Life Stories

The Bell Island Boom

BlockBuilder 2

The Bell Island Boom
 
I had forgotten about The Bell Island Boom until I saw a report on, "Weird or What", a program hosted by William Shatner. It took me back to the sunday morning on Apr 2, 1978 when I was out in my driveway. We were getting ready for church and I was putting things in the car. The sun was shining and it was a beautiful spring morning.
 
Then I hear a sound! I looked towards Conception Bay but I didn't see anything. I expected to see some type of aircraft but there wasn't anything visible. The sound traveled towards Bell Island and then it stopped. I was a travel consultant and I had traveled and had seen and heard a number of aircraft. I thought it was The Concorde. Whatever it was, it was traveling at a super sonic speed. My wife and children were inside the house and they didn't hear anything. 
 
I heard afterwards that there had been an explosion on Bell Island and that some chickens had been killed. Also there was damage to a property and there were some holes in the ground. I lived in Foxtrap and Bell Island is approximately 12 miles away. You can see Bell Island, from where we used to live. It is a large inhabited island in Conception Bay. It was a clear morning and I could see the island and some of the houses. They said there had been an explosion but I hadn't seen anything, when the sound stopped.    

Bell Island was known for the iron ore mines that operated there for many years and was the only place in North America where The Germans conducted an attack during the Second World War. Those attacks happened in 1942 and 72 people were killed. There were four ships sank during the attack and it is now a popular dive site. The mines have been closed for a number of years and many Bell Islanders moved from the island.
 
Whatever the sound was may never be known, although there have been a number of theories from The Supersonic jet sound waves, the test of an electromagnetic pulse weapon, testing of weapons by The United States or The Soviet Union. The most plausible theory is that of a lightning superbolt.
 
It's one of those unexplained mysteries that will be written and spoken about by ordinary people and by scientists. I can say that I heard the sound and I have been part of a a little piece of history.
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
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