Mysterious loud sound heard in Bengaluru; sonic boom, explosion or earthquake, netizens wonder [reactions]

It was just another day on Friday until Bengaluru residents heard an extremely loud boom at around 12:30 p.m. Twitter was buzzing with speculations about what triggered the loud "thud" and a "boom" sound. Having experienced a similar incident last year, netizens were quick to suggest it was another sonic boom. But was it really though?

As residents of Bengaluru shared their experience on Twitter, speculation of a sonic boom from a fighter jet flying over the city got maximum votes. The police or the Air Force are yet to comment if a fighter jet fly-past was conducted in the city's airspace, triggering the loud sound.

What is sonic boom?

A sonic boom is a result of shock waves created in the atmosphere when an object moves faster than the speed of light. Last May, a thunderous noise was heard across many parts of Bengaluru, window panes rattled and tremors were felt in some areas. After much speculation, the Indian Air Force confirmed that it was a routine IAF Test Flight "involving a supersonic profile which took off from Bluru Airport and flew in the allotted airspace well outside City limits."

"The sonic boom was probably heard while the aircraft was decelerating from supersonic to subsonic speed between 36,000 and 40,000 feet altitude," the statement had said.

The sonic boom explanation fits perfectly to explain the latest loud noise, which was heard in many areas, including Cooke Town, Vivek Nagar, Ramamurthy Nagar, Hosur Road, HAL, Old Madras Road, Ulsoor, Kundanahalli, Kammanahalli, CV Raman Nagar, Whitefield and HSR Layout in the city. But a statement from the IAF is missing, yet.

Netizens react

Meanwhile, netizens haven't given up on the possibility of an earthquake and well, aliens. There haven't been any reports of explosions anywhere in the city, so that can certainly be ruled out.