I just thought it was a car or generator maybe. I lived in Kansas City the last two years and didn’t hear it in any of my last two places.
phew thought i was insane for hearing this, i hear a low humming noise like a big rig parked outside my house and it lasts for hours usually i just go to sleep an ignore it. Ive been hearing this for better part of a year almost every night(only at night never in day time) im not much for conspiracy’s but what the hell is going on. I just recently noticed an online presence of people talking bout this and im relived that there’s some recognition outside of my own head lol by the way i live in central NY and i can hear it now as i type this.
Jodrell bank observatory Cheshire uk…I think this is responsible and also the communication towers that are erected all around the globe.
The atmosphere is polluted with electromagnetism..
We moved to this house three weeks ago and we heard a low humming noise from the very first night. My son’s house, half a mile away isn’t affected. We have checked everything we can think of in the house. We turned off the electricity at the mains, looked in the loft, checked smoke alarms, radiators and extractor fans and listened outside, but just cannot find where the hum is coming from. It wakes me at about 4am every day and then drives me mad because all I can do is focus on the noise until my ears hurt. A problem with a hum never occurred to me and how do you discover a hum unless you spend a night in a house before you buy it? I wish we’d never moved here. All I want is some peace and quiet and perhaps some suggestions on how I can cope with the hum.
I use my tower fan, or any fan will help believe me it will help….
hi julia, sorry to hear this..the hum started in the house i bought after 2 years. how i cope with it is to have a box fan going when i go to bed. the vibration of the fan helps mask the hum for me. i hope it helps you. take care
I am in Michigan and I have been hearing the hum for over 3 years now. It seems to resonate more in the house, upstairs and when I am in my office, on the main floor, it always sounds like an idling truck or something. I am the only one in the household who can hear it. It can be very irritating and annoying at times. It is especially noticeable now that it is winter and very cold outside. Thanks for putting up this site, I had no idea that others could hear the annoying HUM too!
I awoke early on Christmas day to see if the humming was present. My theory was that most local businesses were shut down for the holiday and therefore the hum would stop for a time……WRONG! Due to the unusually quiet morning, the hum was louder than before.
Mate i know how you feel im in melbourne australia and i can hear it at night ,and sometimes during the day…it frustrates the life out of me.
some one must have an idea what it could be…cheers
In Leeds Uk, which is notorious for the Hum. It has been quiet over xmas and I have had the best sleep in a long time. But it returned at about 4am this morning (30th Dec 2013). I think maybe it is a distant factory or something that has stopped working over the holiday period..