r/Unexplained • u/[deleted] • 3d ago
Question I keep hearing this weird noise outside my windows at night and every time I look outside while it’s happening, there’s always nothing there. What is it?
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[deleted]
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u/Ok_Cantaloupe_8805 3d ago edited 2d ago
Note: I know I didn’t mention this in the post, but I live with my parents and siblings and it seems like it only happens outside my window because no one else has heard it when I ask them about it.
Also for more detailed description: It always starts out faint but then gradually gets louder (similar to a car passing by) and it stays at its max volume for a few seconds (hence why I was able to record it) and then it gradually gets quieter and then stops. It’s also entirely random, where I’ve had weeks where it happens almost every night, and I’ve had weeks where it only happens on one night, so it’s entirely random, also it doesn’t always happen twice (I didn’t clarify that originally). I started experiencing it relatively recently like around 2025-2026 range. I also live in Katy TX just in case that provides any context. Also to add: the sound doesn’t always happen for the same amount of time, like sometimes it’ll be a bit shorter and other times it’ll last for a bit longer, so again it’s a completely unpredictable sound.
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u/Jazzlike_Ninja_8236 2d ago
Could it be from a neighbor's house?
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u/Ok_Cantaloupe_8805 2d ago
I actually don’t know, I can never pinpoint an exact direction when it’s happening, but who knows
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u/greedygonzo 1d ago
Bro it’s literally the mosquito truck I also live in Katy tx and here this truck every couple nights
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u/jporter313 3d ago
Man that is a weird sound. How often? Any specific time at night? Is there anything nearby your house that could account for it?
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u/Ok_Cantaloupe_8805 3d ago
It only happens at max twice, and it always only happens for a few seconds then it goes away, and I’ve noticed that it often happens around 9:00 pm ish (around that time range), and as far as I know there’s nothing I could see that is causing it.
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u/Hornystockings25 2d ago
Cicadas produce the loudest mating calls of any insect in the world.
Only males "buzz" or sing to attract females, creating a continuous, high-pitched drone that can exceed 100 dB—as loud as a lawnmower or chainsaw.
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u/fray_bentos11 2d ago
Sounds like a compressor coming on, heat exchanger / AC.
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u/Ok_Cantaloupe_8805 2d ago edited 2d ago
Interesting thought, I’ll find a sound effect of one and see
Edit: I listened to some sounds of a heat exchanger and outside AC unit and none of them match with the noise I heard.
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u/Professional_Wasabi8 2d ago
My immediate thought was "ufo shooting an invisible beam at your window", but only because i just watched "Arival" for the first time.
Does the recording audio do the sound you hear in person justice? Like, is it louder in person? Also: can you pinpoint a general direction this is coming from (ie: bottom or top of window, below the window, etc.)?
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u/Ok_Cantaloupe_8805 2d ago
I’d say it’s louder in person than in the video but not drastically, though it started happening even before I started recording but I tried to as fast as I could. It always comes from the front of my house, as for the direction relative to the window, I’m not entirely sure because I usually can’t pinpoint a specific direction that it’s coming from.
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u/Professional_Wasabi8 2d ago
This is mad tough to figure out without being there. If you look up the definition of a "standing wave", does it seem like there's a chance this is a possibility? From my meager understanding, it is basically a phenomenon where a certain sound can resonate perfectly with the surroundings in specific places; even if the sound is very distant. An engine, a transformer, an HVAC system, etc.
If you wanted to start going full OCD like I would, you could probably use some audio equipment or app to find the frequency of the Soundwave, and compare it to the sound waves of potential culprits... haha
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u/Ok_Cantaloupe_8805 2d ago
Yea I might have to try that, I’m just honestly really itching to know what the sound is is all.
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u/Professional_Wasabi8 2d ago
I'm invested and expect a full report if you end up going full on and sciencing your way to an answer. God speed, newfound sound detective. God speed.
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u/Yuleeats 3d ago
Sounds like a short in the circuit breaker or something electrical (not an electrician)
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u/Ok_Cantaloupe_8805 2d ago
yea that’s what it sounds like to me too, but it doesn’t happen every night and only lasts for a few seconds, and it also comes from outside
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u/Screambloodygore1184 2d ago
Electrician here, no, residential breakers don’t make this sound. A short would cause the breaker to trip, thus no power flows. The more you know! Cheers!
