WEBVTT - BrainStuff Classics: What on Earth Are Skyquakes?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff, I'm Lauren Vogel Bam, and this is another

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<v Speaker 1>classic episode from our archives. In this one, we explore

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<v Speaker 1>the sometimes unsettling and still unexplained phenomenon of skyquakes. Hi

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff, Lauren Bogel bom Here. One November afternoon, in

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<v Speaker 1>residents of fifteen Alabama counties were reportedly startled by a

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<v Speaker 1>loud boom that caused some to call nine one one

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<v Speaker 1>operators in alarm. As the National Weather Services Birmingham station

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<v Speaker 1>tweeted not quite a couple hours later, there wasn't any

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<v Speaker 1>clear explanation for the noise. Radar scans and satellite imagery

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<v Speaker 1>of the region didn't show any large fires or smoke

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<v Speaker 1>from an explosion, and the U S Geological Survey didn't

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<v Speaker 1>spot any signs of an earthquake on its seismic monitoring system.

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<v Speaker 1>In their tweet, the National Weather Service speculated that the

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<v Speaker 1>sound may have been caused by an aircraft or meteor,

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<v Speaker 1>but said we don't have an answer and we canly

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<v Speaker 1>hypothesized with you. A NASA scientist soon knocked down those

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<v Speaker 1>possible explanations. Bill Cook, head of these space agencies, Meteoroid

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<v Speaker 1>Environment Office at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama,

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<v Speaker 1>told al dot com that he was skeptical that the

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<v Speaker 1>sound could have been caused by a meteor because there

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<v Speaker 1>were no reports of anyone seeing a fireball. Cook also

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<v Speaker 1>discounted the possibility that the boom had been created by

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<v Speaker 1>an aircraft, noting that the seismic signature is not characteristic

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<v Speaker 1>of that produced by supersonic jets. Boom. About six hundred

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<v Speaker 1>miles or nine seven kilometers to the north in Ontario, Canada,

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<v Speaker 1>the Elgin Field infrasound array picked up an infrasound wave

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<v Speaker 1>that apparently was linked to the boom. It usually takes

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<v Speaker 1>something pretty big, such as a severe storm and avalanche

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<v Speaker 1>or rocket launch to trigger such a wave. To add

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<v Speaker 1>to the weirdness. Less than two weeks later, another similarly

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<v Speaker 1>unexplained boom was heard one morning in the Birmingham area.

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<v Speaker 1>We spoke with James Cooker, director of the Jefferson County,

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<v Speaker 1>Alabama Emergency Management Agency, via email. He said that he

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<v Speaker 1>heard a double boom, although the sound I heard may

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<v Speaker 1>have included an echo caused by the mountains, he said,

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<v Speaker 1>and Alabama isn't the only place where things have been

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<v Speaker 1>booming lately. Skyquakes, as they're commonly called, recently have been

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<v Speaker 1>heard across the US in states ranging from New Jersey

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<v Speaker 1>to Idaho, as well as in places as far away

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<v Speaker 1>as India, where two seaside resort towns were jolted in

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<v Speaker 1>August by a boom so loud that it shattered hotel windows,

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<v Speaker 1>according to the Dacca Tribune. Indeed, as u S Geological

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<v Speaker 1>Survey Scientist Emeritus David Hill detailed in a article on

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<v Speaker 1>the subject, mysterious booms have been heard for many years

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<v Speaker 1>in places across the world. In Belgium, they're known as

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<v Speaker 1>MIAs poofer's, while the Italians call them bron titi. In

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<v Speaker 1>the vicinity of Lake Seneca and the Catskill Mountains of

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<v Speaker 1>New York, residents have long heard the Seneca guns, a

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<v Speaker 1>phenomenon that was described by author James Fenimore Cooper back

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<v Speaker 1>in eighteen fifty one as a sound resembling the explosion

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<v Speaker 1>of a heavy piece of artillery that can be accounted

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<v Speaker 1>for by none of the known laws of nature. As

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<v Speaker 1>Hill noted in his article, numerous explanations for skyquakes have

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<v Speaker 1>been proposed over the years, including shallow earthquakes that could

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<v Speaker 1>produce audible sounds without noticeable shaking, massive tsunami waves breaking

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<v Speaker 1>far from shore, explosions of methane gas released from the

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<v Speaker 1>methyl hydrate beds sand dunes shared by avalanches, and of course, meteors.

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<v Speaker 1>As Hill wrote, meteors penetrating the upper atmosphere could create

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<v Speaker 1>sonic waves that wouldn't reach Earth's surface until after the

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<v Speaker 1>meteor had vanished, so the connection between the two wouldn't

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<v Speaker 1>be apparent. People have also raised the possibility that the booms,

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<v Speaker 1>or at least some of them, might be caused by

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<v Speaker 1>tests a secret U S military aircraft, such as the

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<v Speaker 1>long rumored spy plane that aircraft buffs have dubbed Aurora. However,

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<v Speaker 1>there may not be one single explanation for all the booms.

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<v Speaker 1>Hill explains it is indeed the case that there may

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<v Speaker 1>be several plausible explanations for any given incidents of a

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<v Speaker 1>mysterious booming sound, and that the environment where the sound

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<v Speaker 1>is heard will determine which of the possible explanations are

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<v Speaker 1>the most reasonable. A sound heard in the middle of

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<v Speaker 1>the desert, for example, is not likely due to breaking surf.

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<v Speaker 1>Hill says that most booming sounds are heard over a

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<v Speaker 1>limited range, so reports of clusters of booming sounds separated

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<v Speaker 1>by large distances are most likely coming from multiple sources.

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<v Speaker 1>The exceptions, he says, may include the sound from a

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<v Speaker 1>meteorite exploding in the atmosphere high above the earth, a

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<v Speaker 1>massive volcanic eruption, or an aircraft flying it's supersonic speeds

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<v Speaker 1>for an extended distance. Today's episode was written by Patrick J.

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<v Speaker 1>Kiger and produced by Tristan McNeil and Tyler Klang. For

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<v Speaker 1>more on this and lots of other topics, visit how

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<v Speaker 1>stuffworks dot com. Brain Stuff is production of iHeart Radio

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