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Mystery Booms From The Sky (Skyquakes)

Do you think her use of "Seneca Guns" is a result of the nonspecific way we can refer to these mystery booms? (Other than as "mystery booms") There is no suitable term except as a description associated with place names.

That's a good question. I was originally taken aback by the label "Seneca Guns" because I'd always seen the Seneca Lake phenomenon referred to as "Seneca Drums." This illustrates how one's terminology depends on where one encounters accounts of the phenomenon, because it turns out the Seneca Lake booms were originally popularized as similar to gunfire ...

James Fenimore Cooper, author of The Last of the Mohicans, wrote "The Lake Gun" in 1850, a short story describing the phenomenon heard at Seneca Lake, which seems to have popularized the terms.

This note comes from the primary Wikipedia entry on these and similar phenomena, all of which Wikipedia lumps together under the label "skyquakes."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skyquake
 
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For further illustration ... The Wikipedia article on "skyquakes" provides the following list of names / labels given the phenomena.

Names (according to area) are:
  • Bangladesh: Barisal Guns
  • France: "bombes de mer", "canons de mer".
  • Italy: "brontidi", "marina", "balza", "lagoni", "bomba", "rombo", "boato", "bonnito", "mugghio", "baturlio", "tromba", "rufa".[6], [7]
  • Japan: "uminari" (海鳴り, literally, "cries from the sea")
  • Netherlands and Belgium: "mistpoeffers", "zeepoeffers", "zeedoffers", "mistbommen", "gonzen", "balken", "onderaardse geruchten".
  • Philippines and Iran: "retumbos"
  • United States: "Guns of the Seneca" around Seneca Lake and Cayuga Lake, Seneca guns in the Southeast US, and "Moodus noises" in lower Connecticut valley
  • Latin America and Spain: "cielomoto"
  • elsewhere: "fog guns", "mistpouffers", "waterguns"
 
For further illustration ... The Wikipedia article on "skyquakes" provides the following list of names / labels given the phenomena.
Eww. I think of sky quakes as something quite more substantial.

We do not have adequate terminology for categories of anomalous natural phenomena in general. No surprise, there.
 
Italy are really going to town on dreaming up names for the booms, huh?
 
The Netherlands / Belgium entries confused me, because I'd always thought:
- "zeepoeffers" were the bubbles created by farting underwater, and ...
- "gonzen" was the dialectical obverse / inverse of "gonzo."
:evillaugh:
 
And you certainly can't say "mistpouffers" anymore without getting chastised.
 
Mystery surrounds loud bang heard across Tameside on Sunday night - it was caught on camera... with some describing it as a 'sonic boom'

Residents in Audenshaw, Denton, Dukinfield reported hearing the deafening noise just before 10pm.

Mystery surrounds a loud bang which boomed out across Tameside on Sunday night.


Residents in Audenshaw, Denton, Dukinfield reported hearing the noise just before 10pm, with some also saying they saw a flash of orange light.


CCTV footage from one property in Denton, sent to the Manchester Evening News , captured the deafening noise at 9.53pm.


Nobody seems to know what caused the sound.


A spokeswoman for Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) said they weren't aware of any incidents in the area which would explain the noise.
(C) MEN. '20.
 
It sounds very noisy over there. Is that normal?
 
For years now, I've heard what sounds like a plane in the sky. It's always from roughly the same direction but does move a bit. I heard it as recently as yesterday, perfectly clear sky and no plane in sight. It went on for around 15 minutes. I have known it go on for hours. As I walked back to work, a passenger jet was high in the sky, the sound was barely audible. Later, another passenger jet went over, much lower as it approached Robin Hood Airport which Is relatively close to us. This was louder, but I could clearly see the plane, including its livery, and it only lasted around 30/40 seconds. Very odd.

And just heard it again....
 
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Another mystery boom leaves San Diego grasping for answers
March 13, 2021 5 AM PT

Everybody loves a mystery. But we like them solved, too, and so far an answer has been elusive for the Big Border Boom.

