Mysterious Force Rocks Gulf Coast

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around a mysterious force that caused shaking and loud booms across the Gulf Coast, with participants exploring potential explanations such as earthquakes, sonic booms, and other phenomena. The scope includes theoretical considerations, anecdotal reports, and historical references to similar occurrences.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Technical explanation
  • Historical

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants suggest the event could be an earthquake, although others note the absence of seismograph data to support this claim.
  • One participant references the Barisal Gun phenomenon, which describes similar unexplained sounds reported historically.
  • A technical explanation is provided regarding sound propagation, noting that atmospheric conditions can affect how sounds are perceived, particularly in dry air.
  • Reports of explosive booms in North Carolina are mentioned, with speculation about military exercises being a possible cause.
  • Participants discuss the historical context of similar phenomena, such as the Seneca Guns, which have been noted along the East Coast for years.
  • Some participants differentiate between the sensations of sonic booms and seismic activity, emphasizing that the shaking felt during these events is distinct from typical earthquake tremors.
  • There is mention of unique weather conditions potentially contributing to the phenomenon, with references to previous reports of similar occurrences in various locations.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on the cause of the mysterious force, with multiple competing views and hypotheses remaining unresolved throughout the discussion.

Contextual Notes

Participants express uncertainty regarding the relationship between the booms and shakes, with some suggesting they may be different phenomena or that the intensity of the booms could influence the shaking felt. Historical references to similar events indicate a long-standing mystery without clear explanations.

Ivan Seeking
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A mysterious force shook buildings from Pascagoula, Mississippi to Chumuckla, Florida Friday morning, but no one News 5 talked to knows exactly what caused it. Sometime between 9:00 and 9:30 am, a thunderous sound rumbled through the Gulf Coast. Not everyone felt it, but those who did all described it in much the same way...[continued]
http://www.wkrg.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WKRG%2FMGArticle%2FKRG_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1128768768378&path=%21news%21local

Earthquake or jet I would think...
 
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Strange, I've not been able to dig up any more news items on this. I doubt it would be an earthquake as there's been no mention of seismographs picking it up. Normally when there's a quake it is triangulated straight away.
 
Barisal Gun. Also called Mistpoeffer or Airquake:

http://www.du.edu/~jcalvert/waves/barisal.htm

Reports go back to well before supersonic flight. There have been three or four of these here in San Diego in the past ten years or so.
 
That link I posted is really quite good and thoroughly examines hard science for an explanation of these sounds:

The absorption of sound is very small, especially in dry air. The Rayleigh-Kirchhoff "classical" absorption due to viscosity is proportional to the square of the frequency, and depends on the ratio of the wavelength to the mean free path of the air molecules. Water vapor introduces a considerable added absorption. However, the upper atmosphere is remarkably dry, so this should have an effect only near the ground. The scattering of sound by turbulence also causes a decrease in intensity, as does the usual spreading. The principal effect of what absorption there is will be to attenuate the higher frequencies, converting a sharp crack into a boom. The initial sound wave from an explosion is usually a supersonic shock wave for a distance, and will certainly be characteristically modified during long-distance propagation.
 
weird, I happened to find this report from 22/Dec and sent to a friend who hadn't heard anything at Cape Hatteras, NC. But this event was Tuesday Dec 20th in the afternoon.
Explosive booms heard across Southeastern North Carolina

(New Hanover County) -- "Thousands of people reported hearing a series of explosive "booms" all across New Hanover County and in some sections of Brunswick County late Tuesday afternoon".

wwaytv3.com/Global/story.asp?S=4271113 > now empty


"Thoughts of the nuclear power plant exploding, an earthquake or a terrorist strike are just some of the theories that were tossed around after hearing the sounds.
We spoke with a geologist to get to the bottom of it, but most of the information is pointing towards some type of military exercise. "

This was the "suspicion" of the geophysics professor at UNC-Chapel Hill (probably 200 miles inland)

The local weather service reported seeing "military activity about 30 miles off shore at about 4:00*p.m. Tuesday." A local resident reported 9 jets flying overhead.

-a series of kabooms- like an explosion-earth shaking and windows rattling, pictures shaking on walls in Wrightsville Beach.

'Booms' have been reported around Norfolk Virginia almost yearly and never been 'identified'.

Can't be 'flying saucers or triangles' cos they never make noise like this.
 
From an older report - The Seneca Guns

The booms, heard in South Carolina and more recently in North Carolina, are popularly known as Sen-eca Guns, a folk term for unexplained booms that have been noted along the East Coast for years...
https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=57966&highlight=Seneca
 
curiously, no shakes reported by the 'Seneca guns'-the 'shakes' were more,or at least as much ,the 'cause' of these latest reports this past Dec .

If there's just 'shakes' then earthquake is suggested; if just 'booms'
then lightning=thunder is suggested-but together on a 'clear day'...

Wonder if shakes are ever reported along with the 'fog guns' for example?

In my life time in Norfolk the 'booms' always brought up the 'military'
(World's largest Naval Base and a number of military installations).
I've always been curious if these 'booms' had been reported since colonial times, yet the reports only mentioned 'recent memory'.

I don't remember the 'shakes' being reported-could be different events/phenomena-or the shakes could be from more intense booms?

But if i figure it out it might power my back-pack helicopter!
 
We have these mysterious booms here in San Diego once or twice a year. The "shakes" are much like the shakes that come after a sonic boom, which I heard many, many times as a kid before they put a damper on supersonic flight: windows rattle and as does any loose structural element of the building you're in. It's definitely transmitted through the air, and not the ground. I'm quite familiar with the very different feel of a wave transmitted through the Earth from the many little quakes I've been through here. There is usually no boom from an earthquake, and when there is it is concommitant with a sudden upward jolt from below.
 
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3173415,00.html

11.22.05

Mysterious 'Booms' Rattle Homes
Raanan Ben-Zur

quote:
An Israel Air Force officer said at the time, “this is an
unusual phenomenon in which cold and warm layers are alternately
formed in the air, and the sound waves move like a ping pong
ball between the ground and layers.
-----

Same 'stuff'-booms and shakes-no earthquakes or 'military action'-
seems to have lasted a few weeks?-unique weather conditions?

((Zooby:what's the 'history' there-first reported when?-maybe next time this happens, contact reporter and ask 'em to do a search of all the paper's files-))
 
  • #10
more 'booms and shakes'


http://tinyurl.com/ewsdr

Phenomena Produce Theories, But No Answers
Alex Roth
Union-Tribune-April 23, 2006

before 9 a.m. Tuesday, April 4, San Diego County;

Mississippi on April 7-Jackson County;

Somerset County, Maine two months ago; Alabama
three months ago; North Carolina four months ago.

quote:
"My garage door is double steel and it weighs about 500 lbs.," a
man in University City wrote. "It was rattling back and forth
like a leaf in the wind for about 3 or 4 seconds."


Wilmington, N.C.,on Dec. 20, 2005; Winston-Salem, N.C., on March 5, 2005;


As usual,no earthquake,sonic booms from planes or meteors...well-done report.
 
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