Mysterious “Booms” heard in Charlotte, NC & Basingstoke, UK

I was surprised when I didn’t see any other new threads on this yet.

Yesterday there was a loud, thud-like boom that vibrated across southern Charlotte. Seismographs had shown some readings, but Charlotte’s Chief Meteorologist, Brad Panovich, announced that it was certainly not an earthquake. The local fire department, likewise, could not determine the source of the boom; they initially thought it was an explosion, but failed to locate anything.

It’s now Friday evening where I’m at, and still no explanation. Very strange.

www.wfae.org...

www.wcnc.com...

Now, approximately 6 hours ago, I noticed another article (this time from England) claiming that residents in Basingstoke experienced a loud, violent boom. Some Ring Doorbells captured the noise, but obviously that wouldn’t do it justice for us. Residents described the boom as a “sonic boom,” like from a jet.

www.basingstokegazette.co.uk...

I’m at a loss. I’d love for this community to tear into this with any and all theories.

a reply to: LetTheColdCome

There are many sound events like this that happen pretty much all the time across the world.
We had one happen here in my area some years ago, they never did find out what it was.

a reply to: RazorV66

That’s a good point. I’ve seen them pop up in the news before as well.

I suppose it peaked my interest this time due to the chronology.

I joined this site originally to discuss the... in these words... mysterious booms. So... I like this thread.
Terrestrial origins... think, seismic, ya. They have been making the booms, sometimes. Sonic booms too ya know, can be heard from over a hundred nautical miles from their origin. Of course, other weird stuff too ya just do not know why, but it's boomin' ya know

boom

a reply to: LetTheColdCome

Could be anything from an air burst of something entering the atmosphere to an explosion.

I wonder though would WE hear a hypersonic missile if Russia shot one across our bow?.

In collaboration with France we were already planning (therefore likely already developing) our own Hypersonic mach 5+ missile back as far as 2011 named the Perseus.

But unless we are not being told as far as I know we do not have any operational yet though it is possible that in fact we do.
This rather ropy old CGI animation was to showcase the concept at that early stage.

originally posted by: servovenford
I joined this site originally to discuss the... in these words... mysterious booms. So... I like this thread.
Terrestrial origins... think, seismic, ya. They have been making the booms, sometimes. Sonic booms too ya know, can be heard from over a hundred nautical miles from their origin. Of course, other weird stuff too ya just do not know why, but it's boomin' ya know

boom

youtu.be...

originally posted by: LABTECH767
a reply to: LetTheColdCome

Could be anything from an air burst of something entering the atmosphere to an explosion.

I wonder though would WE hear a hypersonic missile if Russia shot one across our bow?.

In collaboration with France we were already planning (therefore likely already developing) our own Hypersonic mach 5+ missile back as far as 2011 named the Perseus.

But unless we are not being told as far as I know we do not have any operational yet though it is possible that in fact we do.
This rather ropy old CGI animation was to showcase the concept at that early stage.

Interesting. I did a quick search and found that Lockheed is indeed developing these hypersonic missiles:

“A former Air Force Chief Scientist told me that hypersonic weapons development can be thought of in almost a “stair-step” fashion, with new iterations or incremental technical improvements emerging in phases over the course of many years. The first to arrive are hypersonic missiles and other weapons applications, to be followed years later by the prospect of a hypersonic drone.”

According to the article, they could potentially be ready for military use by 2023.

nationalinterest.org...

When I was in Southport NC 2 years ago, I heard the Seneca Guns. It shook the house I was in. With an Army ammo dump and a nuclear power plant right next to each other, it's safe to say I was concerned.

a reply to: PorteurDeMort

This is actually the first time I’ve heard the term Seneca Guns. Just looked it up. I had no idea there was an actual name for the anomaly. Thanks for that!

a reply to: LetTheColdCome

Possible meteor, notice there's been quite a few recently.

I had an unusually vivid dream last night about a huge meteor flying above me and exploding, woke up with adrenaline pumping. It was so real, the sound was like the noise of ice cracking only amped up to crazy levels. Spooky considering the sound was just my imagination and don't think i've ever had a dream were the main component was sound. Funnily enough i wasn't afraid in the dream, more like accepted my fate and as i tried to rush to my little lad in the dream i woke up sweating buckets.

a reply to: LetTheColdCome

Not in NC but further north, Central Va here. I didnt hear this speciric noise...or even hear about it...however even this far north we have experienced the booms/rattles/noises for as long as I can remember. Ive lived as far west az Wise county on the Wva border, Roanoke, small towns in central Va, and currently live outside of RVA and i can 100% say ive heard And rarely (yet enough to remember) felt them. Usually just a low rumble barely audible, but sometimes a "boom" loud enough to vibrate windows/floor etc. There have been a few years (over the last 30 or so) where the booms/rumbles were quote frequent- while others one could go months without noticing it at all.

