Origin of Strange Sounds in the Night

All around the world, reports of eerie sounds in the distance have many people concerned. Although these strange haunting noises may appear supernatural, science has another answer. Often heard in the winter months, these sounds are produced usually by machines on the ground and distorted by unusual weather phenomena. When a temperature inversion occurs, sound will rebound from the atmosphere above and come back to Earth. Since only the higher range of sound dissipates under these conditions, a distortion of the original sound occurs so that instead of hearing something like road construction or highway noise, witnesses will report "other worldly noises". Rest assured, there is nothing paranormal about these sounds. The longer the signal, the more it distorts. After traveling sometimes hundreds of miles, the tones received often bear little resemblance to the original sound source.