Case file · Folklore / legend
Singing dunes of Tarfaya
Saharan desert lore blames jinn for the loud booming that dunes sometimes make. In 2004 the physicist Bruno Andreotti published measurements from dunes near Tarfaya in southern Morocco.
2004 CE · 27.94, -12.90 · status: explained
The account
The sound, a low hum near 100 Hz loud enough to be heard kilometres away, comes when sand avalanches down a dune face. Marco Polo and Arab travellers had attributed such sounds to spirits.
The sceptical view
The physics is natural, though scientists still debate exactly how the grains synchronise.