Mystery disturbance traced to sound wave

link

Now, could someone be testing a new weapon here or was it something caused by nature? The disturbance hit San Diego April 4,2006. The military says they had no unusual tests going on. The effect of the disturbance went from the ocean about 120 miles out to the Imperial County desert.

Using data from more than two dozen seismometers, they traced its likely origin to a spot roughly 120 miles off the San Diego coast.

That spot is in the general vicinity of Warning Area 291, a huge swath of ocean used for military training exercises. The Navy operates a live-fire range on San Clemente Island, which is within Warning Area 291 and sits about 65 miles from Mission Bay.

Cmdr. William Fenick, another local Navy spokesman, said no San Diego-based warships were conducting operations in Warning Area 291 that day.

“We don't know at this time where this earthquakelike sensation came from,” Fenick said.

Don't know what to think of this one. Apparently they have traced dozens of similar, less dramatic events to the same area. Any ideas, anyone?

Sorry, if in the wrong forum, didn't know quite where this one would fit.

Maybe they're testing a ship killer or an area mine sonic detonator for use against Iran?

I don't know if such weapons exist, but why not? Detonate some large underwater explosion for the purpose of simultaneously triggering a handful of underwater mines (i.e. clearing the Strait of Hormuz for oil shipping). Such a detonation could cause the water to pass the shockwave along to the land, hence the sensation of an earthquake inland.

Just a wild theory...

Not to get too excited just yet, but, given the data provided, and the the reputation of the Scripps Institute as the provider; I'd say we might just have firm evidence of an opertational "Trans-atmospheric Vehicle".

The linked article states that "dozens" of similar events have been recorded in the roughly the same area. The area of these occurances is controlled by the military, off limits to both civilian and commercial traffic. It also states that these phenomena are "atmospheric", rather than oceanic or terrestrial, in origin.

The speculation in the article that these incidents might be tied to some sort of meteoric activity is both specious and telling: to suggest tthat this area off the coast of Southern California is some sort of "Meteorite 'Hot Zone'" is silly and far too easy to disprove. Natural events like the fall of a meteorite do not occur in convieniently specific geographic locales.

However, "man-made meteors", such as an experimental trans-atmospheric craft, could of course be guided to re-enter at a specific point over the Pacific, far from prying eyes and credible witnesses.

I am not an acoustical engineer, but is it possible to calculate the strength of the sonic wave from the given data, and perhaps, from that data, the hypothetical speed and direction of such a craft? Given possible course and speed, could we perhaps generalize a likely destination in say, Southern Nevada... or somewhere in Utah?

[edit on 28-4-2006 by Bhadhidar]

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its an interesting mystery

back on 23 April, 2006
the same writer [email protected] wrote the 1st article concerning this unknown phenomena, titled; "What's Behind the Mysterious Booms?


needless to say i went & e-mailed him because alex.roth was asking for responses/theories and such.

i related to him that for over a decade here in SC beach front areas,
we've had scores of these 'mysterious booms' sometimes called
'air-quakes' by witnesses or reporters.

Both the former AirForce Base & the newer commercial airport here are
certain that sonic booms from aircraft, and AF weapons exercises were never
a cause for these booms on this east coast area (myrtle beach to charleston)

I suspect the SanDiego 'Booms/ AirQuakes'
have a similar natural propogation & origination, somehow-somewhere in the ocean!

I vaguely recall some early American folklore & Native American stories
of rumblings & mysterious booms in & around the Hudson in whats NY State.

heat lightning, wave anomalies, and other things have been put out there,
but it seems no single explaination has all the required characteristics to send a
compressed air package, over the ocean & onto the land for up to 200 miles
in such a confined 'corridor' of sorts...with enough energy to rattle windows and shake buildings the whole way.

?time warp? where the fabric of time-space is wrenched asunder...
?cosmic-fart? propagated from off planet by another 'Ming-the-Merciless' type,
with his own stinking death ray?

sounds like another Aurora report.

I don't know if you guys actually live in the San Diego area, but I live in La Jolla, CA (North County/UTC Area, San Diego). I was at my manager's house when we heard that sound. I immediately checked the US Geology Earthquake sites to see if it was a registered Earthquake. It wasn't. Then we turned on the news, nothing. All day that day they were talking about it on the news, "No news on the 'Mysterious Boom' yet. We'll keep you posted." No one could figure it out.
I'm the kinda guy who likes scientific theories and such, that's why I came to this site. (I honestly have no idea how I found it, but anyway...). It was really weird. They were talking about it on the news, then it just suddenly went away. So when I saw this posting, I thought it would be interesting to post my experience.
What are your thoughts? Where do you live?

yea a ton of people have reported sonic booms over SD and LA for the last several decades. Supposedly they have tracked the sonic booms past Arizona. I forget the speeds of the craft but Im guessing Mach 6+.

Interesting. I know what a sonic boom is and have heard them many times, but this one lasted for like 3-5 seconds, which is somewhat unusual for a sonic boom. We were on the phone with my boss, and she heard it shortly after us, and she lives roughly (as the crow flies) 20 miles away.

lol, sounds about right, keep an eye out for them!

I have no idea if this is relevant. When I was a kid I was witness to a meteor estimated to be the size of a car. It flew right over our heads and landed about 120 miles north of where I was at the time. The sound was very much like what everyone is describing here. I felt it to my bones and it lasted for a few seconds. It left a feeling in my ears like I had just gotten off an airplane. Could it be that an aircraft at high speeds would make the same noise?

I have actually heard of this before.

I do not live near the coast but I remember reading stuff about this.

I've read recently that there was some speculation of plates fracturing under the ocean causing the booming sounds. Unknown Country also has a story stating global warming could be to blame.

www.unknowncountry.com...

I will try and find the other story about the plates cracking.