Is the ‘Windsor Hum’ Finally Over?

A mysterious noise has plagued residents of Windsor and parts of downriver Detroit for years.

The ‘Windsor Hum’ made headlines worldwide, joining dozens of similar low-frequency environmental noises reported in areas around the world, like the infamous ‘Taos Hum‘ in New Mexico.

“When the fire went out, the Hum died.” — Neal Rubin, Detroit News

“It’s generally believed to have started in 2011,” says Neal Rubin, a columnist for the Detroit News, who wrote about the phenomena recently. “Some people [spoken with] were bothered by it, some were amused, others were plagued by this thing.” 

Listen: The Windsor Hum

For some Windsor residents, the Hum became such a source of frustration that they commiserated together in a Facebook group.

In the years after it began, the noise was eventually tied to operations at U.S. Steel on Michigan’s Zug Island, although no conclusive proof of that was made. 

Rubin says the suspicion that U.S. Steel operations were the source of the Hum has gained more traction with the closing of the plant in the spring of 2020. 

While that’s not definitive proof, Rubin says, it’s close enough for some Windsor engineers he’s spoken with. “A fellow I talked to who teaches at the University of Windsor, he was always pretty darned certain that the steel plant was the source, but now he’s convinced.” 

Click the player above to hear CultureShift’s Amanda LeClaire speak with Neal Rubin about the mystery of the Windsor Hum.