Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Wednesday Weird: Mississppi Howl

Is this my first Wednesday Weird of 2014? I think it is!

Well then, time to start the year off with something fun! And something local (for me).

On February 13th, at about 4 in the morning, residents of St. Paul neighborhoods were awoken to a weird sound.

A kind of eerie howling. Some people said it sounded a lot like whale song, or possibly a bad horn player, but louder than any horn can blow.






At first people thought it was from a construction site, but officers checked it out and realized that it may have been coming from the Mississippi.

Both the Army Corps of Engineers and the National Park Service have jurisdiction over the river and both said they weren't initially sure what the sound was and that they're still investigating.

It's most likely ice shifting on the river. Some people in Duluth, which is situated on Lake Superior, have said they've heard the same sound from the lake which makes it seem likely. But also, there are cases of this type of sound being heard elsewhere around the world in the last few years, and some of these places don't sink to freezing temperatures.

 
Compilation video, so some of the clips are better than others. Check out the one around the 8 min mark at the FL Baseball game, though. That's one of my favs


 
 
 
So, what are your thoughts?


11 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

The one in St. Paul sounds like music. The first one on the video sounds like a heavy plane, but since they didn't see anything, that is really weird.
Reminds me of the music the people in the movie Yellow Brick Road kept hearing.

TL said...

I can't remember where, but I have heard of this happening somewhere else fairly recently (late last year?). That is so weird. Eerie, really.

Austin Gorton said...

Whales.

Was this, like, just from last week? How did I not hear about it?

Michael Offutt, Phantom Reader said...

Aliens!

Josh said...

Weird stuff in this world. But still not as scary as sinkholes, which will be the end of us all.

Rena said...

Ice.

I lived in Vermont, and the ice on the lakes sounds like whales. I would have never believed it until I was standing on the stuff myself. That long though, that's different. Usually, the whale song only lasts for a couple of pings. Pretty neat though.

Maria Zannini said...

It is weird especially with it happening all over the world.

In MN, I wonder too if sound from above wasn't being reflected and breaking the ice with the vibration.

Slamdunk said...

Now that is a new one on me. I have never lived that close to a river though.

Catherine Stine said...

Wow, someone said it's ice. Who knew ice could emit weird sounds. Just learned something new.

Unknown said...

'tis the wail of the Banshee I tells ye!

Quite a haunting sound; didn't realise shifting ice made sounds like that.

Elizabeth Twist said...

I love the whole sky sounds phenomena, but it seems like this is just ice.

Earlier this year my brother and his wife experienced an "ice quake," where the ground frost builds up so quickly and intensely it cracks, creating a loud booming sound. They (and all their neighbours) thought a tree branch had fallen on the roof of their house.

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