A Nest camera recently captured the ‘scariest sound in the world’ in the dead of night, sending a woman walking her dog fleeing for her life.
The noise was reminiscent of someone screaming in pain, which created a ‘a spine-chilling atmosphere at night’ when it was heard from the person’s backyard.
The haunting footage was shared on X and has been viewed more than 19.5 million times.
Social media users said the terrifying sound was possibly made by an Aztec Death Whistle – an ancient gadget used by the civilization during sacrificial rituals some 700 years ago.
A doorbell camera recently captured the ‘scariest sound in the world’ in the dead of night, sending a woman walking her dog fleeing for her life.
‘Wow, that sound is spine-chilling! Gives me goosebumps just listening,’ one X user shared in the post.
And another user wrote: ‘I’d be grabbing a shotgun and calling a priest.’
The video shows a woman walking her dog in the backyard in the middle of the night.
The surrounding area seemed still before the screaming noise blared, and the woman booked it back to the house.
Some X users have suggested that the sound came from a fox or mountain lion, but others noted that the sounds are very different.
It was back in 1999 that the original Aztec Death Whistle was found held in the hand of a headless skeleton during the excavation of an Aztec temple in Mexico City.
Social media users said the terrifying sound was made by an Aztec Death Whistle used by the ancient civilization during sacrificial rituals some 700 years ago
The video shows a woman walking her dog in the backyard in the middle of the night. The surrounding area seemed still before the screaming noise blared, and the woman booked it back to the house
Historians believe Aztecs may have used the skull-shaped whistle before they were killed in ceremonies to honor the god of wind, Ehecatl.
In the Aztec creation myth, two gods gathered in a sacrificial fire and became the sun and moon but were immobile until Ehecatl blew on them.
While the artifact is rare, some people shared that they own one on X.
‘I have one, they’re awesome. I have scared a few people at the park late at night lmao,’ one user posted.
While another shared: ‘I’ve yet to use mine outside at night, I also live on a populated street though with elderly people, don’t wanna cause a heart attack.
‘It does sound insane though.’
Some experts think the Aztecs likely used the noise to help people’s souls travel to the afterlife when sacrificed.
It was back in 1999 that the original Aztec Death Whistle was found held in the hand of a headless skeleton during the excavation of an Aztec temple in Mexico City
In September, chemical engineer James J. Orgill recreated one of the haunting artifacts using a 3D printer.
Orgill fashioned it after the Aztec Death Whistle that was found in 1999, shaping it like a skull with a decorative headdress, and shared the eerie sound on Action Lab’s YouTube channel dedicated to performing scientific experiments.
‘This has been deemed the most terrifying sound in the world,’ he said in the video.
‘Believe it or not, this is not a human scream.
‘The sound that the death whistle makes innately strikes fear into your heart.’
The shape of the whistle mimics the form of a human larynx, according to the Orgill.
Once the user blows into it, the air is split into two, creating oscillating sound waves that circulate a large chamber before escaping from a second hole.
‘Archaeologists first thought that this must be some sort of toy and they didn’t think much about it,’ Orgill said in the new video.
‘It wasn’t until 15 years later for some reason a scientist blew into the hole in the top of it and this is the sound that came out.
‘It was a startling discovery because it sounded like a screaming human.’