On October 20, residents of New England reported an unusual loud boom that shook their homes for 12 seconds. Harvard University recorded the bizarre sound that did not match anything from birds to airplanes.
Avi Loeb, an astrophysicist and former head of the university's astronomy department, is set to probe the origin of the unidentified flying object (UFO), believed to have generated an explosive sound equivalent to 2,400 tons of TNT.
Mysterious Sound Over New England
Loeb's Galileo Project observatory detected the enigmatic sound using an ultra-sensitive microphone installed on Harvard's campus. Audio engineer Andy Mead, who designed the AMOS system, received messages about a viral sound heard across New England, prompting attention from the Mount Washington Observatory.
Mount Washington Observatory, perplexed by the 12-second mystery, posted on Facebook that even them have no idea where the loud boom came from. Mead, who contacted Loeb on October 21, discovered something unusual picked up by the sensors.
He shared the widespread reports, reaching Mount Washington, Boothbay Harbor, Maine, and Sturbridge, where people reported an explosion over their homes around 7:43 pm ET on October 20.
Mead informed Loeb about the intriguing sound captured by AMOS at 7:43 pm ET, lasting for 12 seconds. Despite a challenge in identification due to the presence of an aircraft during the mystery sound, Mead provided a spectrogram, showcasing the distinctive noise along with other recorded sounds.
Could It Be a Message From Aliens?
Loeb launched a website to collect reports from different locations, seeking to pinpoint the distance of the mysterious source. Public feedback revealed nearly simultaneous detections between Harvard University and New Hampshire, indicating a distant origin, potentially spanning tens of miles.
Considering the Galileo Project's mission, Loeb pondered whether the occurrence was an Unidentified Anomalous Phenomenon (UAP) and questioned if advanced extraterrestrial technologies were in play near Earth.
The detected signal, though brief, unleashed a sudden release of energy, creating a ripple through Earth's atmosphere. Analyzing the data, Loeb found that the pressure wave, moving at 1,115 feet per second, had weakened by the time it reached AMOS.
Multiplying the speed by the 12-second duration suggested a blast wave width of 4 kilometers (2.4 miles) and a distance of about 40 kilometers (24.8 miles) from the explosion. The estimated explosive energy release of 2.4 kilotons of TNT and the distance resembled characteristics of meteors, known for generating distinctive sounds at high altitudes.
In pursuit of understanding, Loeb sought data from Mead, revealing a peak pressure of a millionth of atmospheric pressure at sea level and a 12-second duration for the pressure signal to decline by half.
In half an hour, Loeb calculated the energy and distance of the explosion, elucidating the impulsive character of the signal and proposing a blast wave originating from a sudden energy release in a limited space.
Explosive Sound Possibly Linked to the Orionid Meteor Shower
Loeb concluded that the origin of the energy likely stemmed from the explosion of a one-mile-wide meteor during the Orionid meteor shower's peak in the area on October 21.
The Orionid Meteor Shower occurs annually in autumn as Earth traverses a debris stream from Halley's Comet. Reaching its peak on October 21, the occurrence showcases a maximum of 25 shooting stars per hour. Meteors, often known as shooting stars, originate from leftover comet particles and fragments of broken asteroids.
Comets release dust during their orbit, forming trails. Each year, Earth intersects these trails, causing debris to disintegrate, creating colorful streaks. This annual event led to residents in New England hearing a similar 'boom' on October 20, 2021.
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