Minor Strangeness (IHTM)

[PeteS]

Um... I've no idea what happened there, but if I recall correctly I was trying to post about an odd sound/sensation which occurred. So let's try again...

That afternoon (the day before my aborted post) I was sitting at home, Mr Zebra had taken the dogs for a walk. There was a loud thud/boom sort of sound, but most importantly though it was accompanied by a distinct, but very brief, feeling underfoot. If you've ever lived in a semi-detached house of dubious construction (think 60s/70s council houses here in the UK or - very probably - modern housing) then you'll know of the effect of a door being slammed and the slight feeling of shaking of floorboards which accompanies it.

It felt exactly like that. Except; we live in a detached house, and its construction most certainly does not lend itself to shaking.

But that's what I felt. In fact, that's what immediately came to mind (in that very quick way that one's brain provides a solution) before I realised that logically it could not have been that.

When Mr Zebra returned from his walk I told him about it; curiously he had also heard the sound but had not felt any shaking underfoot. He could not (and still can't; I've just asked him) define either what sort of sound it was, or what direction it had come from. But heard it he had; while in the park not too far away from our house (and therefore standing on grass - in case that makes any difference to the lack of shaking on his part).

So; that's it - not particularly exciting I know, but it remains an odd mystery. Not the sound itself per se; as there can be many explanations for odd sounds (although neither of us know what it was to this day, and have not heard it since) - but mainly why on earth I felt it underfoot as I sat at home remains quite bizarre.

I shall note that nothing shook or otherwise moved during the brief moment that I felt and heard the sound, and we do not live in an earthquake zone as far as I know

Thoughts and/or similar experiences greatly received...

Could be contractors driving piles into the ground, although usually you would expect more than one incidence (you may have missed others). Happened to us when pile driving being done 50m away. Floors vibrated and booming sound. Environmental Health said it was within "acceptable" levels.. If you live near a railway line a very heavy goods train can produce that effect in certain circumstances as will a heavy wagon driving through a large pothole. Had all that myself. Amazing how sound and vibration can travel underground. You can check for seismic activity in the area on tinterweb. (British Seismic)

 

[markrkingston1]

Could be contractors driving piles into the ground, although usually you would expect more than one incidence (you may have missed others). Happened to us when pile driving being done 50m away. Floors vibrated and booming sound.

I now recall reading somewhere (was it this forum?) about someone who was experiencing odd sound effects which were traced to offshore construction of a wind farm! Massive piles were being driven into the seabed and the sound was travelling for miles inland

If you live near a railway line a very heavy goods train can produce that effect in certain circumstances as will a heavy wagon driving through a large pothole.

Doh, how could I forget. I live a few hundred feet from a railway line and goods trains can sometimes have this effect: The equivalent vibration of a small earthquake. (How bad it is seems to depend on the condition of the track. It seems to deteriorate over a period of a few years after repairs). However, there's no initial bang or boom. Just rumbling and (surprisingly strong) vibrations.

For a while we also had a badly designed road hump almost outside the front door and a truck going over this caused a massive bang and window-shaking vibration. Eventually the road bump was smoothed out and the vibration is much less.

 

[Roger Nowell]

Some years ago - I'm guessing around 2010 - I was just on the edge of town, coming back from a country walk. There was an almighty bang, like a gun shot right beside me.

A mile and a half away, my Mother rushed outside as she thought a rock had been thrown at her window.

The local paper reported on the bang heard around town, but wasn't able to find the cause.

 

[Schrodinger's Zebra]

Thanks all for your insights, much appreciated. I've sparked some interesting comments with this

This sort of thing intrigues me. There are really many things this could be, from what I can tell.

Possibilities include:

(a) Something very heavy being dropped (e.g. large piece of metal, concrete, scrap materials, etc). This kind of event can create a low frequency sound and vibration that can travel for a long way (mile, maybe more). In effect it's a very small earthquake.

(b) Sonic boom. Yeah, it's an old standby but a sonic boom can nevertheless create effects of the sort you describe.

(c) Distant bomb explosion. Unlikely but plausible. I've experienced this myself on two occasions within hours of each other in my home in Cricklewood, north west London, in 1992. The first one was in the evening and was the Baltic Exchange bomb[1]. At the moment that the shock wave reached me, I was actually in the bath with my head under water(!). I heard an extraordinarily deep rumble and felt a vibration; the two things were one and the same, really. The second one was later that night and was the Staples Corner bomb[2]. I was long out of the bath by then and I heard another deep rumble and a very slight vibration.