90


It rattled windows and shook doors across a large swath of San Diego and Tijuana late Wednesday afternoon [10.3.2021 - m.o.] , jangling the nerves of residents who’d experienced a similar noisemaker last month, and one a year earlier.

After Wednesday’s boom here, the first thought of many people — this being California — was “earthquake.” But the United States Geological Survey said no. Their seismic-activity sensors recorded nothing.

This being San Diego, longtime home to military jets, a lot of folks thought “sonic boom,” too. “That wasn’t one of ours,” said Cmdr. Zachary Harrell, a Navy spokesman, who noted that planes breaking the sound barrier are required to do it far off the coast.

The Marines? They didn’t respond to a request for comment. Local defense contractors testing some kind of newfangled weapon? Mum was the word there, too.

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/science/story/2021-03-13/big-boom-mystery-noise

maximus otter
 
Another mystery boom leaves San Diego grasping for answers
March 13, 2021 5 AM PT

Everybody loves a mystery. But we like them solved, too, and so far an answer has been elusive for the Big Border Boom.

90


It rattled windows and shook doors across a large swath of San Diego and Tijuana late Wednesday afternoon [10.3.2021 - m.o.] , jangling the nerves of residents who’d experienced a similar noisemaker last month, and one a year earlier.

After Wednesday’s boom here, the first thought of many people — this being California — was “earthquake.” But the United States Geological Survey said no. Their seismic-activity sensors recorded nothing.

This being San Diego, longtime home to military jets, a lot of folks thought “sonic boom,” too. “That wasn’t one of ours,” said Cmdr. Zachary Harrell, a Navy spokesman, who noted that planes breaking the sound barrier are required to do it far off the coast.

The Marines? They didn’t respond to a request for comment. Local defense contractors testing some kind of newfangled weapon? Mum was the word there, too.

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/science/story/2021-03-13/big-boom-mystery-noise

maximus otter

gotta be something though...that article ruled out lots of things for that boom, except secret weapons testing.

what about fracking?

or maybe blasting at a mine?

a tremor not noticed by usgs? (if that's even possible?)

aliens, no this is bs stop watching ancient aliens...you're started to believe that tosh

space rock burning up?

unknown weather thing ?

ghosts

very loud fart
 
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If by "trump" - note small 't' - can we take this to mean the previously mentioned "loud fart", and not the former President, then we can keep the post intact.

If you do mean the former President, then it'll at least need editing to fall in with the "no politics" rule.

Shall we take it to mean the previously mentioned "loud fart", then?
 
If by "trump" - note small 't' - can we take this to mean the previously mentioned "loud fart", and not the former President, then we can keep the post intact.

If you do mean the former President, then it'll at least need editing to fall in with the "no politics" rule.

Shall we take it to mean the previously mentioned "loud fart", then?

i have removed the "offending" word. btw can someone link to the forum rules? as i can't find them, either i'm not looking hard enough or they are well hidden. i see subforum guidelines but see no mention of "politics" i wasn't trying to add politics to the discussion just trying and obviously failing to be funny...
 
That's ok, if you don't know you don't know, but Politics as a subject has been completely banned as a topic on here for a longish while.

We've a Q&A thread on it here .
 
gotta be something though...that article ruled out lots of things for that boom, except secret weapons testing.

what about fracking?

or maybe blasting at a mine?

a tremor not noticed by usgs? (if that's even possible?)

aliens, no this is bs stop watching ancient aliens...you're started to believe that tosh

space rock burning up?

unknown weather thing ?

ghosts

very loud fart
That was quite a thorough article.

There are so many of these booms whose origins we can never trace because sound can travel so far from the source.

Forget mine blasts and fracking. The latter has nothing to do with creating a boom whatsoever. A mine explosion could create an "air blast" in decibels but would be extremely localized and minor.

There have been several instances where shallow earthquakes do not get recorded as seismic signals because there are no seismographs close enough to measure such tiny quakes below 1.0 M. (Note: There are other seismograph networks besides those run by USGS.) The energy from these very close-to-the-surface quakes get transmitted into the air as sound. See Moodus noises here. So that's a possibility. But these usually occur repeatedly over time around the same location.

