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NASA has no idea what these creepy sounds coming from the edge of space are

May 5, 2015, 20:06 IST

Scientists at NASA are baffled after a student recorded never-before-heard hissing noises 22 miles above earth.

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The eerie noises were recorded using infrasound microphones aboard a NASA student balloon experiment in Arizona and New Mexico and are only audible to the human ear after speeding up the recordings.

It is important to note that infrasounds are capable of travelling extremely long distances, making it even more difficult to pinpoint where the sound originates from.

David Bowman, the student at North Carolina who captured the creepy noises told Live Science: "It sounds kind of like The X-Files."

'There haven't been acoustic recordings in the stratosphere for 50 years," he explained to Live Science. "Surely, if we place instruments up there, we will find things we haven't seen before."

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The balloon, which has infrasound sensors attached to it, reached altitudes of over 123,000 feet (37,500 meters).

It's the first time infrasound recordings have ever been captured at such a height.

Researchers, who say they've never heard many of the strange noises captured by Bowman, have been working to find out what could be creating the sounds. Live Science say their guesses so far include a wind-farm emitting signals below the balloon's flight path, ocean waves, wind turbulence, and vibrations caused by the balloon's cables.

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