The Noisy Aurora?

According to some people, the aurora swishes, hisses, sizzles, rustles, rushes, whizzes, crackles, or whispers. It can sound like the tearing of silk, the wind in the trees, the noise of flying birds, the sweeping of sand, or the flapping of a ship's sails. Or it can sound like nothing at all and, in fact, many northerners have insisted that the aurora is soundless, and have questioned the claims of successful auroral auditors.

Carl Lomen, once the "Reindeer King" of the Seward Peninsula, liked to say that observers of the Northern Lights need only close their eyes to shut off sounds imagined while watching the display. David Thompson, an 18th century explorer for the Hudsons' Bay Company, blindfolded his companions during a display because he thought their eyes were deceiving their ears. Sure enough, the sightless men stopped hearing the noise. Other polar explorers (John Franklin, Robert Hood, John Richardson, Elisha Kent Rane, and Vilhjalmur Stefansson among them) have not acknowledged hearing the aurora. Richardson believed without hearing, however, because "the uniform testimony of the natives...induces me to believe that its motions are sometimes audible".

Scientists have puzzled over the existence and the probable causes of the sound for many years. Perhaps atmospheric conditions must be very select before sound is emitted. Perhaps only a proportionately few individuals have ears attuned to the mysterious noises. The issue is a vexing one which has broken ancient friendships and set husband against wife.

For many decades, a staggering quantity of evidence of sound impressions has been accumulated. Were all these hearers victims of confusion--or merely mistaken? Individuals who have not heard have several possible choices: 1) believe, even if you cannot hear, 2) pretend you have heard and avoid embarrassment; 3) denounce hearers as charlatans; 4) keep listening.