Skyquakes are mysterious booming sounds that seem to come from the sky, and no one knows exactly what causes them. These loud booms can be so powerful that they shake buildings and scare people, but they leave no signs of an explosion or earthquake. People have reported hearing skyquakes all over the world—in places like the U.S., Japan, and even Italy. Some scientists think the sounds might come from meteors entering the atmosphere or underwater earthquakes sending shockwaves through the air. Others suggest they could be caused by atmospheric changes or even secret military tests. Whatever the cause, these eerie booms are unpredictable, so if you hear one, don’t panic—just know you're part of a worldwide mystery! Animation is created by Bright Side. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/ Check our Bright Side podcast on Spotify and leave a positive review! https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV Subscribe to Bright Side: https://goo.gl/rQTJZz ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our Social Media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brightside Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brightside.official TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.official?lang=en Telegram: https://t.me/bright_side_official Stock materials (photos, footages and other): https://www.depositphotos.com https://www.shutterstock.com https://www.eastnews.ru ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.
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00:00For hundreds of years, people in the U.S. have reported hearing strange, loud booms.
00:10These mysterious sounds are called skyquakes, and yep, it's a real thing.
00:15If you've ever heard a loud, distant booming noise that definitely wasn't a thunderstorm
00:20or a car engine backfire, congrats, it looks like you've experienced a skyquake yourself.
00:27People report them all around the globe, from the U.S. to India and Japan.
00:32They go under different names, and we still don't know why exactly they happen.
00:38Sometimes these booms come together with earthquakes.
00:42People heard them during the New Madrid earthquakes in the early 19th century and up until January
00:472020.
00:49Those who've experienced them describe skyquakes as a rushing or rolling noise.
00:54U.S. American writer James Fenimore Cooper described it more poetically as the lake speaking
01:00to the surrounding hills, which sent back the echoes of its voice in accurate reply.
01:07Sometimes these mysterious booms happen in cold weather instead of during earthquakes.
01:12One of the skyquake hotspots is near Lake Seneca in New York.
01:16They call them the Seneca Guns.
01:19The booms can be so loud that they shake windows and doors.
01:23Back in August 1886, after an earthquake in Charleston, people heard these noises for
01:28several weeks, happening at the same time as many aftershocks from the earthquake.
01:36In 2020, scientists from the University of North Carolina looked at old news pieces,
01:41especially from North Carolina where people have often reported these sounds.
01:46They hoped to match the noises with earthquakes data, but they didn't find any link between
01:51the sounds and earthquakes.
01:53One of the researchers said they believe the noises are happening in the air, not underground.
01:59The team looked at infrasounds, which are low-frequency noises that humans can't hear.
02:04They found signals lasting 1 to 10 seconds that match the times when people reported
02:09hearing the booms, but nothing is certain here.
02:14Some people think that solar flares, underwater tsunamis, or caves collapsing under the sea
02:19cause skyquakes.
02:21Others believe the sounds come from planes making loud sonic booms.
02:25But that doesn't explain old records of skyquakes from the past before planes were even invented.
02:31Some scientists think a type of meteor, called a bolide, causes these booms.
02:37These meteors blow up when they hit Earth's atmosphere.
02:40If this happened above thick clouds, the sound would get louder and travel far, but we wouldn't
02:45find anything on the ground.
02:48Another idea is that gas might be escaping from the bottom of deep lakes, like Lake Seneca.
02:57If you think skyquakes are bizarre, let me introduce you to fogbows.
03:02They also go under the name of white rainbows, ghost rainbows, or cloudbows.
03:07They form in a similar way to regular colorful rainbows, but are much wider.
03:13Rainbows happen when there are big raindrops in the sky, and you can always spot them on
03:17the opposite side of where the sun is shining.
03:21Fogbows are made by tiny droplets in fog, or clouds instead of big raindrops, and they
03:27also appear opposite the sun.
03:30If you want to see a fogbow, you need to look for it in a thin fog when the sun is bright.
03:36You might catch one when the sun starts to shine through the fog, or if you're near the
03:40ocean where fog often forms.
03:44Because the water droplets in fog are so tiny, fogbows don't have bright colors like rainbows.
03:50They might even look all white, or just have faint colors.
03:55Some fogbows are hard to see at first because they blend into the mist, but once you spot
04:00them, they're easy to recognize.
