Heard strange noise last night....Fiance and I freaked out!

Before I get into what we heard I just want to state that we live about 10 miles north/northwest of Stewart International Airport in Newburgh, NY, so we hear large low flying airliners, C-5s and C-130s all the time. But what we heard last night was so strange that it had both of us questioning what it was. So it was about 11:00pm when all of a sudden we heard what sounded like a C-5 on our ROOF and accelerating at great speeds. It actually shook the house a little as it flew over. Then suddenly as the sound of the engines went to pass a second wave of noise followed that was more of a helicopter rotor type noise then airplane, but that also was so low and so loud that it caused the walls to shake. These two sounds lasted about 45 seconds all together and I am really perplexed as to what it was. There is no way that a helicopter out of Stewart would be tailing an airline or large military transport plane out of Stewart so close and at such a high rate of speed. We raced to the windows to see if we could catch a glimpse of what it was but it has been rainy and overcast with low skies here for about 3 days. Has anyone ever had this occur to them?

Stewart International Airport
C-5 Galaxy
C-130 Hercules

Actually, this happens to us all the time. We live in a country where military operations are carried out near our home frequently. You might have had a big carrier plane coming in overhead. They drop altitude a lot further out than commercial jets, it seems, and they really rattle the house.

ETA... a big carrier plane and then a military helicopter might mean someone was running an emergency drill...

I used to live under the Long Beach airport runway. It's been a long time, but I remember a C 17 coming in or going out (whichever was the opposite of the normal pattern over me) that was so loud and scary, my visiting mother-in-law grabbed me and covered me for safety. It was really scary and really embarrassing.

I don't know this is my fiances parents house and she has been living here her entire life. She has never heard anything that sounded similar to this. It seriously freaked the both of us out because the reverberation from the engines seriously shook the entire house. That and I wouldn't imagine the airport doing drills last night because it was honestly one of the darkest nights I have ever seen. The cloud cover was very dense and I would think it would be hazardous to fly a large carrier at such a low altitude. What really has me wondering is the followup helicopter. The first noise sounded like what it sounds like when you are actually a passenger in an airliner during takeoff and there wasn't any delay between that noise and the noise from helicopter rotors. The speed that the jet must have been flying there is no way that a helicopter could be following so close.

There is a huge difference between a jet and a C130 or C5. I live near a base that had 8 of the C130's stationed there (in Ohio) (they are now geting C5's) and they fly drills all the time all hours of the day and night in all weather conditions. This is the only way for the pilots to practice maneuvers for what ever might come along in a combat situation. I have even seen them do night drills with no lights to practice coming in to an air base under black out. The "helicopter" sounds could have been echo (reverb) from the engines if it was indeed flying really low and the sounds could bounce off of the surrounding buildings.

Originally posted by froglegs79
There is a huge difference between a jet and a C130 or C5. I live near a base that had 8 of the C130's stationed there (in Ohio) (they are now geting C5's) and they fly drills all the time all hours of the day and night in all weather conditions. This is the only way for the pilots to practice maneuvers for what ever might come along in a combat situation. I have even seen them do night drills with no lights to practice coming in to an air base under black out. The "helicopter" sounds could have been echo (reverb) from the engines if it was indeed flying really low and the sounds could bounce off of the surrounding buildings.

I honestly don't know what I heard. The only way to explain it is a jet being trailed by a helicopter. I have seen/heard the C-5/C-130s flying low taking off and landing my entire life, and it didn't sound like those. We immediately were doing internet searches after what we heard to see if this was heard by anyone else. I can understand if it was one of the normal sorties that are flown out of Stewart on a daily basis but this noise I honestly can't explain. I'll sit outside tonight and see if it happens again I guess.

If you live in a remote area , or even a sparsely populated area , there is a remote possibility that your house was chosen as the target area in some kind of a training mission. Hence the low pass over.

reply to post by bluemooone2


I agree, I know they did that with the house I grew up in (I had family in the local unit so they also did it as a way to say hello )

reply to post by olliemc84


they might fly over again tonight, but where I'm from they only came over our area one day of the week...

Please let us know if it happens again, I would be very interested in what it might be.

i think it was 2000 or 2001

i lived in Seattle one day we heard very close jet engine sounds so close we freaked out and ran outside
sure enough a passenger jet was flying just above treetop level???

this was unusual because we we not in a commercial flight path and passenger jets never ever flew over us

it turned out it was a lost Russian airline pilot looking for the nearby airport!!

I do not know about your experience but I can add that yesterday where I live in south eastern Pennsylvania,about 45 minutes from Philadelphia,I heard military helicopters all day flying overhead which is uncommon since living here.

I wonder if anyone in the general vicinity heard or saw an increase of military presence in the air or land for that matter yesterday?

Thanks for the post OP.

Another possible guess... Flying low and fast does sound like how they'd practice insertion runs, and doing such at night wouldn't be that unusual either. They're still not that common though, so it would take some research to see if they're operating in your area.



Sometimes the sound on videos (with crappy camera mic) doesn't come through like the real thing does, so I couldn't say for sure whether that would entirely fit your description.

Oh I just checked another vid linked off of that one... This shows how it sounds in full horizontal flight. So an edit...


Now that sounds like a jet, doesn't it? I bet that's one loud-### #######!

After thinking about this for a few days what I think I heard was a low flyby by a CH-47 Chinook transport helicopter. I have seen them a few times operating out of Stewart but the one that flew over the house had to have been extremely low. Found a video that closely resembles what we heard last night.



Just want to thank everyone for their input. I knew I would get some great ideas from you folks!





EDIT: And now that I think about it it makes complete sense. FEMA is using the Chinooks to fly supplies around the NY area to aid flood damaged areas.

Army Guard CH-47D Chinook heavy lift helicopters assigned to Bravo Company of the 1st Battalion, 126th Aviation, picked up Federal Emergency Management Agency supplies flowing into Stewart Air National Guard Base. The supplies were loaded into the Chinooks and flown to Belleayre Ski Center, a state-owned facility in Highmont, Ulster County.

NY Army National Guard assisting flood hit areas

reply to post by olliemc84


totally forgot about Chinooks, I know the one time Chinooks flew over my area they were low and the windows rattled like crazy, thanks for letting us know what it probably was

reply to post by olliemc84


I wonder if that was what I was also hearing the other day here in Pa,as i posted earlier,I heard a constant chatter of military choppers flying all day long,back and forth.
was not aware of those issues in the NY area,thank you.

Originally posted by PerfectPerception
reply to post by olliemc84

 

I wonder if that was what I was also hearing the other day here in Pa,as i posted earlier,I heard a constant chatter of military choppers flying all day long,back and forth.
was not aware of those issues in the NY area,thank you.

It may very well could have been. I have only seen them a few times in my life but once you see one you wont forget. They are pretty awesome to watch fly low and slow over the terrain. I have seen them fly over Michie Stadium in West Point before Army football games as well as the blackhawks.

Where abouts do you live in PA? Fiance and I are thinking about moving out there. It is almost impossible to live in NY state.

Ah a Chinook ! I've been in one and have a friend who lives near an army base that uses them and i can tell you they are very,very noisy !! Could well have been one if you thought your house was about to fall down as thats the reaction my friend has every time one passes fairly close to his house.