Mystery as 'sonic boom' noise shakes homes in south west

  • Published
Aerial view of Christchurch
Image caption,

The noise was heard across south-west England at about 15:00 GMT

A sonic boom-type noise has been heard across the south west of England which made homes and windows shake.

People took to social media at about 15:00 GMT to report the "huge bang" that lasted several seconds.

It was heard in the Dorchester and Weymouth areas in Dorset and also Taunton, Bridgwater and Wellington in Somerset and parts of Devon.

A Ministry of Defence spokeswoman said the noise was not believed to be linked to any RAF aircraft.

Ollie Peart, of Dorchester, managed to capture the noise on his security camera and described it as a "massive bang".

This Twitter post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser.View original content on Twitter
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
Skip twitter post by Ollie Peart

Allow Twitter content?

This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
End of twitter post by Ollie Peart

Others posted on Twitter that their homes and windows shook.

BBC reporter Linzi Kinghorn, who was on the Isle of Portland at the time, said: "It was a very loud, sounded like thunder and lasted about 10 seconds."

Police forces including Dorset, Devon and Cornwall and Avon and Somerset Police said they had no incidents reported which related to the noise.