Bengaluru boom came from a supersonic IAF test flight, not aliens

A loud noise was heard in Bengaluru on Wednesday (May 20) at around 1.30 pm near the city’s Whitefield area. Several residents across many areas in the city took to social media to reveal that a loud sonic boom was heard in the area.

While some said they heard a ‘boom,’ and a ‘thunderous noise,’ others said they felt their homes shake and windows rattle for a period of five seconds.

According to Bengaluru police officials, no damage was reported anywhere in the city and that no calls had been made to 100. Bengaluru police has asked the Air Force Control Room to check if the sound was caused due to a flight or jet. Police officials are waiting for the Air Force to confirm.

Late in the night, the defence ministry attributed the sound to an IAF test flight involving a supersonic profile. The flight took off from Bengaluru airport and flew in the allotted airspace well outside city limits, it said.

The sound was heard in areas such as Cooke Town, Ramamurthy Nagar, Vivek Nagar, Hosur Road, HAL, Ulsoor, Kundanahalli, Old Madras Road, CV Raman Nagar, Whitefield and HSR Layout in the city. Some users tweeting about the experience said that they could feel the vibrations for about five minutes.

Officials of the Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority have ruled any earthquake or tremor. Some speculated that the noise was caused by the sonic boom from a fighter jet over the city. Some said that the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) could be conducting the regular flight tests of light combat aircraft (LCA) in the city, but no confirmation has been made as yet.

However, Twitter users came up with several other ‘creative’ suggestions. Some say that aliens have descended on Earth, while others suggested that Captain Marvel arrived. Some others lightly suggested the landing of ‘martians.’