Atmospheric ducting (related to air layers) is a real thing that can transmit noises long distances. And finally, space rocks burning up - probably more common than we think.
 
Yeah, there was some curious stuff on Nationwide, like the mysterious Somerset Bumps - anyone remember them? Are they still, er, bumping?
The whole South West was subject to these mysterious bumps in an approximate time period of 1976-83. We lived in North Devon at that time and I can well remember hearing them on a regular basis at around tea time, usually a strong double-thump followed by quieter smaller thumps. Pheasants would react and take to the air squeaking before the actual booms could be heard by humans. There was a great deal of public and media interest, recordings and studies dome etc. Was blamed on Concorde creating sonic booms over the Bristol Channel. (I remember seeing an inbound Concorde at high altitude from the North Devon coast). Accordingly, Concorde had to alter its flight path.

Personally I'm not entirely convinced with this explanation as I recall some controversy as regards them being heard when Concorde wasn't flying. The UK was littered with NATO air bases at that time, most now closed, and I think they were at times using Concorde as a scapegoat for their own activities.
 
Doesn't a "double thump" imply an aircraft? One sonic boom generated by the nose, and the other from the leading edges of the wings?
 
Doesn't a "double thump" imply an aircraft? One sonic boom generated by the nose, and the other from the leading edges of the wings?
Secondary pressure pockets on other surfaces (besides the most forward / nose area) can also generate shock waves, but these tend to get blended into the initial (front pressure) shock wave by the time it reaches a listener on the ground.

The second substantial boom is generated behind the aircraft as the pressure built up at the front is suddenly dissipated in the plane's wake. There are often two shock waves strong enough to cause a "boom" - one generated at the front as pressure radically increases, and one generated in the wake as pressure radically decreases back to ambient level.

Whether or not a ground observer hears two separate and (roughly) equivalent booms depends on relative positions, distances, orientations, and atmospheric conditions.

Having said that ...

Under the right circumstances a really powerful boom can also echo just like any other sharp sound.
 
... Anyone remember the Somerset Bumps being reported on Nationwide? ...
The following text is undated and unattributed. It was found on a blog that has nothing to do with sonic (or other) booms. It appears to be a copy of some news article(?) summarizing the Bristol Bumps / Somerset Bumps. I'm not posting the site where I found it because it's obviously not the original source and I suspect it's a "trap site" used to harvest links and possibly personal info.

Nonetheless, this is the only substantial material I was able to find about the 1970s Bristol / Somerset incidents.

1977 February 4th - Things that went bump in the night first annoyed then baffled Somerset and Bristol in the winter of 1976/77.

Not just bump. . .but Bump-Bump. On some nights the double detonation was heard from Taunton to Totterdown. What on earth was going on? The story of those funny bumps started in Somerset in November, 1976 when folk living in North Petherton became alarmed by a double detonation that seemed to come shortly after 9 p.m. most evenings. By November 14th they had called in the police, as the Post reported the next day. 'Inspector John Thouless of Sedgemoor police said: 'This is a very puzzling affair.

The accuracy of the reports was completely confirmed by the constable we sent out to North Petherton to check.

' 'We too have made widespread inquiries without result. ' 'An extraordinary feature of the matter is that these regular rumbling noises have been reported from the Royal Ordnance factory at Puriton, Yeovilton, Wellington and even as far away as Crediton.' '

Locals had pointed the finger at both the Royal Naval Air Station and the ordnance factory. Not guilty, they said. They'd heard them too. The Post made its own investigation and discovered that some of those mysterious bumps seemed to coincide with incoming transatlantic flights by British Airways Concordes. It didn't explain all the sounds, and anyway, BA said, their Concordes slowed down to subsonic well before reaching the coastline.

The Post dug a little deeper and found that some bumps came at about the time Air France Concordes bound for Paris were passing our shores. A Civil Aviation Authority expert was sceptical. 'The usual carpet for hearing sonic booms is about 20 miles. At 30 miles the sound has disappeared or very nearly so. Yet this noise is being heard at far greater distances'.