(d) A small earthquake. What you describe sounds very much like a small earthquake, to me. You say you don't live in an earthquake zone but everywhere is an earthquake zone. There's nowhere where small earthquakes don't occur. What is your location? It may be possible to determine if an earthquake is recorded as occurring near you at the time.



Footnotes:-
1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltic_Exchange_bombing
2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_Staples_Corner_bombing

Something heavy being dropped? Plausible, yes. I don't know what it would have been or where from, but this idea has merit.

Sonic boom? Not sure about this; both of us have heard these before (e.g. RAF jets) so we know what they sound like, but those jets don't fly over here and it didn't really sound the same as those. Do all sonic booms sound the same?

Distant bomb explosion? If it was, there was nothing on the news about it (not that that means much though!). I guess plausible. Crikey, you having experienced two of them though! :hide:

Small earthquake? Yes I agree that everywhere is an earthquake zone to some degree, but what I mean is we don't even live in one of those areas where you occasionally feel small ones like other parts of the UK. Plus the fact that Mr Zebra didn't feel the vibration - wouldn't he have done, if it were an earthquake? Unless it is down to the fact he was standing on grass?

Some earthquakes are preceded by bang and booms - or so it's thought. I heard one in NZ that sounded like a truck had hit the house it was then followed immediately, by a fairly big quake, (house shook, stuff rattled, etc). Saying that you don't always need a big quake to hear a noise.

https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/what-are-...s_science_products=0#qt-news_science_products

I can't get on to the BGS site but I'm assuming there was nothing as I've not seem anything in the press. I would imagine it's fracking then.

Hmm... I didn't know if there was fracking in my area or not so I looked online and found this https://frack-off.org.uk/locations/ - no idea if the site is reliable or not, but the map shows there is none in my area.

Could be contractors driving piles into the ground, although usually you would expect more than one incidence (you may have missed others). Happened to us when pile driving being done 50m away. Floors vibrated and booming sound. Environmental Health said it was within "acceptable" levels.. If you live near a railway line a very heavy goods train can produce that effect in certain circumstances as will a heavy wagon driving through a large pothole. Had all that myself. Amazing how sound and vibration can travel underground. You can check for seismic activity in the area on tinterweb. (British Seismic)

There were no contractors in the area at the time (we live in a small village). Not near a railway line. As for heavy goods vehicle - lorries go through the main road of the village quite a lot, and we've never heard/felt anything like this before so that doesn't seem to fit.

Thanks for the mention of British Seismic - I wasn't aware of that site (I've only ever heard of the USGS site). I had a look for the date in question (25 Nov it would have been) and there was one on that date but the time's wrong (it would have been about 2 or 3 in the afternoon roughly).

Useful site though http://www.earthquakes.bgs.ac.uk/earthquakes/recent_uk_events.html)



The overwhelming feeling I got about it was that it must have been close by - that's certainly how it felt at the time. But I understand that some of the possibilities can travel over long distances, it's just funny (strange I mean) though - felt and sounded so much like something so close, you know?

The other thing I just considered is that we have double glazing now and we really barely hear anything outside anymore, so to have heard it so clearly - it might have well been upstairs. Except for the fact that Mr Zebra heard it in the park.




EDIT: I'm sitting here (in the same chair I was sitting in when it happened) and trying to think back to what it was like. When I mentioned above that it 'might have well been upstairs' - that's... what it was like. As if it was above me. Even though I felt it in the floor below my feet. The boom seemed to come from above.

 

[Roger Nowell]

I once experienced a small earthquake - the one and only in my lifetime thus far.

I woke and the room was moving slightly; exactly as it shouldn't..

I thought, "It's an earthquake!" then went back to sleep.

 

[PeteS]

The weirdest one I came across recently was son's experience at his previous house. During the night there were repeated booming and crashing noises so loud it brought all the neighbours out on the estate. Happened every night. Investigation by the Police discovered it was employees mishandling gigantic sheets of stainless steel at a factory about a mile away. Apparently they thought it was hilarious- they were quickly disabused of that view..

 

[ramonmercado]

I once experienced a small earthquake - the one and only in my lifetime thus far.

I woke and the room was moving slightly; exactly as it shouldn't..

I thought, "It's an earthquake!" then went back to sleep.

I remember the Dublin earthquake in 1984. I was still in bed, thought I was having the dts.

