There is little research to back reports of northern lights sounds. So what are people hearing?

In the northern reaches of the planet, where auroras are regularly seen, there are countless reports of people hearing sounds in addition to seeing the spectacular lights.

(CNN) — In the dead calm of a winter's night on a remote Canadian stretch of the Alaska Highway -- without another soul in sight -- the sound of something sizzling echoed down the MacDonald Valley, where Ryan Dickie had driven to photograph the northern lights. It was the evening after a particularly active display of the celebrated celestial phenomenon above Dickie's home in northern British Columbia. The 36-year-old Indigenous Dene photographer and conservationist from Canada's Fort Nelson First Nation decided to go someplace far from any light pollution to shoot what he hoped would be a similarly spectacular show in the sky. But as he stepped outside into the frozen night to adjust his camera settings, it was the sound -- not just the sight -- that stopped him in his tracks.