This weekend while I was checking my Twitter feed I saw something that caught my attention. The tweet was from one of the major local radio personalities in Missoula and it read “strange sounds heard over skies of Missoula, Montana.” There was then a link after it. Because of the type of person I am, I immediately clicked on it (will explain in a little bit).
The link took me to a video that this radio personality took himself. Okay, so I don’t refer to him as a “radio personality” for the rest of this post, let me introduce you to Aaron Traylor. Also known as “The Tallest DJ In America” (Aaron stands 6’10), Traylor is a local celebrity. He has shaped not only the current music and party scene in Missoula, he has also pretty much created and pioneered the social media realm here in the Zoo as well. There is no one who is followed more on Facebook and Twitter than Traylor himself and his station, 107.5 Zoo FM. He has gotten to this prominent spot in the Missoula landscape through hard work, savviness, great marketing, and risk taking. He is also controversial.
I clicked on Aaron’s link and watched the video. For those of you who are unable to view/hear it, you are missing out on the discussion. Aaron is on a playground and there is this eerie noise filling the sky. Definitely hard to describe but think of a high pitched, vibrating, alarm grabbing type sound. Think of any sound that you would associate with a UFO science-fiction type movie and you have an idea of the sound that is dominating the audio of the video. The setting of the video just intensifies the spookiness as well. It is recorded on a pretty much deserted playground, a dog runs to Aaron as the strange sounds hit a peak, and there is a single little child stalking across the snowy surface (the child is really just Aaron’s little girl but it definitely adds impact to it).
When I first watched it I didn’t really know what to think. I am a sucker for anything supernatural, unexplainable, or apocalyptical. This type of stuff has interested me since I was a little kid and it still fascinates me to this day. I grew up watching Unsolved Mysteries and checking out ghost books at the library. I was a huge fan of the X-Files and I always loved watching shows and reading literature that dealt with alien abductions. I would love to make visits to Roswell and Area 51. The fact that this video was occurring right in Missoula made it even more exciting for me. However, the other side of me told me that this was an account told by a highly successful radio DJ. As I said, Aaron has made a name for himself by being edgy and controversial. It is the name of the business…it is how you are successful. Because I had heard nothing about this incident from the local newspaper or the local media outlets, I did not know really what to think.
I became more skeptical when I watched a link that was attached to Aaron’s video. The link took you to another place in the country where the exact same thing was happening. This place was Amarillo, Texas, and when you first hear the location it seems convincing. But then you watch the video and doubts start to swirl. It just so happens that the group that recorded the sounds in Amarillo is a sister station of 107.5 Zoo FM. Not only that, but I found the whole video a little on the cheesy side. A local DJ is spooked over the noises conveniently heard right outside the radio station. He walks down the hallway and reaches the room where his other DJ friend is broadcasting, just in the nick of time to hear the whole station identification proclaimed by the on-duty DJ. The two DJs then enter into a discussion where the word “dude” is used about fifty times and the dialogue seems just a little…how shall I put it…rehearsed. It made me almost give up on the whole thing.
But then I read on in Aaron’s account where he said these noises have been happening all across the world. I immediately began a totally unofficial Google research session. Sure enough, these strange sounds in the sky are pretty much a phenomenon that is happening all over the place that has started since the beginning of 2012. I read articles and watched video of similar occurrences, ones that did not have verbally challenged DJs from Texas. I felt a little dumb for not hearing about this earlier.
As more and more of these “strange sounds” incidents pop up, about the same amount of scientific explanations are offered. When it comes to these scientific solutions, the one I came across the most is that the sounds are a reflection of something weird that is going on underneath the earth as plates move and such. Not my area of expertise. When it comes to the Missoula incident, many people are attributing either the railroad or the airport as the culprit. While science does take some of the fun and mystery away from the sounds, we really can’t just take these academic solutions simply as fact. I mean obviously some of them are wrong if there are so many.
Since Saturday, I have watched as a mini uproar has come to surface in Missoula. In the middle of this all is Aaron. People have called him a liar and discounted his story. I have watched as he has steadfastly stated that this is not a publicity stunt. He has said his sleep has been impacted by the sounds and his mind is constantly on it. As I have heard him respond to the criticism I have definitely decided that I believe that the sounds Aaron recorded are legitimate. Whether they are the product of a simple scientific explanation or an alien invasion I don’t know. But I don’t believe it is a hoax.
I will continue to follow this story. I want to hear the sounds. I want to record them with my flip camera and post on my Facebook page. I want to be spooked a little bit and have my heart jump….I love that feeling. If anyone else has heard these noises please let me know, I would like nothing more than to pick your brain about them. Keep an ear open, Missoula! Don’t Blink.
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