# Loud 'bang' last night - any ideas? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 22, 2015, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loud-bang-last-night-any-ideas/723152 "2015-06-22T14:15:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![elninost0rm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ed655f/32.png) [@elninost0rm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elninost0rm)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loud-bang-last-night-any-ideas/723152/1 "2015-06-22T14:15:39Z")
Hi folks, So my wife and I were woken last night by an unsettling sound that sounded like a loud bang. It was quick and did not repeat or have any real echoing effects. We sleep right above the garage, so my immediate thought was that the torsion spring on the garage door had failed and that was the resulting noise. Not so. I initially cased the whole house for any signs of an intruder and then opened the garage door to test it. Worked fine. Same operational noises and sequence as usual. My next thought was that maybe the water heater popped from excessive pressure. I know that there is a pressure release valve to prevent that very thing from happening, but I checked anyway. Nothing. No water, no signs of leakage, nothing. Since my wife and I are unsure if it was below or above us (attic), my father thought it might be a roof trusses snapping or something like that. I’m gonna head up into the attic later and take a peek, but I really doubt it was something like that. Our house is a 1 story bungalow with basement and is relatively uncomplicated. I can’t even think of anything else that would cause a noise like that. Anyone have any other ideas? Ghosts? 😉 We ended up not getting much sleep last night because it was understandably quite disturbing to hear at 1:30 AM. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loud-bang-last-night-any-ideas/723152/2 "2015-06-22T15:08:36Z")
Owl or hawk pranging into a window? Look for feathers. ---
**Author:** ![jacobsta811](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jacobsta811/32/2893_2.png) [@jacobsta811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jacobsta811)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loud-bang-last-night-any-ideas/723152/3 "2015-06-22T15:13:55Z")
Car accident outside the house ? Or anything that would be way louder than something from inside the house and just further away. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loud-bang-last-night-any-ideas/723152/4 "2015-06-22T15:17:28Z")
Do they still make metal trash cans? Do you have one or two? Did Mr. Raccoon stop by for a midnight snack? If not, it was probably the Wendigo. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loud-bang-last-night-any-ideas/723152/5 "2015-06-22T15:18:59Z")
My first thought would have been a power transformer. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loud-bang-last-night-any-ideas/723152/6 "2015-06-22T15:20:36Z")
Something outside. Something fell off a shelf or off a hook somewhere. Stuff seems a lot louder in the still of the night. If you don’t find a cause then it’s probably ghosts because they like to make noise at night and then leave no physical evidence of their existence behind. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loud-bang-last-night-any-ideas/723152/7 "2015-06-22T15:41:17Z")
Check your canned goods, see if you’ve missed a few expiration dates. A friend of mine who was trying to make root beer had some containment failures. ---
**Author:** ![Tamex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Tamex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamex)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loud-bang-last-night-any-ideas/723152/8 "2015-06-22T16:08:30Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > My first thought would have been a power transformer. Mine, too. Did power go out somewhere in your neighborhood? This has happened several times in our neighborhood. The most recent time was in the middle of the morning, and I didn’t even notice the power outage until I used my phone to look something up on the internet and noticed that it was using data instead of wi-fi! ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loud-bang-last-night-any-ideas/723152/9 "2015-06-22T16:37:47Z")
Its almost July 4th, probably fireworks ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loud-bang-last-night-any-ideas/723152/10 "2015-06-22T17:37:15Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Do they still make metal trash cans? Do you have one or two? Did Mr. Raccoon stop by for a midnight snack? > > If not, it was probably the Wendigo. Definitely the Wendigo. ---
**Author:** ![G0sp3l](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@G0sp3l](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G0sp3l)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loud-bang-last-night-any-ideas/723152/11 "2015-06-22T17:50:47Z")
Probably Death-Eaters. I think there’s a loud noise when they Disapparate. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loud-bang-last-night-any-ideas/723152/12 "2015-06-22T17:55:47Z")
Mortar Firework? July 4 is coming and firework stands are popping up. ---
**Author:** ![Hopeful\_Crow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/da6949/32.png) [@Hopeful\_Crow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hopeful_Crow)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loud-bang-last-night-any-ideas/723152/13 "2015-06-22T18:23:06Z")
This happened once in my sister and brother-in-law’s house. Only it was in the early evening, and it was Thanksgiving to boot, with lots of relatives over. One loud pop that everyone in the house heard and that was it. My bet is that the house was settling. Pressure built up in a certain joint but instead of giving gradually as it usually does, it held on until it it couldn’t handle any more. Then BANG! ---
**Author:** ![Shark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/73ab20/32.png) [@Shark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shark)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loud-bang-last-night-any-ideas/723152/14 "2015-06-22T18:59:02Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > Owl or hawk pranging into a window? Look for feathers. I think **Finagle** is close, but it had to be a duck instead of an owl or hawk. **elninost0rm** said it didn’t echo, and everybody knows that a ducks thwack doesn’t echo. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loud-bang-last-night-any-ideas/723152/15 "2015-06-22T19:03:17Z")
I’m sticking with the Wendigo. Perhaps a wendigo shooting off fireworks. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loud-bang-last-night-any-ideas/723152/16 "2015-06-22T20:21:40Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > My first thought would have been a power transformer. Mine too. Every now and then a capacitor of some type blows on the poles in our neighborhood. The “_ **BANG!** _” is unbelievable. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loud-bang-last-night-any-ideas/723152/17 "2015-06-22T20:27:38Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > The “_ **BANG!** _” is unbelievable. I was practically under one a few days after 9/11. Took a few minutes to realize what happened. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loud-bang-last-night-any-ideas/723152/18 "2015-06-22T20:50:47Z")
See, what had happened was, the wife and I were out for a moonlight walk when things got a bit, um, frisky, see. And we couldn’t resist. Didn’t know we were under your bedroom window. Sorry. I was good, though. Really good. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loud-bang-last-night-any-ideas/723152/19 "2015-06-22T21:06:33Z")
Once I bought a home that had a whole-house fan (a.k.a. attic fan) that I thought didn’t work because it was old. Turns out that it had sort of frozen shut, and when current was applied, would sort of “wake up” every 21 hours or so with a loud THUMP. So for the first 6 months I owned the house, I swore to f\*ck that the thing was haunted until the electrician was checking out something else and unstuck the fan. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loud-bang-last-night-any-ideas/723152/20 "2015-06-22T21:45:17Z")
Wendigo [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loud-bang-last-night-any-ideas/723152.md?page=2)