MYSTERY BOOM ROCKS HUMBERSIDE AREA
A mysterious boom rocked the area of Humberside in May 1977. The first and loudest boom, which was heard as far afield as Brough, Cottingham and Beverley, occurred at around 11.33 PM on Thursday  May 18 and was reported to have rattled windows. Following this initial explosion, two or three lesser booms were heard.  As result, local police stations were inundated with emergency calls from concerned residents. The explosions apparently sounded the loudest in the east Hull proximity.
In an effort to try and deal with the mystery booms, Humberside police set up headquarters in Hull's Queen Gardens. From here they checked all possible sources of explosions such as nearby gas installations and explosive stores.
Asked for his opinion on the mystery booms, an RAF spokesperson  said that there was always plenty of aircraft activity over the area by such groups as NATO .
'Supersonic flight lanes are over the sea, not inland, but research has proved that a sonic boom can travel horizontally for up to 100 miles. It is possible that this is what happened and that the bangs came in from seaward,' he said.

Two Bransholme housewives seem to have thought differently, however. They reported seeing a strange object in the sky shortly after the explosions were heard. The two women said they witnessed an object like a classic spaceship and were scared by  what they saw.

Mysterious booms are a world-wide phenomena.Rajkot in India, for example, has been troubled by earthquakes in the past two years. Moreover residents have recently reported an increasing number of unexplained booms. These evidently sound like dynamite been set off and are strong enough to rattle windows and doors and even demolish buildings. Apparently, mining, terrorism and aircraft have all been ruled out as possible causes.
    Unexplained booms are believed to have been first reported from India in 1871 when G. Scott, an Englishman, wrote in the science journal Nature of noises called the Barisal Guns, heard at the mouth of the Ganges. They were described as 'dull, muffled boomed as if of distant cannon.' Closer to home unexplained booms have also been reported from Morecambe Bay and Comrie in Perthshire where there have been numerous reports since 1788. Source:  Paul Simons, The Times, January 13, 2003

' 'Tis strange- but  true; for truth is always strange;
stranger  than  fiction if it could be told'
- Lord Byron - Don Juan