Forest Grove Sound

The Forest Grove Sound was an unexplained noise, described by The Oregonian as a "mechanical scream", heard in Forest Grove, Oregon, in February 2016.

In February 2016, a high-pitched noise was heard intermittently at night in Forest Grove, Oregon. The Department of Forestry determined that their equipment was not the cause of the sound. The news about the noise was first shared with Dave Nemeyer by a Forest Grove resident, who posted a video of it on the city's Facebook page. The Washington Post described the noise as sounding like a "giant flute played off pitch", car brakes, or a steam whistle. NBC News described it as "akin to a bad one-note violin solo broadcast over a microphone with nonstop feedback". It reportedly lasted from ten seconds to several minutes at a time. The fire department of Forest Grove did not consider the sound to be a safety risk. The noise occurred near Gales Creek Road. Neither the City of Forest Grove Public Works Department nor the Fire Department were able to explain the noise. According to NW Natural, there were no problems with gas lines in Forest Grove at the time. In February 2016, Andrew Dawes, a professor of physics at Pacific University, mapped the locations where the noise had been heard, although the results were inconclusive and did not suggest any single location.