Coventry explosion?

[Blaze163]

There was what sounded like a huge explosion a few hours ago here in the UK, but nobody seems to have a clue what's going on. I've googled it for news but all I could find is an article saying the MoD was looking into it. Does anyone have even the slightest clue what the hell that noise was?

Some cretin said it was a sonic boom made by a plane coming in to land. Lemme explain, dumbass. A sonic boom occurs when something breaks the sound barrier. IE: is travelling several hundred miles per hour. Unlikely to be during a delicate landing operation unless the pilot has no concept of the effect of a high speed impact with the floor on his face.

Seriously though, there's next to no news about it. Any ideas? And by the way, anyone who says 'aliens' is a moron. I'm sure any alien race advanced enough to be capable of interstellar travel is intelligent enough to pick a more scenic spot for first contact than Coventry...

 

[MelodieOctavia]

http://news.sky.com/...rticle/16207542
http://www.abovetops...hread829468/pg1
http://forums.overcl....php?t=18392381

Google search "Coventry explosion" within the past hour

Edit: My Google-fu is strong today.

 

[Deleted_171835]

http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/2012/04/12/sonic-boom-creates-huge-bang-heard-in-coventry-and-warwickshire-92746-30748697/

 

[Blaze163]

http://news.sky.com/...rticle/16207542
http://www.abovetops...hread829468/pg1
http://forums.overcl....php?t=18392381

Google search "Coventry explosion" within the past hour

The only suggestion there is that it was a flight of Eurofighter Typhoons making sonic booms. 1) There are no flights of Eurofighter Typhoons on station anywhere near Coventry, the closest squadron is RAF Conningsby in Lincolnshire. 2) Why would the MoD be unaware of it if it were their own fighters?

 

[MelodieOctavia]

It may be one of those things that are never explained...

Or maybe it was the Torchwood Institute. 0_0

 

[Blaze163]

It may be one of those things that are never explained...

Or maybe it was the Torchwood Institute. 0_0

Somewhere out there my Doctor Who obsessed older brother was looking at the sky to make sure we weren't at the Dalek Crucible, I guarantee it.

 

[pyromaniac123]

Alien invasion.

 

[Blaze163]

Alien invasion.

DERP.

The MoD now claim it was a sonic boom from a pair of Eurofighter Typhoons responding to a call from a helicopter that 'transmitted on the wrong frequency'. BOLLOCKS.

1) That noise was heard for miles. No way in hell is a sonic boom that loud, or as long as it went on for.

2) What the hell would Eurofighters be deployed for? They're stationed in an entirely different county.

3) I'm sure the MoD isn't so twitchy as to send up the most advanced fighters in the world for a simple misunderstanding.

4) If it was from an aircraft, surely we should have been able to see its trails in the sky? I didn't see anything.

Obvious cover up is obvious.

 

[Hadrian]

Its not aliens.

Its Lady Godiva coming back as a dragon...and she farted.

 

[MelodieOctavia]

Alien invasion.

DERP.

The MoD now claim it was a sonic boom from a pair of Eurofighter Typhoons responding to a call from a helicopter that 'transmitted on the wrong frequency'. BOLLOCKS.

1) That noise was heard for miles. No way in hell is a sonic boom that loud, or as long as it went on for.

2) What the hell would Eurofighters be deployed for? They're stationed in an entirely different county.

3) I'm sure the MoD isn't so twitchy as to send up the most advanced fighters in the world for a simple misunderstanding.

4) If it was from an aircraft, surely we should have been able to see its trails in the sky? I didn't see anything.

Obvious cover up is obvious.

Something defo fishy.

Maybe a MoD weapon test gone wrong?

 

[Blaze163]

Its not aliens.

Its Lady Godiva coming back as a dragon...and she farted.

Hitomi is rolling on the floor with that one. Remind me to shake your hand if we ever cross paths, you legend.

 

[Foxi4]

Or maybe it was the Torchwood Institute. 0_0

The Torchwood Institute would probably cover this up easily. They covered up a bloody invasion of Cybermen and Daleks and you expect me to believe that they couldn't erase a "bang" from reality? C'mon.

 

[Vulpes Abnocto]

1) That noise was heard for miles. No way in hell is a sonic boom that loud, or as long as it went on for.
How long did it go on? I'm reading reports of "a number of seconds" which is plausible for sonic booms. (We hear them often, here. This area is a test corridor for some US jets.)

