I stumbled upon this article from the Borneo Post, Skeptics Unconvinced Rumble Caused by Oil Palm Mill here. It’s quite clear people don’t believe the official explanation. If you dont know the background on this story start here and then read this here. That’ll bring you up to speed.
According to the article, the strange sounds heard over Samarahan in January, were explained away by the Deputy Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation as being emitted from an oil palm mill. The government is being very reasonable by inviting skeptics to meet with the team of researchers to further discuss the event. The Ministry of Science issued a statement that the sounds were the result of steam being released from the factory. There are lots of factories releasing loud steam in the middle of the night these days, like this example here.
From the article:
The whistling sounds were produced by steam which the factory emitted to the air in the wee hours of Jan 11 and 12, said a statement from the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation on Jan 31. This was confirmed by the factory’s deputy general manager Yusmizan Desa when a team of investigators from the ministry, National Space Agency and Meteorological Department came to see him. The statement however stated the explanation provided by the team of investigators and the factory located at Kampung Endap was only based on their initial finding.
Now if we go back to the official explanation here, they said the factory was required to reproduce the sounds. That’s a really great idea but where is the video demonstrating this? One big question no one seems to be answering is this. Was the factory malfunctioning and why had it not been heard before?
I admire the government there for trying to provide answers because it’s not good when people are upset over unexplained things. It makes the world feel uncertain and unreliable.
According to the article the discussion hasn’t ended. Now I think it’s only fair that we look at a few reader comments from the article. I have a feeling this might be representative of what people feel. These are all very reasonable comments.
We have the “betrayal” response here:
Hey, we’re not playthings that can be manipulated by this type of nonsense. Udah2 gk ya, nak ngepau org ko.. Just announce the truth. We, as the citizen, will not panic of whatever it is (somehow, but we’re humans, got feelings), As we know the truth, we can prepare ourselves to counter any catastrophe events that may result from these uncertainties. If it is something that cannot be avoid of, at least give us time to say farewells to our beloved members and repent our sins to the Almighty God. Is it hard to tell the truth? If you liked it, then you shoulda put a ring on it. Don’t be mad once you see that he want it. -Analytical Legions —ConspiracySlayer
MORE AFTER THE JUMP…
We have the “prove-it” response here:
As much as it may be true (the sound comes from the oil palm mill), the team should show evidences that such sounds are reproducible when the mill is in operation and compare it to the sound recorded during the recorded event. Present and explain it in detail to the public. Merely releasing a simple statement such as this shows lack of professionalism among the appointed team members and thus makes the MOSTI’s (with the name ‘Science’ in it) reputation and credibility questionable. Any science graduate should know how to report and present their findings. You need strong evidences to support your claim; otherwise people will just rubbish your findings. You’ve learned that in schools and universities.—Lone Ranger
And finally the “I know what I’m talking about because I’ve been there” response:
Nonsense conclusion!!! I’ve been visiting our Company’s mills many many times and is very familar with the sound of steam being released from relief valves. The sound is very very different from snoring and it (though very loud) cannot be heard if the distance is 2-3km away. After all, it is against the DOE regulations to release the pressure during wee hours especially if nearby residential areas !!! Ask the half baked minister to use his common sense before concluded something!!!!—Setia Raja
We may never know the answer but everyone loves a mystery (including yours truly) and I have a feeling this is going to be discussed by the citizens for a long time to come.
thanks for the update, i was wondering what became of this! lol aside from the random beyonce lyrics, i’m glad the malaysian people are not being fooled by their government’s dismissive explanations. however, i doubt the malaysian government has any idea what the sounds really were anyway, or that they will ever be able to find out, so there isn’t much point to the debate other than to show their displeasure about being shoved with a half-assed ‘finding’.
but it seems like the malaysian incident is the only one where nobody believes that it is a hoax, perhaps because the whole village heard the sounds. its refreshing to see the article label “skeptics” as people who do not believe the government explanations, rather than people who do not believe the sounds happened.
lol…the Beyonce quote.
This makes me resent our government even more. But more over, what about the scientific community? Why have I only seen one video of a real scientist trying to explain the sounds (which I didn’t believe)? What is going on with that? The least they could say is “we don’t know, but we are investigating”. The media doesn’t even seem all that interested. It’s baffling.
Please don’t shut down your blog. I am so grateful for your updates. Even though I don’t post every day, I do read each and every one of them. Thank you for your diligence!
I am counting on you to sort this out! : )
No matter what explanation their government gave, there would be those who would deny it.
Gotta say, I have a hard time taking the first commentators “-Analytical Legions —ConspiracySlayer” words seriously given he just sounds way too much like a tin-foil hat wearing doom-sayer nutjob. I mean, he really made a lot of assumptions there and it is not like he has any ground to prove that the official explanation is a lie.
However, I do agree with the last two commentators that some evidence would be nice.
Again though, what’s the point of asking the government for an explanation if you are just going to reject ANYTHING they say that is not scary enough?
All very good points. I do think however if they reproduced the sound on video it would be the answer no one could reject. The point of the first one is that he has feels betrayed by the government and is religious. It’s probably a prevalent point of view. The other two are more rational, one being a request to prove it scientifically and the other an eyewitness account of venting release valves.
i am not worried or bothered if these are all hoaxes. but i am concerned if its real n just because the mass doesnt want to give it the attention it deserves, i fear we might b too late if this phenomena is actually trying to tell us something.
honestly, i am in my mid 30s n i have to agree, nature does feel different these days. fragile n unexpectable, unlike how it was.
It’s true. We have caused major unintentional damage to our environment over the past year. Fukushima nuclear disaster and the BP oil spill. What else will we do until the earth bites back.
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