The mystery humming noise plaguing a city

A city in Canada of more than 200,000 residents is being plagued by a mysterious humming noise.

The 'Windsor hum' is described as sounding like an idling engine, or the boom of subwoofers at a concert - and it has lasted for years.

Residents first started complaining about it in 2011.

The 'hum' rattles windows and makes wall hangings tremble, locals in Windsor have said.

Other have described it as sounding like Star Trek's Enterprise hitting warp speed.

Windsor sits across the river from Detroit, in Michigan, US and locals initially blamed industry for the sound.

But after years of the Windsor hum, it's still not clear where it's coming from.

Concerned resident Sabrina Wiese said in a Facebook group dedicated to the mysterious noise: "You know how you hear of people who have gone out to secluded places to get away from certain sounds or noises?"

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"I've wanted to do that many times in the past year or so, because it has gotten so bad," she wrote.

"Imagine having to flee all you know and love to have a chance to hear nothing humming in your head for hours on end."

Another member of the group, Tim Carpenter, who specialises in geotechnical engineering and machine vibrations, said not everyone can hear it.

"It's as if you had a fire hose moving back and forth and the people who have the water falling on them hear the noise, and if you're outside that stream, you don't hear the noise," he told the New York Times.

According to a number of reports, Zug Island, which houses a factory run by US Steel in Detroit, has been identified as a possible source.

In 2014, Global Affairs Canada not only confirmed the hum existed but recommended Zug Island be monitored for noise.

But as of 2018, the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade has been yet to get full access to the island to study the sound and reach a conclusion according to tech news website, Ars Technica.

Tracey Ramsey, a member of the Canadian House of Commons, said she often gets calls about the humming with Windsor residents complaining of headaches, fatigue and depression.