You might have heard of a book called the Travels of Marco Polo. 700 years ago, it was

a big bestseller across Europe. But Marco's book wasn't exactly truthful in a lot of

respects. He didn't end up the ruler of the city of Yangzhou, and he definitely didn't

introduce catapults into China either. In one chapter, Marco even talks about spirits

haunting the Gobi Desert. This is what he says.

When travelers are on the move by night and one of them chances to lag behind or to fall

asleep, he will hear spirits talking and will suppose them to be his comrades. Even in

the daytime one hears those spirits talking, and sometimes you shall hear the sound of

a variety of musical instruments.

Evil spirits haunting the desert. It sounds crazy, especially from the guy who saw a rhino

and thought it was a unicorn. But Marco Polo was right about one thing. That sound that

he heard, it wasn't created by anything living.

I'm Annie Ubank, and this is Atlas Obscura, a celebration of the world's strange, incredible

and wondrous places. Today, an audio postcard from the desert of Badanjuran, home of the

booming dooms. You're about to hear a rare sound today, one that not too many people

have gotten to experience. We're going to have a little fun with that sound.

After this.

Imagine you're at the beach. It's a windy day, and in between the crashing of the waves

and the screaming of the seagulls, you hear a high-pitched noise. Looking away from

the water, you see the wind picking up the dry sand, and this is where the whistling

noise is coming from. Because as the sand is lifted up, the grains rub together, creating

a short, high-frequency sound. Now, if these whistling sands are like a kazoo, then the

...