Seriously. Where is that music coming from?

Turns out it's not just New Jerseyans who have been hearing nerve-wrackingly loud music coming from the Port of Wilmington, Edgemoor and New Castle.

Multiple Wilmington residents say they've heard the thumping bass, too, though they can't agree on its source. Some think it may be mobile, moving between Bellefonte, Claymont and the Brandywine area.

One man, who wanted a reward for the exact location and refused to give his name, said it's coming from an after-hours club on the water near the I-495 bridge, while a Facebook commenter raised the possibility of a drone with a speaker attached to it.

Another unlikely theory is that it was coming from the William Penn High School band.

Megan MacDonald, who lives in Bellevue Manor, near Governor Printz Boulevard, said it was so loud on Oct. 23 that she called the non-emergency police line to complain.

"The dispatcher that I spoke with said that they were aware of the situation and had been receiving calls all night, even from as far as New Jersey," MacDonald said.

Another man said he heard loud music on Sept. 21 while on his way to an event at the Kalmar Nyckel tall ship, which is docked upriver from the port. Unfortunately, he didn't go investigate.

“I heard it twice while we were going there, and it was obviously coming from the north," Delaware-native Alan Goodman said. "It was really, I mean really, loud."

Where does it all point?

Oct. 23 is one of three nights during which the Delaware State Police department said it received complaints about the music. It also got calls on Oct. 14 and Oct. 28, between the hours of 7:45 and 11:30 p.m, Cpl. Michael Austin said in an email.

New Castle County Police Officer First Class Grigori Lopez Garcia said his department received complaints on Oct. 23 and Oct. 27, too, but officers couldn't find anything. The calls came from both New Jersey and Delaware, he said. The department received similar complaints on Oct. 26, but Garcia couldn't say for sure if they were related.

In all cases, officers couldn't hear anything.

Wilmington Police Sgt. Stephanie Castellani didn't think her department had received any complaints at all, while City of New Castle Police didn't immediately respond to calls for comment.

Jim Salmon, spokesman for the Delaware River and Bay Authority, said its police department has not received any complaints and is not involved in the investigation.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Coast Guard said if someone had complained about loud music, they'd transfer the call to state police in New Jersey or Delaware. He hadn't heard of any large events or boat parties on the Delaware River, and New Jersey State Police didn't immediately get back to The News Journal.

After mapping all the complaints out, it's still difficult to pinpoint exactly where the music is coming from. News Journal staff went out on more than one occasion trying to hear the music and find a likely source, but came up empty.

On one side of the Delaware River is a string of complaints running from New Castle to Claymont, though it's not clear how many of them police have investigated. Some of The News Journal's tipsters confessed they hadn't called police because it didn't seem like that big of a deal.

"It’s not so bad that I’ve made a complaint, but I have been curious about it," Cindy Naylor said in an email. She's from the Bellefonte area.

On the other side of the river are the New Jersey towns of Pennsville, Carneys Point and Penns Grove.

Pennsville Police Chief Allen J. Cummings said he received 21 complaints about the noise in October alone. Salem County in New Jersey has received at least 55 calls about the music, NJ Advance Media reported last week.

John Brown, who lives in the Midvale Development in New Castle, near the Route 13 and Del. 273 intersection, said he frequently hears music coming from Wilmington Manor Fire station and Dunkin' Donuts while he takes his morning walk.

It's probably unrelated, but he wanted to do anything he could to help his New Jersey neighbors get some peace and quiet.

"Maybe this is something the governor should look into," he said, suggesting a joint effort that gets the problem solved more quickly and lets people on both sides of the river sleep at night.

Is it even music?

One theory about the music is that it's not music at all, but a noise similar to the infamous "Windsor Hum"

In 2011, residents of Windsor, Canada, complained about a persistent and invasive low-frequency humming or droning noise that was keeping them up at night.

Similar rumblings have been heard in Taos, New Mexico, Bristol, England, and a handful of other locations.

In Canada, an extensive investigation could not definitively pinpoint the source, though eventually the University of Western Ontario and the University of Windsor concluded it was likely coming from Zug Island, an industrial complex in Detroit with large blast furnaces and several steel mills.

While it's possible the Port of Wilmington or an industrial park in Delaware is generating a hum loud enough that can be heard in New Jersey, Cummings, the Pennsville Police Chief, said residents can occasionally make out lyrics, as well the throb of heavy bass.

In a video submitted to NJ Advance Media and posted on YouTube, you can make out what sounds like the song "How It Feel" by Money Man.

That seems to discount the possibility of the sound being anything but exceptionally loud music.

At this point, it seems more likely that it's coming from cars playing loud music.

In July, Gloucester City residents were plagued by a similar incident, but a resident was able to track the music back to South Philadelphia.

A group of trucks, cars and SUVs with enormous custom sound systems were parked in the parking lot of Jetro Wholesale near the Eagles stadiums blaring music across the river.

One man, who used to work in Camden City, New Jersey, and wanted to remain anonymous, said he's heard about large illegal raves held near the battleship New Jersey, which is docked on the Delaware River across from Philadelphia.

"The complaints may be related to the group who have been putting on these illegal raves," he said. "Perhaps, they move around to avoid detection."

Contact Jessica Bies at (302) 324-2881 or jbies@delawareonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @jessicajbies.

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