At which point Bristol University decided to step in to nail the noise once and forall. A group sat in Somerset gardens, recorded the sounds and went to work. On February 4th, 1977, they were ready and they called a press conference. The Bump Boffins pinned the blame for disturbing the peace of the West Country evening firmly on Bristol's wonder plane. 'As Concorde approaches Europe— both Air France flights to Paris and British Airways flights to Heathrow—it flies supersonic until within 40 miles of coastlines.

'But before the plane decelerates to subsonic speeds it is making the typical double bang sonic boom heard from all supersonic planes. 'And that bang bounces—either off the sea and strong upper atmosphere winds or off the strong upper atmosphere winds directly—and comes back to earth giving the typical deep rumble of the Somerset bumps.

'Dr Tom Lawson, reader in industrial aerodynamics said: 'Of 584 reports from the public, only about a dozen people were concerned or worried'. 'He said the pressure of the Somerset Bumps was equivalent to the pressure of an object travelling at 2 mph—and the sound is the equivalent of a car door slamming about 50 yards away.' So now we knew . . .
 
I know that the space shuttle generated two sonic booms - I heard them once, in Florida when it was coming into land.
 
A series of mysterious booms in the Boston, MA area have been identified as small shallow quakes.
https://www.nbcboston.com/news/loca...uakes-prompt-public-forum-in-peabody/2476368/

Similar to what happens in Moodus, Connecticut (Moodus: The Place of Bad Noises)
I heard one a few months back when I was out on my usual lunchtime walk.

It was quite clearly heard and a fellow walker and I stopped in the small country lane and looked skywards then at each other.

Strange we both said at the same time.

It turned out to be a sonic boom from an RAF typhoon jet, which had been scrambled to a possible terror incident near Stansted airport
 
Always more mystery booms in the news. This one is in my neck of the woods. There are a few interesting things about it. If you just read this article: https://cumberlink.com/news/local/c...cle_797137b5-8235-528a-8657-29fc554270ee.html you don't get the whole story, as usual. It's a rewrite of the Township's facebook post about how residents in this south central Pennsylvania area are reporting booms that are disturbing them. There are multiple accounts, different times of day since September 1 when we had the remains of Hurricane Ida come through. Now they hear them frequently. They don't think it's the quarry but the Township noted that they had the Dept of Environmental Protection come out to inspect their blasting records. They think it's related to sinkholes but I've not heard of audible successive booms associated with karst collapse. If so, that would be REALLY bad. But no sign of subsidence. This is a karst area. While one area of PA had a rash of "booms" that turned out to be tiny earthquakes (Dillsburg), that would be a real anomaly here. The municipality said they contacted the local uni geology group. I'm not sure they will be much help unless it really is small earthquakes.

Sometimes I wonder if people hear a strange boom that startles them with no obvious explanation and then become attuned to the crazy amount of noise that exists in our modern world. I hear booms all the time (only the Army National Guard's artillery training actually does shake my house on occasion, but people do exaggerate, I'm afraid). Large trucks going across bridge joints can create booming noises. The train depot in the valley creates enormous booms on some nights but not others, I can't pin point why. So, I'm wondering if the "boom" reports are trends, people hear about it and then they hear it themselves. One thing I do know, we will never be able to identify all the noises. You can't usually track this stuff down.
 
Even noises that should be familiar seem to baffle some people. We regularly hear booms from the army's tank and artillery ranges on Salisbury Plain, about 20 miles away. They can propagate a long distance on a still day, and can be amplified or muffled by topographical features - hills, valleys etc. It's remarkable that many people, even those who've lived in the area all their lives, don't know what the booms are or react as though they're hearing them for the first tme. A couple of years ago, the local paper ran a piece about 'mystery booms' after a period of sustained bombardment. Unfortunately, it is staffed these days by children with little hunger for the facts but an unhealthy obsession with reviewing the area's burger-eating opportunities.
 
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