Could a mystery noise dubbed the Mawnan Hum be the same phenomenon that has disturbed sleepers in across the globe since the sixties?

The strange humming noise has been likened by some to a far away diesel engine. Council chair Dennis Gartside and his wife are among those who have heard the high pitched whine.

A notice has now been posted in the village by parish clerk John Harrop asking anyone who is being plagued by the noise to come forward.

John said: “Since the notice went up we have only had two more reports, both from Falmouth. It seems to be heard on the sea facing side of the village. I suspect it could be the ships in the bay.”

Experts have been researching the strange noise ever since it was first reported in the UK as the Bristol Hum, after a large number of people in the city reported being disturbed by the noise.

By the mid 1970's complaints were being received by environmental health officers in town and cities across the UK. National newspapers even went as far as asking their readers "can you hear the Hum? Over 800 people said that they had..

The “hum” has since been reported in countries across the globe and the potential cause has been the subject of academic research. It even featured in the cult sci-fi TV show, The X-Files.

Among the explanations suggested is the high voltage electrical grid supply interacting with the charged particles of the Earth's ionosphere, factory fans, fridges and other electrical equipment and electrical substations?

Dr David Baguley, head of audiology at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, who has resarched the phenomenon, says that in the majority of cases an environmental source can be tracked down and dealt with.

Over sensitivity to low freqency sound had also been suggested.