“Remoted – Hybrid” – Day 908 (Sunday) – air traffic

Sunday morning noise maker.

The usual Sunday morning quiet was disturbed shortly before 9:00. A sound began in the sky and got louder and closer. I was outside in my pajamas and a chambray shirt, letting Winston out to the back yard. I saw it was a helicopter as it came closer to the house. In a rare doggy pottying event, the phone was not in my hand.

Once upon a time in Tennessee, I could recognize the sound of a Blackhawk or a Chinook flying over the house, but that’s because for six of those years I lived close to Fort Campbell, home of the 101^st Airborne, and they flew over constantly. I was also married to a retired soldier who would start talking about whatever helicopter was overhead the second he heard the first note, which was usually a bit after I did, because his hearing had some issues from his many years in the Army.

It’s been quite a few years since the heavy overhead helicopter traffic and home quizzes and I’m no longer well-versed on the specific sound profiles. The sound this morning was loud enough and raggedy enough that I thought for a minute I might be seeing a helicopter in distress spinning crazily on the way down to a rough landing. 

For about 30 to 45 minutes, the helicopter circled the area. The sound would disappear, and a few minutes later it would return. After the first very loud loop, it flew higher which was quieter. For several minutes, it hung high in the air between my house and the UMass North Campus. The best chance for a decent photo was the first loop when the cell was ion the house. Every time I heard it, I stepped out to the deck or the yard to check it out. Once, I even looked at the flowers on the deck that need watering.

The “Helicopters over Lowell” Facebook group was abuzz. Yes, that is actually a group, which I learned when checking to see if there was any news about the helicopter. There were eight posts and dozens of comments from people in the group who were asking about the helicopter and posting photos of the helicopter.

Deck flowers.

Multiple commenters said an abandoned car was found in the Merrimack at one of the bridges. Two different bridges were named, located on either side of my humble little ‘hood. The helicopter was with the Mass State Police. The car had been reported at 2:00 a.m. and when daylight broke, the only available helicopter was fogged in on the south shore.

And then, as quickly as the noise began, it was quiet. So was the Facebook group, and no additional info was learned.