Bengaluru, May 20: A mysterious "boom" heard in large parts of Bengaluru this afternoon left residents of the city and social media users puzzled. While the source of the sound is being investigated, the Indian Air Force (IAF) indicated that it could be the result of "routine test flights that necessitate going supersonic a times".
The sound was heard from as far as the Bengaluru airport in Devanahalli to the IT hub of Electronic City 54 km away. It was also heard in Kalyan Nagar in east Bengaluru, central Bengaluru's MG Road and areas such as Marathahalli, Whitefield, Sarjapur and Hebbagodi.
IAF said no aircraft of training command was flying in the area. "However, ASTE (Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment) and HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited) could have been undertaking their routine test flying, which necessitates going supersonic at times. These are done well beyond the city limits in specified sectors. However, considering the atmospheric conditions and reduced noise levels in the city during these times, the aircraft sound may become clearly audible even if it happened way out from the city," said the air force statement.
Many people had speculated that the sound could have been caused by a fighter jet such as a Mirage 2000.
"We have also asked the Air Force Control Room to check if it was a jet or supersonic sound. Bengaluru police are awaiting confirmation from the Air Force," Bengaluru police commissioner Bhaskar Rao said in a statement.
It was not an earthquake, Karnataka's state disaster monitoring centre had tweeted earlier.
"Earthquake activity will not be restricted to one area and will be widespread. We have checked our sensors and there is no earthquake activity recorded today," the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre said, quoting its director Srinivas Reddy.
"The activity reported in Bengaluru is not due to an earthquake. The seismometers did not capture any ground vibration as generally happens during a mild Tremor. The activity is purely a loud unknown noise," the agency tweeted.
#Bangalore and #BangaloreBoom was among the top trends on Twitter this afternoon.
"We are trying to ascertain the source of the noise," a senior police officer said. "In Whitefield area, we have searched on the ground and so far, there is no damage to any property," he added. There were no calls to the police control room reporting any damage.
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congrats team Beary Academy and BWF.Nice to see community organizations puts hands together to serve community
Beary language should be given priority in our households; it is a pity that language is slowly diminishing. Academy should work on to restore old glory of beary language.
Congratulations to Kadambar Mohammed and Mohammed Ali Uchil- 2 stalwarts of community
congrats Kadambar Mohammed on being feliciated by well reputed BWF.congrats to newly selected Academy members.Keep the team spirit.
well done BWF-,establishing bond with community back home is a noble deed.Keep it up
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