I rembwr.very vividly the earthquake we had back in 2011/12(i think?) Here in Va- which was accompanied by a very low and constant rumbling noise though the 'swaying' motion was obviously much morw pronounced at the time and the length was multiple factors longer than the phenomena im referencing. So much so, i remember watching thelarge glass panes, at my then job, slowly rippled from top to.bottom almost like it were a really viscous fluid or something. Hands down one of the most eerie moments , especially because we xomt get earthquakes often enough to recognize or evem expect them.


However, apologies for the rambling reply haha, in my opinion the geology of the Piedmont area which extemds feom southern MD south through Va amd the carolinas, is something we dont quite umderstand as well as we think we do. I say this because during research on geologic history in my area, it seems we have an awful lot of evidence of seismic activity and even volcanism.... Yes- volcanism lol granted not recent relative to our occupation of the area but imo recent enough to not be ignored. Im addition to all of the 'dormant' faults running through here, and the continue to find more, some that run down into northern amd NW N.C, we havr large deposits of minerals usually only associated with volcanism or seismic activity.(gold and gemstones for example aswell as some metals) we also have several 'hot springs' , though most are fairly cool compared to those out west. Outside of Richmond to the west theres a small town called Amelia which used to be home to the Amelia Springs- heated sulfar springs. Allegedly the springs no longer run, but were active as recently as the civil war (the old hotel on the springs is stipp standing but abandoned with no tresspasing signs). the sulfar levels are still high in some are though and growing up we had several houses (all well water) where we had to add filters to get rid of the sulfar. There were several natural springs in one house we lived in, outside Amelia, where the sulfar content was so high you coulf see the yellow build-up arouns the surface that looked almost lile yellow algae of that makes sense. There are even a couple of dormant volcanos farther north towarfs Charlottesville that hae been dormant for 20-40k years apparently....however whats interesting to me is that the last time they erupted, scientist still cant explain WHY. Volcanism in this part of the country ceased a very long time ago according to academia and they have no actual explination as to how or why they were able to erupt long after they shouldbe been completely extinct. I love when Sciemce says 'we dont know' lol


I say all this to suggest that my believ is the booms and noises heard in this area and farther south (as in the Semeca guns) have to be some type of geological activity we aremt supposed to have basec solely on wha scientist currently umderstand. Just like the unknowm/newer faults that run through NW N.C into souther Va at the borxer which in the last few years have produced several small earthquakes. Its always explaimed thst because so much of our bedrock is granit that the sound amd movements from seimic activity travel much farther on the east coast VS whats normally experienced on west coast.

I guess the theory in my mind is we have more faults active than currently known, but that the quakes are surface quaked of such low intensity they arent registering on richters scale (well they arent ALL registering) however due to the geology and closeness to surfave its producing aduible noises thT are then heard and ocasionally felt over large distances. Like...growing pains- small pops/cracks in those faults as they flex for whatever reason. Most of the earthquakes that do register either in N.C or in Va (like Mineral/Louisa county just nw of me) seem to fairly feep 7-10km down. In between those my uneducated guess is we have smaller ones

Im about 45 mins from charlotte and I could have swore I felt a tremble about 7 or 8 hours ago. 7pm-ish Friday evening.

a reply to: LetTheColdCome

PorteurDeMort mentioned the term Seneca Guns. Neat! Now I know.

Anyway, I am very curious to know how long this phenomenon has existed. Did it begin in the 20th century, or has it been reported since ancient days?

While there could be many different things that causes them if they are ancient then we can assume natural phenomena are factors. Unless, aliens! Lol

originally posted by: filthyphilanthropist
a reply to: LetTheColdCome

PorteurDeMort mentioned the term Seneca Guns. Neat! Now I know.

Anyway, I am very curious to know how long this phenomenon has existed. Did it begin in the 20th century, or has it been reported since ancient days?

While there could be many different things that causes them if they are ancient then we can assume natural phenomena are factors. Unless, aliens! Lol

I’m definitely going to dive into this. I have a feeling that there will be old sources that describe this anomaly, like you mentioned!

originally posted by: Grenade
a reply to: LetTheColdCome

Possible meteor, notice there's been quite a few recently.

