In this episode, I investigate a pretty noise emanating from an air vent in my office and wind up recording a summer thunderstorm.

I've always liked noise and sound -- odd and otherwise. A few years back, I acquired an interest in unusual noise when Fortean Times alerted me to a BBC story about scientists investigating strange noises near the city of Rajkot in western India.

Surprisingly, the BBC article fails to mention Bangladesh's famed Barisal Guns, which have been reported for centuries. Not surprisingly, Charles Fort described the Barisal Guns and other such phenomena many, many years ago in New Lands.

During the 1970s, I can recall numerous "Mystery Booms" making the news up and down the East Coast of the United States. The best explanation scientists came up with linked the sounds to deep-sea methane flatulence.

Similar phenomena include the Seneca Guns, the Moodus Noises and an entire family of disturbing sounds -- of which my favorite is the "Cornwall Thump." By the way, such noises are apparently known as "mistpouffers."

Perhaps the most notorious noise of late has been the Hum.

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