A screenshot from the video shared by Corinna Scurt.
Image Credit: FACEBOOK / Corinna Scurt
February 11, 2020 - 7:00 AM
A B.C. scientist believes he has solved the mystery behind the strange noise heard by many residents in Kamloops last week.
Late last Thursday night, Feb. 6, Kamloops resident Corinna Scurt was on her balcony for a smoke break when she heard loud sounds resonating through the city. After hearing it eight or nine times, she began recording. People in other areas of the city also claimed to have heard it.
People have all kinds of theories as to what might have caused the sound, but Dr. Glen MacPherson thinks he has solved the mystery.
He believes the strange sounds resonating through Kamloops last week were nothing more than the brakes on large machines.
Credit: FACEBOOK / Corinna Scurt
“People don’t want to hear boring, they want to hear interesting and mysterious, but… the vast majority of cases, these are mechanical noises especially caused by large, slow-moving trucks that are braking," he says. "There is other mechanical sources of course.”
MacPherson, who was a mathematics lecturer at UBC for 16 years, says the sounds could also be a snowplow lifting and lowering its blade, or a train going around a curve. He says there are many stop-and-start areas around Kamloops where a large truck may have been braking frequently.
“Sounds can travel tremendous distances over water,” MacPherson says. “Particularly in winter, depending on the snow cover and also if you are in a valley, sometimes geographical features make these sounds much louder.”
MacPherson is also an ethnographic researcher, among other academic pursuits. He now lives in Roberts Creek and says he has visited Kamloops a few times.
Dr. Glen MacPherson believes he solved the mystery of 'sky trumpets.'
Image Credit: SUBMITTED / Dr. Glen MacPherson
He studies a different sound phenomenon he calls ‘The Hum,’ and has created a worldwide database to track the constant, low-frequency hum.
The sound in the video shared by Scurt is similar to many others recorded around the world, and the sounds are often referred to as ‘sky trumpets.’
Although sky trumpets aren’t his main focus, he says he looked into the loud sounds.
“I actually solved the sky trumpets… I solved it the better part of a year ago, closer to a year ago. When I finally got around to investigating, it only took me about 30 to 45 minutes,” MacPherson says.
He heard sky trumpets in Moscow, Russia, and while in a cabin in northern Ontario. Although people have heard the sound in differing geographical areas with drastically varying weather conditions, he believes it is nothing more than trucks, trains, or snowplows.
Credit: YOUTUBE / Inside Edition
What do you think? Mystery solved? Let us know in the comments below.
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