By Tim Binnall
A series of eerie sounds heard throughout a village in China left residents on edge and wondering if it was some kind of harbinger of disaster. The unsettling noises reportedly occurred over the course of several days in the community of Weining. People living in the area were so troubled by the creepy cacophony that they left their homes and flocked to the nearby mountains in the hopes of finding the source of the sounds, but were unable to locate their origin.
As the noises continued to haunt the village, various theories were offered for what could be behind them. Some imaginative residents suggested that they were coming from a dragon, while others worried that they were a precursor to a massive earthquake. