Cavechat.org

It looks like NASA might have an answer to all the cavers who have claimed to hear or see odd things while in a cave alone or while waiting for a group to return. I know I personally have heard voices from my fellow cavers yelling to me in a cave from a distance only to find out no one was even talking. I am sure a lot of cavers have experienced similar things.

"What they've found is that when all outside noise is removed from an enclosure, human hearing will do its best to find something to listen to. In a room where almost 100% of sound is muted, people begin to hear things like their own heartbeat at a greatly amplified volume. As the minutes tick by in absolute quiet, the human mind begins to lose its grip, causing test subjects to hallucinate."

Read the story HERE.

Anyone ever hear voices in running water while alone in a cave, in the gurgling sound the water makes?

agosnell wrote:Anyone ever hear voices in running water while alone in a cave, in the gurgling sound the water makes?

Yes. Many, many times. Weird, huh?

NZcaver wrote:

agosnell wrote:Anyone ever hear voices in running water while alone in a cave, in the gurgling sound the water makes?

Yes. Many, many times. Weird, huh?

Yes, it's very common.

Bruce Bedford, in "Challenge Underground", talks about "them" in wet caves. "They" are always talking and seem very clumsy with heavy footsteps and banging about further along the passage yet "they" never arrive, especially when you are sat waiting for other cavers to come back after you have decided to wait for them to explore some side passage a while.

I remember one cave in AL (I believe it was Lamons), where there was a passage on the map labeled "talking waters." When I went through there I found out why it was called that. It kept fooling me into thinking that there was another group of cavers coming. Pretty cool stuff!

Trogman

I usually take 5-12 hour cave trips for surveying purposes and I swear, at least once every trip I hear another caver or something. It gets worse the longer ones in a cave. Once one stays in a cave past when they are normally relaxing or in bed at home, that's when hallucinating takes a new turn... Your mind plays tricks on ya which is one reason why I would NEVER absolutely NEVER cave alone!! That would drive me insane and probably freak me out at the same time...

agosnell wrote:Anyone ever hear voices in running water while alone in a cave, in the gurgling sound the water makes?

Oh, yeah!

I so knew there was no one there, but it still sounded like it!

On the other hand.... one time I was standing at the entrance to Swildon's (the insurgence) with two of the early explorer's of Wookey Hole (the resurgence). It was a Friday morning (not a weekend) and I said, "There's people in there." The two men (who were both the types to be very sure of themselves) said, "You're just hearing the water." Sure enough. About a minute later, a caver pops out.

I've had that experience many times too... I swear I can hear voices and then it turns out to be people talking. Very weird.

Extremeophile wrote:I've had that experience many times too... I swear I can hear voices and then it turns out to be people talking. Very weird.

Not just the voices in your head again?

David Grimes wrote:It looks like NASA might have an answer to all the cavers who have claimed to hear or see odd things while in a cave alone or while waiting for a group to return. I know I personally have heard voices from my fellow cavers yelling to me in a cave from a distance only to find out no one was even talking. I am sure a lot of cavers have experienced similar things.

Cf. Dr. John C. Lilly and the warm epsom salt isolation tank of the 1970s, Grasshopper. Found out a loooooong time ago with the correct conditions you didn't need hallucinagens. Ok.

I call them Cave Sirens. Don't listen to them. They will surely lead you to your doom.

On one of my first cave trips, I stopped and sat down to take the place in. After a while I started hearing this thud thud thud thud... it was my heart beat.

I've also experienced the "voices in running water" thing.

Another time I was in a river cave with one other person. The rest of the group had headed out, so we knew we were alone. After a while we started hearing what sounded very much like someone walking through the water up ahead. The noise turned out to be water dripping into the river from a dome.

Things get weird down there, but I like it.

I can tell of a sure place where the running water will sound like people talking. The first time I heard it I was expecting to climb down and run into other cavers. The rope climb in petty johns cave. The one just after the pancake squeeze. There are a few other places on the stream level walking towards the first waterfall you can experience this.

Pretty cool stuff.

Shane S wrote:I can tell of a sure place where the running water will sound like people talking. The first time I heard it I was expecting to climb down and run into other cavers. The rope climb in petty johns cave. The one just after the pancake squeeze. There are a few other places on the stream level walking towards the first waterfall you can experience this.

Pretty cool stuff.

Most of the time in P-Johns it is other people talking.

Trogman

That is usually true. Last time I was exiting at 2am and could hear it. I don't think anyone else was down there.