I had an unusually vivid dream last night about a huge meteor flying above me and exploding, woke up with adrenaline pumping. It was so real, the sound was like the noise of ice cracking only amped up to crazy levels. Spooky considering the sound was just my imagination and don't think i've ever had a dream were the main component was sound. Funnily enough i wasn't afraid in the dream, more like accepted my fate and as i tried to rush to my little lad in the dream i woke up sweating buckets.

Wow, wild dream! I wonder if there were possibly some loud noises happening around/near you that could’ve influenced the dream?

a reply to: LetTheColdCome

Indeed, never experienced anything like it before. In my dream it was clear that this was the end of the world, strangely I wasn’t afraid. It’s actually empowered me a little so my mind just prepping me for something IMO.

It was around 3-4am and upon waking dead silence. My first ever dream with a loud bang or any real noise for that matter.

a reply to: itswhatev

Here in Grayson County VA, we had an earthquake last year, maybe around November I think. It was a first for me. We also live on the new river and fighter jets use the dam here for bombing practice runs, they can be pretty loud. I'll keep my ear to the ground see if I notice anything you spoke about.

originally posted by: Oppositeoftruth
a reply to: itswhatev

Here in Grayson County VA, we had an earthquake last year, maybe around November I think. It was a first for me. We also live on the new river and fighter jets use the dam here for bombing practice runs, they can be pretty loud. I'll keep my ear to the ground see if I notice anything you spoke about.

Ahh Grayson County, absolutely beautiful area. Im a huge fan of botany and the Jefferson Natl Forest is one of the few areaz on the entire east coast where there Re still remenants of old growth forest. Sadly less than 1% of the "great eastern forest" that spanned all the way to the Mississippi is left intact and part of that is in Grayson.


On topic though lol, Mount Rogers is one of the mountains where you can still see evidence of the volcanic activity from about 500 million years ago or some astronomical number like that lol Not only is it the highest point im Va but something like 70%-75% is a mixture of rhyolite lava flows and basalt (its been a while simce i read up on it so thats from memory lol) though due to the formation of the Appalachians the volcanic rock there is kind of split up and not nessicarily side-by-side though if you have, or ever do, visited the park they definitely go into tons of detail. Not to mention the views are handa down ze of the best in the country imo but.... Being a country boy from Appalachia myself im admittedly a bit biased haha

There are 2 'extinct' volcanos, well just the plugs are left and the mountain itself is pretty gone now, are up on the border of Wva in the shenendoah valley i believe. Not to ramble again but what initiallt got me interested was the ages. Scientist and geologist know 500+million years ago there was active volcanic activity but that in itSelf isnt unusual. What IS unusual is thats also the same time period that everything 'quieted down' and we kimda aged out of the scenario where eruptions were possible. From everything we know, the old craton essentially fused together stoppimg it for good......that is until about 30/40 milliom years ago when the 2 volcanos further north ( one is Trimble knob i cant remember the other) suddenly erupted. While thats clearly not 'recent' by any means, scientist still dont have any concrete way to explain why or how they were ablr to form at all. Everything assumedly had bren quiet and cooled off for more than 450 million years, and
Then suddenly bam.... 2 of the.youmgest volcano om the east coast were formed. The geology however at that time was really not very different than what we currently see in Va (again relatively) which is where the conundrum comes in. Basically it was akin to 2 random volcanos suddenly popping up in current time, as far as it shouldnt be possible at all here in Va. Yet, it happened. My thought process basically says well... If little has changed (relatively) Simce then, the only logical explination is that we clearly dont understand all the processes at work and are missing something somewhere.


Again, in all liklihood it has nothing to do with any of that haha but its a subject i definitely keep an eye out for.


Out of curiosity Have you personally ever heard, other than the jets or course lol, anything similar to either the OP or rumbles/pops/booms?

a reply to: LetTheColdCome

Yea for Lockheed, I am a retired flight test enginer 28 tears at the Marietta plant.
Always love to hear about anything they are up tp.

a reply to: itswhatev

First, thanks for all the information, I enjoy learning about this place, about which I admittedly haven't learned enough. Second, I do love living here, it's mostly quiet and very beautiful, I never get tired of walking /hiking the trails, of which there are plenty. And as for the pops bangs and such, no I can't say that I have experienced this, however, it's getting nice out again and I'm past due for some time with nature. Though I've yet to find any measurable success, I like to pan for gold in the streams creeks (cricks) and rivers around me. I will definitely be paying more attention to the soundtrack of Appalachia, if I experience anything I will definitely PM you.

Again thanks, awesome information.