Loud sound rattles many areas of Bengaluru, Twitter users compare it to last year's sonic boom

Bengaluru residents across the city heard loud sounds around 12:15pm on Friday as several people took to Twitter to describe it as a "boom" or a "thud". According to reports, the loud noise was heard in ISRO Layout, HSR Layout, Benson Town, Sarjapur, Ulsoor, south Bengaluru, east Bengaluru and JP Nagar areas of the city.

Calling it "an annual ritual" many netizens compared Friday's sound to a similar boom they heard last year. Citizens said the sound was loud enough to make windows rattle. “Windows rattled after a huge sound...what was it, one more Sonic Boom?” asked one user.

There was speculation online that the sound might have been caused by a trainee fighter jet flying over the city from the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) airport.

However, HAL refused to comment on Friday's incident. "Regular sorties of fighters and trainee aircraft take place from HAL airport. Today was no different. HAL can't comment on the loud sound reportedly heard today in Bengaluru," HAL's spokesperson told ANI.

In May of last year, a similar "sonic boom" was heard in areas like HSR Layout, Ulsoor, Old Madras Road, Kundanahalli, Kammanahalli, CV Raman Nagar, Whitefield, Ramamurthy Nagar, Cooke Town, Hosur Road, and Vivek Nagar. The ministry of defence tweeted that it was caused by a routine IAF test flight outside of city limits when the aircraft was decelerating from a "supersonic to a subsonic speed" at an altitude of 36,000 to 40,000 feet above sea level.

“It was a routine IAF Test Flight involving a supersonic profile which took off from Bluru Airport and flew in the allotted airspace well outside City limits. The aircraft was of Aircraft Systems and Testing Establishment (ASTE) whose Test Pilots & Flight Test Engineers routinely test out all aeroplanes. The sonic boom was probably heard while the aircraft was decelerating from supersonic to subsonic speed between 36,000 and 40,000 feet altitude,” the defence ministry tweeted.

The ministry clarified that the test flight was happening well outside of Bengaluru city limits but residents could hear the noise because “the sound of a sonic boom can be heard and felt by an observer even when the aircraft is flying as far away as 65 to 80 kilometres away from the person”.