 

[Kate In The Desert]

I experienced a smallish earthquake once in Philadelphia, not an area known for any such events. It happened while I was living in a high-rise college dormitory, on the third floor, which was a co-ed floor. I was sitting at a table studying for an exam in the common room of a suite of women's rooms.

Matt was also in the women's common room. He lived in a room in the men's suite across the hall, but as he called it, he wanted to 'keep me company.' Matt was a stoner, and when he was stoned (which was almost always), he didn't like being alone. I was trying to study and he was chattering away about this and that, being annoying. It was hard to concentrate on my work.

Then came the earthquake. It felt (and sounded!) as though a train were going by right outside the window. That's how my brain registered it, but of course trains don't go by third floor windows, and there were no train tracks in the vicinity.

To my amazement, Matt kept chattering along, without a pause in his stoned monologue. I wondered if I had just had some sort of auditory and physical hallucination. So I interrupted Matt's monologue, saying urgently, 'didn't you HEAR that?!?' Matt immediately shut up, which was a minor strangeness in its own right. But then he leapt out of his chair, came over to me and shook my hand vigorously, saying, 'Thanks be to GOD, you heard it, too!! I thought I was going to have to lay off the weed!'

The next morning I heard from the woman who lived next door to me in the suite. She had been asleep when the earthquake struck. Her bed was against the interior concrete wall, which had cracks in it from the building settling. During the night, her nightgown edge had inadvertently fallen into the crack in the wall. When the quake occurred, the building "repaired" itself and the crack in the wall closed, swallowing her garment. She had to cut the edge of her nightgown off with scissors to extract herself from the wall!

I was glad to have experienced it, but even more glad that it hadn't been a strong quake. The dormitory was not known for its quality construction.

 

[Iris]

Every few years we have a minor shaking which usually begins somewhere down the Mornington Peninsula.
The last time there was a loud noise we thought was a very heavy possum on the roof then everything shook.

 

[markrkingston1]

Sonic boom? Not sure about this; both of us have heard these before (e.g. RAF jets) so we know what they sound like, but those jets don't fly over here and it didn't really sound the same as those. Do all sonic booms sound the same?

I think distant sonic booms can sound like your description but, like so many things, it all depends.

Crikey, you having experienced two of them though!

It was certainly interesting. I was particularly surprised at the distance the sound of the Baltic Exchange bomb was able to travel.

Plus the fact that Mr Zebra didn't feel the vibration - wouldn't he have done, if it were an earthquake? Unless it is down to the fact he was standing on grass?

Quite possibly I think. Different surfaces seem to transmit vibration in different ways.

Also what floor were you on? I have noticed that vibration (from traffic going over a speed bump or from heavy good trains) is more noticeable on the first floor (err.. that would be second floor in Americanese) than on the ground floor.

The other thing I just considered is that we have double glazing now and we really barely hear anything outside anymore, so to have heard it so clearly - it might have well been upstairs. Except for the fact that Mr Zebra heard it in the park.

Seems to me that double glazing blocks out higher frequency sounds but can't stop low frequency sounds which can travel through the ground and solid objects.

Long, long ago I worked for an industrial safety supplies company selling personal protective equipment and the like. We had a domestic customer who suffered terribly from traffic noise. We sold her some earmuffs but she could still hear the noise. It was the low frequency noise actually travelling through the ground and through her body that she could still hear. Static earmuffs could not protect against it.

EDIT: I'm sitting here (in the same chair I was sitting in when it happened) and trying to think back to what it was like. When I mentioned above that it 'might have well been upstairs' - that's... what it was like. As if it was above me. Even though I felt it in the floor below my feet. The boom seemed to come from above.

It seems plausible to me that it could have come from above. In addition to the sonic boom possibility, a meteor breakup is a plausible possibility.

On the one hand you'd expect that thousands of people would report either a sonic boom or meteor breakup explosion. On the other hand, many people are just not very observant and I think that only a fraction of 'interesting' events of this sort get reported widely.

 

[Schrodinger's Zebra]

I think distant sonic booms can sound like your description but, like so many things, it all depends.



It was certainly interesting. I was particularly surprised at the distance the sound of the Baltic Exchange bomb was able to travel.



Quite possibly I think. Different surfaces seem to transmit vibration in different ways.

Also what floor were you on? I have noticed that vibration (from traffic going over a speed bump or from heavy good trains) is more noticeable on the first floor (err.. that would be second floor in Americanese) than on the ground floor.



