Deep sounding jet engine in Poland

First of all - I don't have much evidence here, apart from my own first-hand experience. Second of all - this event happened around June/July 2010, and I haven't heard it since.

Last summer while going for a walk, I stopped what I was doing because I could hear a very very deep jet-engine type noise. I looked up but there was nothing to be seen in the sky, apart from a few clouds. The deep rumbling noise lasted for about a minute or two before it faded away. During that time I tried to locate the source of the noise in the sky, but could see nothing.

I am very familiar with regular jet engine noises having previously lived near RAF valley in UK.
I am now living in a small Polish town between Radom and Warsaw. Both have air-force bases, (Warsaw having base #1 and Radom #2). I have previously seen mostly F-16s flying over, which Poland bought a year or two ago from America. I once saw a Black Hawk helicopter flying quite low also approximately a year ago.

Anyway - this noise was far deeper than any other aircraft I've ever heard, and it shocked me. I can't really describe it - other than it sounded as if a regular jet engine noise had been lowered so deeply that it felt like it was resonating in my chest. That's how deep and powerful it sounded.

Just thought I'd share my experience, regardless of the little information/evidence I can provide.

reply to post by SecretSky


well living where i do.. i hear lots of military aircraft.

i guess i cant be a secret if i hear them overhead.. (can it?)

anyhow --the Stealth bomber,, the one that looks like the "bat-plane" ,, makes a very unique sound.
like a low growling jet noise.... stranger then any other craft I've ever heard..

just a thought...

reply to post by darrman


Hmmm - it could be. I haven't seen a B2 first hand, so I can't say if it's the stealth bomber or not. I watched a few airshow videos on youtube of the B2-spirit to check the jet sound, and it sounds too weak and not deep enough. It maybe because of the distance and microphones on the cameras being too poor though.

Thanks for the reply and suggestion!

Any other ATS members have any similar experiences?

Sounds like an engine test.
I used to live on the doorstep of a base where Nimrod was stationed & they would do engine tests, often at night & what you say sounds like what we used to hear. Tests would last maybe 2-5 minutes, sometimes longer, with no change in pitch, then sudden engine cut-off. Could be annoying sometimes.

reply to post by HelionPrime


Thank you for the information about the Nimrod engine testing. That's really interesting

The nearest air-force base here is 60 miles away - so I doubt it would be an engine test from there. Perhaps there are other facilities here which I'm not aware of.

When I heard this sound it was noon, and quite a clear day (very sunny with very few light clouds). I'm quite certain that the sound was airborne. I've never heard anything else like it, and I believe it must have been a military aircraft of an unusual type. There was virtually no background noise as I was walking through open fields with very little traffic nearby.

Bonus for HelionPrime, I just found this information about the Nimrod engine tests:

Wind tunnel tests were conducted on the new fuselage shape and the redesigned engine intakes. Rolls Royce conducted flow distribution tests on full scale intakes, and engine test bed runs, amounting to more than 1200 hours, were undertaken. An existing electrical test rig facility at the Hawker Siddeley Woodford factory was modified to prove the new electrical generating system. Tests began in April 1966.

link: www.raf.mod.uk...

reply to post by SecretSky


hi - could you identify the direction that the noise came from - and if it was moving ?

reply to post by ignorant_ape


I can identify that the noise came from above me. However, I couldn't judge the direction it was moving in as the engine sound was quite constant. It sounded just like it very slowly faded out over a space of about 2 minutes.

Hmmm...
I've been reading the thread about the rumblings experienced around the world: www.abovetopsecret.com...

The florida sound is quite similar to what I heard but I didn't experience any ground shaking.

Anyway, one of the posters noted that in England in 2008 a very loud rumbling noise was heard and felt...it later became known that a russian supersonic bomber (blackjack) had flown into UK airspace that day.

Since Poland is relatively close to Russia, I think the 'blackjack' supersonic bomber they have maybe a reasonable explanation. It doesn't explain why I failed to see it though - unless it is well camouflaged, too fast to see or flies at a very high altitude.

Originally posted by ignorant_ape
hi - could you identify the direction that the noise came from - and if it was moving ?

Yhea sometimes that could nail usual sounds, the Doppler effect, if the noise source is moving towards you the sound waves are compressed and you get a higher pitch, away the waves are stretched and you get a lower pitch.

Also different aircraft and or atmospheric conditions etc.

reply to post by Now_Then


It didn't have any doppler effect which I could hear - the sound remained very constant, only the volume changed. It slowly faded out. I couldn't detect any movement, only that the position was above me.

OK - Holy crap!

Today the sound has appeared again and I managed to use my camera to record the sound.
Can anyone tell me the best place to upload the sound file?
I was recording the sky, but I could see nothing. Again it was a perfectly sunny day.

This time, the noise was so deep/loud that the floor and windows were shaking a bit. I could feel it.
(In the sound clip it's possible to hear the windows shaking a little bit, as I had the camera perched on the window sill to keep it steady).
It is definitely some type of jet, because this time I noticed the sound getting distant quite fast...I can still hear it somewhere very far in the distance now.

Anyway, please let me know where I should upload this sound file - it lasted for about 2:20 before it faded away.

reply to post by SecretSky


My bet is a large jet plane. The C-17, our largest (?) cargo plane sounds like thunder to me. The smaller, but still very large C-5 has more of a whistle. I wonder if we are flying over in your airspace due to the latest Middle East happenings?
PS I'm a newby, and I don't know how to upload anything yet either.
BJ

I've uploaded the audio as a WAV file here:
www.2shared.com...

At the 1:10 mark you can hear what it sounded like most of the time. It has a weird tone and very deep.

Is it possible to analyse what type of engine this is based on the recording?

reply to post by bjrichardson


thanks for the info BJ...do you think you could judge if it is a C17 based on the sound file I've now posted?

reply to post by SecretSky


You heard a cargo plane.

Amazing that you never heard one before.

reply to post by Becoming


Thank you for the reply Becoming, but no way was it a cargo plane. I've heard many cargo planes, and I also used to live next to an RAF training grounds where war-games were staged with Panavia Tornados, Hercules and Jaguars in the 80s/90s.

This noise was so loud my entire flat was shaking. I'm afraid the recording I made with my camera does not sound as deep and rumbling as it was when actually here.

I've now discovered the source of this noise after speaking with a friend here today. Today at the same time I recorded the sound he witnessed several F16-falcons on a war-game exercise. He also noticed how unusually loud they were and said that he witnessed them very narrowly avoiding each other by performing roll like maneuvers.

So, in summary: mystery solved. It was a military war-game exercise with several F16 falcons. In my opinion they must have been using the afterburner like crazy.

Thanks everyone

Russian Bear bomber. They've flown over your country...and American airspace many times recently.

They don't send fighters up to chase them away all the time.

crazy, noise plus CO2 polution... that's one of the reasons why the Concorde was stopped

Originally posted by Pervius
Russian Bear bomber. They've flown over your country...and American airspace many times recently.

They don't send fighters up to chase them away all the time.

You maybe right - I live fairly close to Russia, and I know that the British Royal Air-force was scrambled around 20 times last year for Russian jets invading British air-space.

I wonder if they're just testing the water, so to speak.

reply to post by SecretSky


Those Bears are incredibly loud apparently, fighter jet pilots are deafened by the noise when they fly up and scare them out of air space, that's deafened way above the sound of their own jet engines turning and burning! - When they first made their appearance the submarine hydrophone operators wondered what the hell the noise was, turns out they hear the Bears underwater from hundreds of miles away!

Them's load planes and they are always buzzing around the North Sea just for something to do.