Residents of the Canadian city of Windsor, Ontario have been plagued for the last six years by a maddening humming sound that government officials are powerless to stop.
The creatively titled 'Windsor Hum,' seemingly emerged out of nowhere in 2010 when denizens of the city began reporting a low, rumbling sound that varied in intensity and could last for days on end.
When the sound really picks up, they say, it can even rattle walls and windows with an intense vibration.
"If you think of thunder, and you take that thunder and constantly repeat it for hours and days, weeks, that's all it is," Windsor resident Mike Provost told The Guardian.
The torment has proven to be so bad for some citizens of Windsor that they have been forced to rely on sleeping pills in order to get any rest.
Others have been prescribed anxiety medication not only for themselves but also for their pets who are suffering from the sound as well.
Attempts to solve the mystery of the hum via a Canadian government study pointed the finger at an American site, known as Zug Island, located on the Detroit River which acts as a border between the two countries.
Incredibly, researchers believe they have pinpointed the ultimate source of the sound to be from a blast furnace inside a steel plant on the man-made island.
However their findings only served to make the problem even more frustrating because, while they may have found the origin of the hum, stopping it has proven to be a futile task.
American government officials with jurisdiction over the island have expressed little concern for the sound, since it does not seem to be an issue for people in the United States.
As such, Windsor residents have found themselves unwitting victims of a bureaucratic mess that may not be solved unless the highest reaches of the Canadian government push for some kind of solution.
Until then, they are forced to live with the 'hum' that has become an omnipresent part of their lives and wistfully wish for a day when they can once again enjoy the sweet sound of silence.
Source: The Guardian