Seems to me that double glazing blocks out higher frequency sounds but can't stop low frequency sounds which can travel through the ground and solid objects.

Long, long ago I worked for an industrial safety supplies company selling personal protective equipment and the like. We had a domestic customer who suffered terribly from traffic noise. We sold her some earmuffs but she could still hear the noise. It was the low frequency noise actually travelling through the ground and through her body that she could still hear. Static earmuffs could not protect against it.



It seems plausible to me that it could have come from above. In addition to the sonic boom possibility, a meteor breakup is a plausible possibility.

On the one hand you'd expect that thousands of people would report either a sonic boom or meteor breakup explosion. On the other hand, many people are just not very observant and I think that only a fraction of 'interesting' events of this sort get reported widely.

Many thanks once again for you detailed reply What you said makes sense about the double-glazing.

In answer to your question I was on the ground floor, and the floor in this room is floorboards as opposed to a solid floor, if that makes any difference. House is stone built.

I'd definitely agree with you on the 'many people are just not very observant'.

 

[Carse]

Onthe subject of unattributable noises, I was woken up at about 3 this morning by a loud clatter and resounding crash/bang like something big had fallen over downstairs. There was silence for a moment then a noise I can only compare to something a bit like a metal slinky going down a short staircase. At this point I thought someone was breaking in so I got up and rushed downstairs for a look only to find the whole house undisturbed exactly as it was before I went to bed. I checked round all the windows and doors without finding anything and I even looked in all the cupboards to see if I could find what had fallen over. There was nothing!

 

[David Plankton]

There was silence for a moment then a noise I can only compare to something a bit like a metal slinky going down a short staircase.

A fridge or freezer can make a sound a bit like that when it's defrosting. Not very loud but it's a similar sound. I wonder if something fell over inside your cooler.

 

[markrkingston1]

Onthe subject of unattributable noises, I was woken up at about 3 this morning by a loud clatter and resounding crash/bang like something big had fallen over downstairs. There was silence for a moment then a noise I can only compare to something a bit like a metal slinky going down a short staircase. At this point I thought someone was breaking in so I got up and rushed downstairs for a look only to find the whole house undisturbed exactly as it was before I went to bed. I checked round all the windows and doors without finding anything and I even looked in all the cupboards to see if I could find what had fallen over. There was nothing!

Possibly a tile (or tiles) or roof skylight sliding off a roof, not necessarily yours.

I experienced this a couple of years ago and I would have described the sounds I heard in very much the same way as you did. What was both alarming and surprising was that it sounded very close, as if it was a tile sliding off my own house's roof.

However, when I rushed outside to look around there was nothing wrong with my roof but I noticed that a glass skylight has fallen off a house opposite! The glass window previously in the skylight had disappeared. It seemed that I had heard it sliding down the sloping tiled roof and hitting the ground. (The skylight was raised above the level of the sloping roof and, as far as I could see, the window had been held in with metal strips, one of which had presumably failed).

So perhaps you heard something happening to a nearby house.

 

[Coal]

Possibly a tile (or tiles) or roof skylight sliding off a roof, not necessarily yours.

Scratchy noises in the night which had me twitching in the dark turned out to be a cat on the conservatory roof...I trained it to take another route.

 

[markrkingston1]

Scratchy noises in the night which had me twitching in the dark turned out to be a cat on the conservatory roof...I trained it to take another route.

Years ago I had the experience of living in a caravan inside a factory unit. The factory unit had a translucent fibreglass roof. Other than the roof being deafening in heavy rain, I used to be woken up in the mornings by the sound of what seemed to be sharp-clawed elephants dancing on the roof. In actual fact it was just crows or magpies scuttling around on the roof!

I still remember the first time I heard it. I leapt out of my skin.

 

[Roger Nowell]

I am putting this story here rather than the 'haunted hotel' thread as I suspect an all too human agency.

Someone of my acquaintance went on holiday to France with her elderly Aunt.

They had a twin room and went out for the night. They came in, sober, stayed up a few minutes and went to bed. The door was locked with a key, taken out of the lock.

The next morning, after an undisturbed sleep the door was still locked. Nothing was disturbed but there on the floor, in full and obvious view, was a pair of men's trousers; discarded not folded.

The hotel denied any knowledge of prowlers, duplicate keys or trouserless men.

