Complaints Surround Mysterious 'Kokomo Hum'

Feb. 13 -- Some say it's like a diesel engine idling. Others describe it as a deep drone or fluorescent light-like buzz. And a great many people don't hear anything at all.

Complaints about the "Kokomo Hum" began in 1999, when a handful of local residents began to report a constant low-pitched rumbling noise. They say they developed a range of mysterious health problems soon after, including dizziness, diarrhea, extreme fatigue, joint and muscle pain, nosebleeds, and excruciating, unending headaches.

"I think we all know something was starting to go drastically wrong about two years ago," says LaQuita Zimmerman, a 55-year-old grandmother who has lived in Kokomo her entire life. "It went from a headache to a never-ending headache," she says. When she leaves Kokomo to visit relatives, the suffering abates, she says.

"It's been over two years now," says Maria McDaniels, who lives several miles away from Zimmerman. "We just noticed a low hum — a drone in the background. It seemed to increase in intensity in the wee hours of the night."

McDaniels says she, her two sons and her husband began to experience regular headaches, sleep problems, and diarrhea around the same time. She admits she doesn't know for certain how the sound she hears relates to the symptoms, but she wants the hum investigated.

Zimmerman and McDaniels are not alone; Sen. Richard Lugar's office says it has received more than 80 letters complaining about the sound.

But most people in this central Indiana town of 45,000 don't hear anything at all.

Hum Complaints Met With Skepticism

Many Kokomo residents have been skeptical about reports of mysterious illnesses caused by a mysterious vibration, and local officials have done little to investigate.

"I know it does sound pretty bizarre," Zimmerman says. "It did to me before I was affected."

Attention to the problem began to increase last summer, however, when the Kokomo Tribune began an extensive investigation of the reports of the hum.

The paper talked to 40 residents who reported hearing the noise, and found that nearly all had visited a doctor more than once about related health problems, and at least 15 had undergone a series of neurological tests. Doctors typically attributed the problems to stress or aging, the Tribune found.