Explorers and Inuit have long reported a low, prolonged sound that seems to come from all directions, sometimes like wind, sometimes like a distant train whistle or the wail of a giant beast. Inuit tradition calls it the "spirit of the sky" calling lost souls. The phenomenon is difficult to capture consistently with instruments and has long retained a mysterious quality.
Account
Explorers and Inuit have long reported a low, prolonged sound that seems to come from all directions, sometimes like wind, sometimes like a distant train whistle or the wail of a giant beast. Inuit tradition calls it the "spirit of the sky" calling lost souls. The phenomenon is difficult to capture consistently with instruments and has long retained a mysterious quality.
Debunked
The scientific explanation is that polar temperature inversions cause sounds from hundreds of kilometers away (ocean waves, glacier calving) to propagate and amplify abnormally, or that auroral electromagnetic waves become audible under certain conditions.
Sources
- Polar expedition logs
- Inuit oral tradition
- polar acoustics research