 

[Schrodinger's Zebra]

I am putting this story here rather than the 'haunted hotel' thread as I suspect an all too human agency.

Someone of my acquaintance went on holiday to France with her elderly Aunt.

They had a twin room and went out for the night. They came in, sober, stayed up a few minutes and went to bed. The door was locked with a key, taken out of the lock.

The next morning, after an undisturbed sleep the door was still locked. Nothing was disturbed but there on the floor, in full and obvious view, was a pair of men's trousers; discarded not folded.

The hotel denied any knowledge of prowlers, duplicate keys or trouserless men.

I would probably agree re: humans being to blame here. Wouldn't hotels always have duplicate keys?

Although why somebody would leave a pair of trousers there is anybody's guess.

For a Fortean angle, we could always assume it was a case of an object appearing out of thin air.

I take it there were no identifying features of said trousers? Wallet / ID in the pocket, size of trousers mean they could only belong to that rather portly fellow in room 6, etc, etc, ?

Were the trousers definitely not there when the pair came in the previous evening?

 

[Roger Nowell]

Hi SZ. They had no clue as to a possible owner and swear that they couldn't have missed them the night before.

 

[Mythopoeika]

I am putting this story here rather than the 'haunted hotel' thread as I suspect an all too human agency.

Someone of my acquaintance went on holiday to France with her elderly Aunt.

They had a twin room and went out for the night. They came in, sober, stayed up a few minutes and went to bed. The door was locked with a key, taken out of the lock.

The next morning, after an undisturbed sleep the door was still locked. Nothing was disturbed but there on the floor, in full and obvious view, was a pair of men's trousers; discarded not folded.

The hotel denied any knowledge of prowlers, duplicate keys or trouserless men.

This is why I always put a chair up against the door in my hotel room.

 

[Vardoger]

This is why I always put a chair up against the door in my hotel room.

Or you can use a hanging door handle alarm.

 

[Kate In The Desert]

I am putting this story here rather than the 'haunted hotel' thread as I suspect an all too human agency.

Someone of my acquaintance went on holiday to France with her elderly Aunt.

They had a twin room and went out for the night. They came in, sober, stayed up a few minutes and went to bed. The door was locked with a key, taken out of the lock.

The next morning, after an undisturbed sleep the door was still locked. Nothing was disturbed but there on the floor, in full and obvious view, was a pair of men's trousers; discarded not folded.

The hotel denied any knowledge of prowlers, duplicate keys or trouserless men.

That is really creepy. Why a man, who mysteriously and inexplicably gained access to the room of two women, would want to remove his trousers is a thought I don't care to entertain. I imagine they were pretty shaken up. I know I would be.

 

[Kate In The Desert]

Or you can use a hanging door handle alarm.

That's an item I'm not familiar with. How does it work? A ribbon of bells or some such noisemaker that's attached to the handle?

 

[Coal]

That's an item I'm not familiar with. How does it work? A ribbon of bells or some such noisemaker that's attached to the handle?

I've used glasses and mugs leaned against the door on occasion...I've travelled a lot and not always stayed in such great hotels.

 

[Kate In The Desert]

I've used glasses and mugs leaned against the door on occasion...I've travelled a lot and not always stayed in such great hotels.

Hmm. Mugs and glasses might not work if they were snuggled up to the door while sitting on a carpet, which would absorb the sound if the beverage container fell over. But if there's no carpet, that is clearly a good idea and a no-cost way of dealing with that kind of insecurity.

 

[Vardoger]

That's an item I'm not familiar with. How does it work? A ribbon of bells or some such noisemaker that's attached to the handle?

 

[Kate In The Desert]

Thanks. What a clever gadget! I like it. Even though I can sleep deeply, that bad boy definitely makes enough noise to rouse me. This MB is so informative!

 

[Coal]

Thanks. What a clever gadget! I like it. Even though I can sleep deeply, that bad boy definitely makes enough noise to rouse me. This MB is so informative!

A small hard-wood door wedge is a useful travelling companion as well.

 

[Kate In The Desert]

A small hard-wood door wedge is a useful travelling companion as well.

Of course, I should have thought of that myself!

 

[catseye]

That is really creepy. Why a man, who mysteriously and inexplicably gained access to the room of two women, would want to remove his trousers is a thought I don't care to entertain. I imagine they were pretty shaken up. I know I would be.

I would guess at a hotel worker dodging in to change clothes, getting his trousers off and suddenly realising that the room is occupied, possibly?