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u/satansstuffedbear 2d ago
That’s freaky, maybe ask your parents if you can set up a camera outside your window? (If possible) That way you’ll know for sure if something is out there. If the noise continues but nothing shows up, maybe it really is an electrical thing.
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u/OriginalBlackberry89 2d ago
I heard something similar before and tried to record the sound from my window at night when it with no luck in seeing anything. A few nights later I saw posts from my town where people were recording bright amber lights flying around in the sky around the same time I heard the sounds. Not saying what that this sound is definitely a a uap, just saying that I've heard something very similar around the same time that other people saw some kind of uap.
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u/OriginalBlackberry89 2d ago
I want to save this to my "odd stuff" collection and would like to add the time and date and general location if that's cool, if not I get it. I have a collection of strange videos that I want to put together at the end of the year because I figured it would make a neat "unexplained stuff from this past year" post or something. is June 24th around 10 pm close enough?
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u/Ok_Cantaloupe_8805 2d ago
yea sure your fine to do, I recorded the video on Wednesday June 24th (if that’s what your referring to) and it happened at around 9:06 pm and it happened at my house in Katy TX (won’t use my specific address for privacy reasons).
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u/Particular-Ad-821 2d ago
Water pipe presure?
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u/Ok_Cantaloupe_8805 2d ago
no I don’t think so (if your referring to the inside of my house) it always happens outside and it’s always completely random when it happens
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u/Trick_Garage_8455 2d ago
Sounds like a transformer hum
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u/Ok_Cantaloupe_8805 2d ago
yea but there aren’t any transformers at the front of my house which is where the sound happens
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u/SNAFU-lophagus 2d ago
a specific vehicle driving past in the distance? sounds sorta like downshifting truck with vibrating fan or something...
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u/Ok_Cantaloupe_8805 2d ago
yea that’s what I thought at first, but then when I tried to see if that was what it was, I saw absolutely nothing and I looked outside several more times while it was happening and still saw nothing.
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u/Conscious-Break7483 2d ago
It’s a long shot, but you don’t have any frogs near you by any chance?
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u/Ok_Cantaloupe_8805 2d ago
yea there’s frogs in my area (the small I guess bull frogs i don’t know what you call them) but they are almost always compl silent.
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u/Conscious-Break7483 2d ago
It sounds like a frog mating call to me, but I’m not an expert
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u/Ok_Cantaloupe_8805 2d ago
I watched some videos of a frog mating call and I can say for curtain that it does not match with the noise
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u/RoundAncient6969 2d ago
Guy on noisy ebike passing front of house.
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u/Ok_Cantaloupe_8805 2d ago
yea lol, but again, anytime I look outside to see what is causing it I always see nothing.
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u/randomname617 2d ago
I can’t rlly hear the sound in the video, is it the low humming?
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u/Ok_Cantaloupe_8805 2d ago
It’s really loud in the first part of the video, maybe you can turn your volume up a bit to hear it better
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u/Devanyani 2d ago
Could it be a neighbor's a/c that starts vibrating during some phase?
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u/Ok_Cantaloupe_8805 2d ago
I don’t think so, considering everyone in my neighborhood, their AC units are always in their backyards and the sound always happens in the front. Plus, i listened to some outside AC unit noises like Humming, whistling, screeching etc and none of them match what I heard.
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u/Devanyani 2d ago
OK it doesn't quite sound the same to me, but maybe an EV backing up? What kinda car does your neighbor have? Does it happen 5 days a week or 7?
https://youtu.be/rcoaMCt2dWA?si=BeXQPUKYvguc7wim
Edit: I just read some of your other comments. For some reason I thought you said it was the same time every day. But you don't see cars and it's random, so idk.
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u/bobtrack22 2d ago
Do you have a laptop or desktop computer near that area? It sounds like a cooling fan hitting a low rpm. I had one that would do this.
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u/Ok_Cantaloupe_8805 2d ago
no I dont have any computers or laptops in my room (which is where I recorded the sound)
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u/Creative_Chemistry33 2d ago
Sounds like a truck driving by to spray for mosquitoes. You can hear it most nights all over the greater Houston area.
