Hurricane Milton arrives to the sound of trumpets, but it isn’t the end of times

Imagine the terror of a massive 150 MPH storm tearing through your town, leaving devastation in its wake. It’s no wonder that weather-related horror movies are such box-office hits. Mother Nature can be horrifying, especially as she pounds the coast with waves, water, and wind. But for those who have hunkered down through Hurricane Milton, it’s not only the relentless storm that sends shivers down their spines. Videos emerging online reveal an eerie phenomenon accompanying the hurricane: the unexpected sound of horns echoing across the sky.

What’s going on? Social media is awash with recordings of the storm, featuring flashes of lightning and booming thunder mixed with something that sounds like… trumpets. While some might imagine this as a celestial announcement of the apocalypse, scientists have some potential explanations—although they’re still figuring it out, too.

Theories suggest that these trumpet-like sounds are likely linked to ambient seismic noise, a naturally occurring phenomenon where the Earth itself produces sound. Seismologists believe this noise results from the interaction of ocean waves colliding with the seafloor, creating vibrations that travel through Earth’s crust and amplify over large distances. Recordings from notable events like the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake have captured similar sounds, though they often resemble low rumbles rather than literal trumpets.

Other researchers propose different explanations. Scientists at the University of North Carolina suggest these “skyquakes” could be due to coronal ejections from the sun, gas emissions, or even the resonance of sound waves from the storm’s distant sections traveling vast distances through the atmosphere.

While the mystery is still unsolved, these sounds may be a reminder of just how much we don’t yet understand about our planet and atmosphere. So, as more of these videos emerge, it’s best to resist apocalyptic theories. Instead, stay grounded and focus on the incredible, though often baffling, forces at play in our world.