Mysterious 'explosive' sound from a 'UFO' over New England shook homes and rattled windows - and a Harvard physicist believes he has located the source
UPDATED: 12:59 EST, 13 November 2023
New Englanders reported hearing a 'strange' sound on the evening of October 20, which shook homes and raddled windows for at least 12 seconds.
Harvard University's astronomical instruments recorded the noise, finding it did not resemble anything from birds, aircraft or wind.
Alien-hunting physicist and Harvard's former head of astronomy Avi Loeb to investigate the source of the 'unidentified flying object.'
Loeb determined the UFO released explosive energy equivalent to 2,400 pounds of TNT detected from over a 10-mile radius.
The sound was moving 1,115 feet per second when an observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts detected it.
Loeb determined that the energy source likely came from an exploding mile-wide meteor during the Orionid shower that peaked in the area on October 21.
Loeb's Galileo Project observatory recorded the boom using a giant, ultra-sensitive microphone he installed on the roof of a building on Harvard's campus.
Andy Mead, who designed and constructed the system, contacted Loeb on October 21 after noticing something strange picked up by the sensors.
'I started getting messages this morning about a 'viral' sound that was heard throughout New England,' Mead shared in the note.
'Notably, the Mount Washington Observatory made a post about it as they had so many inquiries.
'That post now has over 4,000 reactions, 1,000 comments, and 751 shares, many of whom heard the sound and are following the story.'
Reports stemmed from both states, traveling through Mount Washington, Boothbay Harbor, Maine and Sturbridge, where people heard an explosion over their homes around 7:43pm ET on October 20.
Mead told Loeb he checked AMOS, finding 'a very interesting sound' that lasted for 12 seconds.
Loeb then created a website to crowdsource reports from other locations that could constrain the distance of the mystery source.
'Given the mission of the Galileo Project, one question came to mind: 'Is this an Unidentified Anomalous Phenomenon (UAP)? Are aliens using advanced technologies near Earth,' the physicists shared in a Medium post.
The signal was short but produced a sudden release of energy that sent a wave through Earth's atmosphere.
Loeb found that the pressure wave had weakened by the time AMOS detected the sound, as it was moving 1,115 feet per second.
'Multiplying this speed by the duration of the pulse, 12 seconds, implies a shell width of 4 kilometers [2.4 miles] for the blast wave, implying a distance of about 40 kilometers [24.8 miles] from the explosion,' he shared.
'At that distance, the measured pressure disturbance suggested an explosive energy release of 2.4 kilotons of TNT. The inferred energy and distance are reminiscent of meteors, which are known to make their own music at high altitudes.'
The Orionid Meteor Shower, which takes place every autumn when Earth passes through a stream of debris from Halley's Comet, peaked on October 21 with up to 25 shooting stars every hour.
Meteors, also known as shooting stars, come from leftover comet particles and bits from broken asteroids.
When comets come around the sun, the dust they emit gradually spreads into a dusty trail around their orbits.
Every year, Earth passes through these debris trails, which collide with our atmosphere and disintegrate to create fiery and colorful streaks in the sky.
Because this is an annual event, residents of New England reported hearing the same 'boom' in 2021, also on October 20.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-12743881/UFO-new-england-mount-washington-observatory.html