The Taos hum is a strange low frequency hum that has been reported as a low buzzing sound emanating from the ground by many Taos residents.  Some have been driven to the brink of insanity by this constant ominous buzzing coming from deep within the bowels of the earth.  Others have simply pulled up their Taos roots and left the area.  This is sad because Taos is a simply wonderful place and hum or no hum, I want to live there someday.

  Much speculation has been given regarding this strange noise.  Some say that it is a form of seismic activity, others who border on the edge of conspiracy theory,  say it is a government experiment in VLF (very low frequency) radio waves designed to initiate earthquakes.  Others insist that it originates from the generators of a nearby power plant.  A spokesman for the power plant though, has said that this is impossible.

 My own investigation of this phenomena yielded a different twist to the story.  The first person I talked to was the motel clerk.  He wouldn't even talk to me until it was confirmed that I was indeed one of the hotel guests.  Having confirmed my identity, he told me he had never heard the hum and told me to go north to the Taos indian pueblo to ask them.  The pueblo was closed that week to outsiders, so back into Taos I went.  By this time it was getting very late.  I had asked the waitress and other patrons in a small cafe where I had stopped to have coffee and a snack.  No one there had ever heard the hum.  Totally discouraged, I returned to the hotel but stopped at the hotel bar to make one last inquiry.  As soon as I walked in a group of waiters and employees yelled to me that the bar was closed for the night.  I said: "Oh don't worry, I don't want a drink, I just want someone to tell me about the Taos hum.  You see, I've driven two thousand miles to hear this strange hum and no one knows a thing about it!"  They all started laughing at me.  I was about to leave when a slightly drunk Taos indian signaled me to come over to where he was sitting.  He wanted me to know that he was not laughing at me and that he alone was the only one who understood my quest.  He said that he believed in the hum, though he had never heard it himself.  He also said that the hum should be taken seriously because he believed it was the voices of his ancestors calling out to the Taos tribe.  I asked him where I might go to hear this hum.  He directed me to go way out of the city limits, almost to the edge of the Rio Grand canyon some 15 miles away.  I thanked him and off I went to finally get a chance at hearing the elusive sound.  As I left the bar on my way to the car, I saw a license plate on a late model Honda that read 666HUM.  I thought of tracking this person down but decided against it.

A half hour later I found myself in the middle of the vast New Mexico desert, all alone at two or three in the morning , with my head pressed against the ground for almost an hour straining to hear this enchanting sound.  But it was all for naught, as all I could hear was the pounding of blood inside my tired head.  I rolled over and lay on my back looking at the bright stars of the desert sky and thought: "Hey, I'm in New Mexico, maybe I'll see a UFO."