China’s first astronaut reported hearing a mysterious sound in space, and apparently he is not the only one who has heard it.
“A non-causal situation I have met in space is a knock that appeared from time to time,” Chinese Major General Yang Liwei, who first ventured into outer space Oct. 16, 2003, told China Central Television (CCTV), according to the Xinhua News Agency.
“It neither came from outside nor inside the spaceship, but sounded like someone is knocking the body of the spaceship just as knocking an iron bucket with a wooden hammer,” Yang explained.
The sound alarmed Yang, leading him to move over to the nearest porthole to identify the problem, but he didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.
He said the sound came out of nowhere without any apparent reason.
After returning to Earth, he checked with technicians, but was never able to properly replicate the sound or find a suitable explanation.
Some of China’s Shenzhou 6 and 7 astronauts have also heard the knocking in space.
“Before entering space, I have told them that the sound is a normal phenomenon, so there is no need to worry,” Yang revealed to CCTV.
Yang was the 241st person to visit outer space.
While it is unclear what the Chinese astronauts heard, some type of ship defect seems like a reasonable explanation.
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