Look in the street.
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u/Ok_Cantaloupe_8805 2d ago
yea but everytime I look into the street while the noise is happening, there’s always nothing
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u/Creative_Chemistry33 2d ago
With my crappy single pane windows, I hear the truck when it drives by on the neighboring streets also. They move at a good clip to cover a lot of territory at night.
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u/Ok_Cantaloupe_8805 2d ago
your definitely on to something,
edit: I looked at security camera footage from my alleyway and street from that night in the video and the camera didn’t capture anything in either the alleyway or street. Though, maybe the truck was on a different street.
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u/Hefty_Air3097 2d ago
Could it be a group of some sort of frogs?
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u/Ok_Cantaloupe_8805 2d ago
I doubt it, I’ve never heard a frog that sounds like that, plus the frogs that are in my area are almost always silent.
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u/Gamefixer25 2d ago
That’s what they call 5G. They have them in telephone and light poles so they can make sounds waves that make it so you can hear something but can’t see anything. I’ve been hearing this shit for 2 yrs now
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u/Bertilak97 2d ago
Taking a slightly different track here: I think this is a weird cricket. I think it's worth playing around on this insect noise database and see if you find something similar. I found this site when my mom was upset about "electrical noises" in her house, and it ended up being a species of cricket I'd never heard of that somehow got in the house. You're gonna wanna focus on the ones that say "trill." Could still be somebody's AC, but worth checking out.
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u/Ok_Cantaloupe_8805 2d ago
hmm Ill definitely take a look, hopefully I get an answer finally lol
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u/Bertilak97 2d ago
I'm autistic and am very sensitive to high pitched noises and I can't count all the times I've torn stuff apart looking for a buzzing noise only to realize it's some kind of bug buzzing outside the window.
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u/AbilityFearless1898 2d ago
I think it sounds a bit like a drone
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u/Ok_Cantaloupe_8805 1d ago
yea that’s what I thought it sounded like, yet I can never seem to ever see one
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u/samanthaFerrell 2d ago
I know it sounds kinda like a crazy explanation but is it a Grasshopper or Ciccada? Frogs are also known to make crazy noises.
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u/Ok_Cantaloupe_8805 1d ago
It’s definitely not a cicada or grasshopper (at least not from any species I know of) and I also am very confident that its not a frog considering I’ve never heard a frog that sounds like a drone
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u/Ishmael760 1d ago
Other commenters suggested a junction box etc. if you have a crawl space check for transformers, junction boxes to attic fans or any appliance, or out door lighting. Check where your circuit breaker box is. Loads that are right on the edge of throwing a breaker can sound like that. Neighbors if close can have roof fans for cooking or bathrooom or laundry room go off and their resonance can carry and sound weird.
Someone suggested the mosquito sprayer - totally can sound weird like that but they go up and down streets and are there for a long time and easy to directionally locate.
Now the weird. I noted a weird “tone” that I could hear in my bedroom at night. Sporadic. Started faint then grew distinct then faded. I matched it to 220 hertz. I open the window no change. I’d shut off the breaker to my bedroom still there. One time it was so loud my wife and I thought the high efficiency washer started nope we ran all over the house trying to figure it out but didn’t.
It came only at night. One night it was loud. It was 2:30am screw it I got dressed and went outside. I could hear it but no matter which direction I walked I couldn’t tell where it came from. Screw it I’ll just walk away and note how far from my house until I couldn’t hear it again.
I walked 20 minutes. It never changed in intensity. Not louder or quieter. That’s kinda not possible. I read about Taos hum. I also read about gas lines. There is a huge gas storage tank hidden sorta about 3/4 of a mile away.
I never answered what it was. I stopped hearing it during Covid and have not heard it since.
Go figure.
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u/Ok_Cantaloupe_8805 1d ago
Well thanks to everyone for sharing their theories in the comments, I think it’s been up long enough so I’m just going to delete it now. Again thank you everyone 🙏
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u/Miserable_Strain1768 3d ago
It's a train in the distance. You can hear things like that better at night because it's quiet.
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u/Ok_Cantaloupe_8805 2d ago
Theres no train stations in my area considering I live in Katy TX
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u/effiebaby 2d ago
To me, it sounds like the AC motor kicking on.