Anyone else hear/feel a ginormous explosion at about 6.15 this evening? I thought perhaps there'd been an explosives accident at the camp, or perhaps a plane had come down, but no sign of anything untoward outside. No smoke, and a cloudless sky. Weird!

This was just mentioned on the local news, people in Swindon have reported hearing a loud noise like a sonic boom, but no-one knows what it was yet.

It was heard from Swindon to Coventry, so something pretty big!

MOD have confirmed it was an emergency deployment of a Typhoon

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-17697328

I can quite understand why planes aren't allowed to fly supersonic over land as a rule!

I live near Coventry and didn't hear a thing.

Glad I didn't it would have scared the pants off me!

What time did it happen my sister felt something and she lives in Worcestershire and this is what is being reported

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7692225.stm

> What time did it happen my sister felt something and she lives in Worcestershire and this is what is being reported

> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7692225.stm

That link is over 3 years old!

I didn't notice that and will let my sister know as she dismissed the earlier news report !

I will say in her defense that she is on strong painkillers after an operation on Tuesday lol ! :-D

What a very strange story.  I can't imagine that the helicopter was reporting operational difficulties, such as engine failure, as what use would a typhoon be let along TWO?
I can't help wondering if either the helicopter was carrying a rather important person, political or royal perhaps, and the mistaken message was that they were under attack or something else entirely different happened.
Chew on that, you conspiracy theorists :)

They went from near me, and they fly past our house regularily on training runs, low but not low enough for sonic boom, but its good to see that they take things seriously, as means our safety is well protected!!!!!
Lea :) :)

Terror alert rehearsal for the Olympics would be my guess ;-)

Ah, you could be on to something there! :)

> What a very strange story.  I can't imagine that the helicopter was reporting operational difficulties, such as engine failure, as what use would a typhoon be let along TWO?
> I can't help wondering if either the helicopter was carrying a rather important person, political or royal perhaps, and the mistaken message was that they were under attack or something else entirely different happened.
> Chew on that, you conspiracy theorists :-)

I too thought it was a rather strange story :-) Not sure how the typhoons were meant to help out the helicopter - and definitely can't see how a sonic boom would be desirable anywhere near a helicopter that was struggling in the air as they aren't known for their gliding properties so any air disturbance around it wouldn't have been beneficial to it's safety. One of the reports I read then said that the emergency "call" from the helicopter was a mistake anyway and the pilot had used a wrong channel by accident.

Goodness me, i heard that and just assumed it was thunder or something, and i live in Yorkshire!!! I was in the greenhouse watering plants at the time.

Would agree with the rehearsal idea... And even if not so, it's scary but strangely reassuring they can and would scramble so fast.

Will never forget 9/11 as had and American friend staying with me at the time and had they flown a plane into the City of London I'd have had debris in my back garden. Also learned later on a child I used to babysit, grown up, was in the WTC and died, her mum used to work for my parents business, I watched last years ceremony on TV and cried buckets seeing her mum and sister laying a flower.

This seems definitive. I never knew that a sonic boom would be so powerful over so large an area.

Probably because it was so low.
Concorde used to Boom every midday when I lived in London but it had already reached the required altitude to make it bearable for us on the ground.

> what use would a typhoon be

I'm guessing there must be a 'hijack' button or similar? As the article said they thought it had been hijacked or 'gone rogue'? The planes would be to shoot it down, not save it ;-)

> The planes would be to shoot it down, not save it ;-)

:-) Silly me :-)

> I never knew that a sonic boom would be so powerful over so large an area.

I was at school in Cornwall when they were testing Concorde so heard it a few times.  Our eyes would spin before the teachers told us not to be so dramatic :)

> The planes would be to shoot it down, not save it ;-)

Or shoot down their attackers.  Either way I don't think I would be feeling as safe as Lea does sitting under the debris :)

I'm in Swindon and it was mega loud, our little old house shook, at first we thought it was something my neighbour was doing as he's building and bashing and crashing in his house.

Everybody in our terrace was out checking gardens and the like, my other neighbour even went up into his loft to check that his roof hadn't come in.

Aparently mum heard it and she lives about 10 miles from the conningsby base, and thought it was thunder :)
Dad used to hear the Sonic boom from the concorde at about 9.15 on a monday night when he lived in Ascot (35+ years ago )
I think it was probably an excercise, but they cant say that because of national security :)
Lea :) :)

If it was an exercise the Typhoon pilot will be on a charge because they're not allowed to go supersonic over land.