Mysterious Sonic Boom Heard Across Bengaluru, Rumours of Earthquake Ruled Out

Late in the evening on Wednesday, the Ministry of Defence finally broke the mystery by releasing an official statement that the sound from the sky that took Bengaluru by surprise "was a routine IAF Test Flight involving a supersonic profile which took off from Bengaluru Airport and flew in the allotted airspace well outside City limits. The aircraft was of ASTE."

According to a Times of India report, Prior to that the Indian Air Force in a statement indicated towards sonic boom as the source of the sound but also admitting that none of its aircraft from its Training Command was airborne during that time. Although the IAF said that the ASTE (Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment) and HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited) could be conducting routine test flying it stopped short of making it official.

Interestingly, HAL was the first to respond with a statement after the loud noise was heard in Bengaluru but only with a denial that it was a sonic boom.