Engine thrusting noise at Area 51

I ran out to the perimeter of Area 51 just to see what was going on.
Usually there is not much action on our side. Now the interesting
part, we both heard this strange noise. I have been to the GLR warning
signs at least 40-45 times and never heard anything like this before.
It sounded like a rumble just past the first set of hills. I thought
it sounded like a hot air balloon when they pull the cord to fill it.
It sounded like engine thrusting but there was nothing in the sky. It
would last 12-15 seconds at a burst and then stop suddenly. This
happened at least 3-4 times. Is it possible to hear engine thrust
testing from Groom at the GLR warning signs. To me it seems way too
far. I was able to capture this sound twice on my digital camera. The
video quality sucks! The loudest sound is my camera. If you
concentrate on the background sound you will hear the rumble. It was
quite noticeable at the GLR. Everybody heard it and questioned what it
was. If you watch the video a few times you can hear the sound.
Any thoughts???

The weather can affect the way sound travels through the air. Some of the ways we notice this include:

* Cars on a highway near your home sometimes seem louder and closer after dark some nights.

* Readers of military history learn of incidents such as at the Civil War Battle of Gettysburg General Meade was unable to hear the fighting in Taneytown, which was only 12 miles away, yet People in Pittsburgh, 150 miles away, heard the battle.

He notes that sound travels faster in warm air because the air is less dense. One result of this is that sound waves are bent when they travel from cold air into warm air.

The thunder we don't hear is caused by the opposite of an inversion; the air near the ground is warm with cold air aloft, Gedzelman says. The sound of the thunder is bent upwards, away from us. This is why we normally can't hear thunder that's more than about 10 miles away.

Link


I figure that you are about 12 or 13 miles away from the facility, if you are at the signs. That would mean it would take a little more than a minute for the sound to reach you.

I looked at the current weather above groom lake. I swear i see a small amount of warming going on in the past hour and a half, within the general area around the surrounding ranges. Weather link

I know I can hear trains moving from about 3 miles away sometimes.

Maybe the phenomenon described in the first link is what happened. Just a guess after a quick search of the area and some quick lessons on sound.
Sound link. Wikipedia Sound.

I did hear the rumble in your video. As a novice on that subject, I don't know what to think of it, other than it sounds like a jet. I would think it would have to be rather loud sound.


[edit on 20-1-2010 by sporkmonster]

reply to post by DesertShadow


Hi DesertShadow,

You have been 'busy'.

We were there last September and I was surprised to see 3 or 4 cars still parked near the first ET sign on a Saturday morning - obviously people working overtime?

It would appear with gariac's week-end Janet flight, the additional cars and your recorded engine sounds that something is happening there.

BTW thanks for the additional photo of the sealed road on the other thread'

Peace!

Within 10square miles of any resturant or hotel near Groom lake, they are constantly under observance, hotels are tapped.

Conducting research is not advised unless equppied with electrostatic shielding.

I've heard engine test noise before, but at the "cactus" gate by Cedar Pipeline ranch. The range is very quiet if the wind is not acting up, so sound carries.

It would make sense to run a scanner just to rule out live bombing on the western range.

Regarding tracking vehicles, the base logs plates. Obviously at the gates, but the dudes do rounds on the ET highway, so if you park on the gravel, they will log your plate. They don't go out of their way regarding plate logging except for being near the border. So if you were at the "secret camp site", the dudes wouldn't drive back there to get your plate.

I don't believe the Lincoln county sheriff logs plates. They don't do much other than flirt with the high school girls at the grocery store, and nab the occasional speeder. Now the Nye sheriff department is another story. They are several orders of magnitude more professional than Lincoln county. Nye county department drives through the motels in Tonopah and Pahrump (probably Beatty too) and runs plates.

I don't recall if I mentioned this story, but the dude at the back gate ran a guy's plate, then stuck he head out of the shack, waved the phone, and said Hey xxx, it's for you!" I assume since the dudes can run plates, they probably have other police powers.