The mysterious booms kept booming over parts of Great Britain last week with no explanations but plenty of speculations. Meanwhile, earth-shaking noises were heard in an area of British Columbia that had local baby boomers remembering a similar and very expensive sound in the 60s.

A baffling boom was heard by many witnesses in Kingsholm, Gloucester, the evening of September 9th. Local media reported residents leaving their homes and taking to the streets as the boom shook houses and sounded to some as if it were in the immediate vicinity. The single loud noise had no aftershocks and was not accompanied by lights, smells, craters, smoke or other evidence to indicate its source. There have been no explanations so far.

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Gloucester

That’s not comforting to residents of Stockport, Rochdale and Middleton in Greater Manchester north of Gloucester. On September 16th, many people in those cities reported a loud, pulsating noise that lasted for five minutes. Some said the noise sounded like it was moving across the sky. Others described it as a low frequency, pulsating bass tone. All of those traits make this boom baffling. Nearby Beetham Tower, the 47-story Manchester skyscraper, is known to create an intermittent hum in windy weather but conditions weren’t right and the sound didn’t match. One witness proposed a link to the earthquake in Chile, which happened at about the same time. No official explanations have been given to date.

Did the mysterious noise then cross the Atlantic? Residents of Oliver in British Columbia heard a loud noise at 3 a.m. on September 18th. The boom set off car alarms and police received numerous calls. This time, local officials actually acknowledged the boom but had no reasons for it. An 2.3 magnitude earthquake had shaken the area four days earlier but nothing was recorded on September 18th.

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It wasn't a wine - it sounded more like a boom

Oliver is just 100 km (60 miles) from Kelowna, where a boom on August 6th, 1969, caused 6 injuries and a quarter of a million dollars in damages – mostly broken glass. That mysterious noise was solved fairly quickly when the U.S. Navy Blue Angels admitted one of their pilots broke the sound barrier and created a sonic boom while flying too low in preparation for an upcoming show in Kelowna. Finally – a boom with a reason!

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A boom heard by baby boomers in BC

Meanwhile, the citizens of Gloucester, Manchester and Oliver cover their ears and wait for either explanations or more booms.

Paul Seaburn

Paul Seaburn is the editor at Mysterious Universe and its most prolific writer. He’s written for TV shows such as "The Tonight Show", "Politically Incorrect" and an award-winning children’s program. He's been published in “The New York Times" and "Huffington Post” and has co-authored numerous collections of trivia, puzzles and humor. His “What in the World!” podcast is a fun look at the latest weird and paranormal news, strange sports stories and odd trivia. Paul likes to add a bit of humor to each MU post he crafts. After all, the mysterious doesn't always have to be serious.

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