04:04The next rare weather phenomenon you gotta watch out for is thundersnow.
04:09You guessed it right, it's a special type of thunderstorm that happens during a snowstorm.
04:15Unlike regular thunderstorms that often strike in the spring and summer, thundersnow is much
04:20rarer because it happens in the strongest winter storms, like big blizzards, and at
04:25the same time, needs warm air, which isn't a frequent combo.
04:31So for thundersnow to happen, there needs to be moisture in the air, some instability,
04:36and something to lift the air like rising winds.
04:40Just like in normal thunderstorms, lightning can appear when you hear thunder.
04:45Thundersnow lightning usually goes from cloud to cloud instead of hitting the ground, and
04:49the thunder sounds different too, more like a low rumble instead of a loud boom, because
04:54the snow muffles the sound.
04:57You aren't so likely to get struck by it, but it's still important to stay inside when
05:01you hear thunder to stay safe.
05:06Northern Lights fans, this one is for you!
05:10Scientists noticed a new kind of glow in the sky that looked like a purple streak.
05:14They nicknamed it Steve as a joke, but later gave it a more scientific name, Strong Thermal
05:20Emission Velocity Enhancement, Steve for short.
05:24Steve is actually a fast-moving stream of super hot gas that always moves west and only
05:30shows up before midnight.
05:32They wondered if something like Steve could happen after midnight, but moving in the opposite
05:37direction.
05:38And now, scientists think they found the anti-Steve by looking at data from a research station
05:44in Norway.
05:46In December 2021, they took a picture of a bright purple streak stretching for 620 miles
05:52in the sky, and it only appeared after midnight.
05:57Satellites from the European Space Agency also measured the conditions in this part
06:01of the sky and found that the ions were moving eastward.
06:06Steve's late-night twin hasn't been officially named yet, but it would be cool if it was
06:10called Sam, which is short for Steve after midnight.
06:18If you've ever seen snow on a sunny day when falling from the sky without a single
06:22cloud, it must have been diamond dust.
06:25It's a special kind of weather, with millions of tiny ice crystals forming close to the
06:30ground.
06:31These ice crystals float slowly in the air, kind of like how dust floats in your house.
06:37When sunlight hits these crystals, they sparkle like diamonds.
06:41Unlike regular snow, diamond dust can fall from a cloudless sky, which is why they sometimes
06:47call it clear-sky precipitation.
06:50It happens because of temperature inversion.
06:52Normally, it gets colder as you go higher up from the ground, but in a temperature inversion,
06:59the cold air stays near the ground, and warmer air sits above it.
07:04The warm air has more water vapor, and when it mixes with cold air near the ground, it
07:08turns directly into ice crystals, and diamond dust is born.
07:13For this to happen, the air near the ground has to be really, really cold, way below freezing
07:18temperature.
07:20Diamond dust can fall for days, but it's so light that it usually doesn't pile up
07:24on the ground like regular snow.
07:29A fall streak hole, also known as a hole-punch cloud, is next on our list.
07:36This big circular or oval-shaped gap sometimes appears in certain clouds.
07:41These types of clouds float high up in the sky and are often made of tiny water droplets
07:46that are colder than freezing, but they haven't frozen yet.
07:50These special water droplets are called supercooled, and they need a reason to freeze.
07:56Ice crystals give them that reason.
07:59When a plane flies through the cloud, it can bring those ice crystals into the cloud.
08:03Once the ice crystals are there, the supercooled water droplets freeze quickly, get bigger,
08:09and start to fall from the ground.
08:11This creates a hole in the cloud, and as more nearby droplets freeze, the hole gets bigger
08:17and spreads outward.
08:21Any tornado is scary, but a fire tornado takes the horror to a new level.
08:26These bad boys are spinning towers of flame and ash that form when there's extreme heat,
08:32strong winds, and uneven ground.
08:34The intense heat from the fire causes hot air to rise quickly.
08:39Cooler air from the sides rushes in to replace it and creates strong winds.
08:44When winds from different directions meet, it makes the fire spin like a tornado.
08:49It gets stronger and can even create its own weather.
08:53It pulls in flames, ash, dirt, and anything in its path.
08:58The winds can reach speeds of over 140 miles per hour, and these fire tornadoes can last
09:04for more than 20 minutes!
09:07That's it for today!
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