2) What the hell would Eurofighters be deployed for? They're stationed in an entirely different county.
This just in: Jets move fast. Even if they were scrambled from the other side of England, they could still be on the scene in a matter of minutes.

3) I'm sure the MoD isn't so twitchy as to send up the most advanced fighters in the world for a simple misunderstanding.
First flight 27 March 1994
Introduction 4 August 2003
These are the "most advanced" fighters in the world? F-22 pilots would like to speak with you.
And yes, fighters do get scrambled over misunderstandings. Quite often.

4) If it was from an aircraft, surely we should have been able to see its trails in the sky? I didn't see anything.
Not every plane at every altitude/speed leaves a contrail. In fact fighter jets rarely do. On top of that, if a low-flying jet creates a sonic boom, it will be over the horizon by the time you hear it at all.

Obvious cover up is obvious.

I'm all for pointing out cover-ups and lies, but this doesn't seem to fit the criteria.

 

[Deleted User]

{{}}

 

[Blaze163]

1) That noise was heard for miles. No way in hell is a sonic boom that loud, or as long as it went on for.
How long did it go on? I'm reading reports of "a number of seconds" which is plausible for sonic booms. (We hear them often, here. This area is a test corridor for some US jets.)

2) What the hell would Eurofighters be deployed for? They're stationed in an entirely different county.
This just in: Jets move fast. Even if they were scrambled from the other side of England, they could still be on the scene in a matter of minutes.

3) I'm sure the MoD isn't so twitchy as to send up the most advanced fighters in the world for a simple misunderstanding.
First flight 27 March 1994
Introduction 4 August 2003
These are the "most advanced" fighters in the world? F-22 pilots would like to speak with you.
And yes, fighters do get scrambled over misunderstandings. Quite often.

4) If it was from an aircraft, surely we should have been able to see its trails in the sky? I didn't see anything.
Not every plane at every altitude/speed leaves a contrail. In fact fighter jets rarely do. On top of that, if a low-flying jet creates a sonic boom, it will be over the horizon by the time you hear it at all.

Obvious cover up is obvious.

I'm all for pointing out cover-ups and lies, but this doesn't seem to fit the criteria.

In order for even a Eurofighter to go beyond Mach 1 and therefore create a sonic boom, it has to use its afterburners. Ergo it'd be leaving a contrail, which would remain in the sky for several minutes. There's also the fact that even if they were able to respond within the time-frame, there's no call for them. The air base on the outskirts of Coventry itself is home to several flights of Tornado's that could have handled the matter just as effectively, only quicker and without expending the much higher fuel costs of the Eurofighter.

As for the F22 being the most advanced fighter in the world, the American Air Force Chief of Staff in 2004, John P Jumper, is on record as sayng that he's flown all manner of fighter jets, and nothing compares to the Typhoon. He's flown in both the Typhoon and the Raptor, and he preferred the Typhoon. Pretty sure that's aout as expert an opinion on the subject as you can get. The Raptor is also fatally flawed on a simple concept level, in that it's designed as a stealth fighter but the moment it switches on any of its advanced avionics packages to actually do anything, it lights up like a bloody Christmas tree. About as stealthy as a flying house brick.

 

[Vulpes Abnocto]

Wasn't exactly saying that the F-22 qualified as the "most advanced" either. (If anything that title would probably go to the F-35 Lightning II, though it's not yet in service anywhere) But I do see your point.
I've never seen your Eurofighter Typhoon, myself. Don't know if they always leave contrails when using afterburners, but I'm willing to take your word on it. I do know that not every fighter does, after seeing a number of jets using afterburners at supersonic speed that left no such trails (unless they were making hard turns).

Other things I don't know are the size of counties in England, nor how many jets they have stationed and on standby in each county. But it seems that if one base has Typhoons on standby, yet a closer base has jets still in the hangar, then it's feasible to scramble the more ready of the two.
In a potential emergency situation, the very last variable that would be considered is fuel efficiency of the fighters that are called upon. All they're going to be concerned with is whether the jets are fueled enough to take on the mission.

Lets go with the assumption that this is a cover-up, for a moment. What else could make such a sound?
There have been quite a lot of reports of mysterious booms and other sounds from the sky all over the world, lately. (Take that as you will)

I also think I should apologize. After re-reading my previous statement I realized how condescending it sounded. I'm in a lot of pain today and it's coming out in my words. I'm sorry.

 

[Gahars]

I don't want to alarm you, but...

Looks like H.G. Wells was just a hundred or so years off the mark.