In a small town in Connecticut, people have been hearing rumbling sounds coming from a small hill for centuries.

Moodus, a small town in East Haddam (originally named Machimoodus, which means “Places of Evil Noises” in the Algonquin language), is the backdrop for our eerie mystery.

These noises revolved around Mount Tom, located where the Salmon and Moodus Rivers intersect. The sounds ring off like cannon shots or explosions, and in their most recent appearance, sent emergency responders running to the action. But there was nothing to help, the sounds had come from deep below the earth’s crust. 

1536The Algonquians who originally inhabited Moodus believed the sounds to be the voice of their “awesome and scary” god Hobomok. Some Algonquians lived on Mount Tom and became specialists at interpreting the words of Hobomok. When the Puritans arrived in the 1670s, they were terrified of the sounds and believed that the Native Americans were worshipping the Devil.

A Boston Globe Article from 1891 describes the Moodus Noises:

“The noises begin with a seemingly far away low rumbling note that speedily swells in volume and intensity, and culminates in a vast rolling sound, like the muttering of distant thunder, and the ground trembles as if with the throe of an earthquake.”

Another article from 1940 provides a similar account:

“You can always distinguish these noises from blasting; the concussion is so much greater”.

The last report of the Moodus Noises was 2011, so keep your ears peeled.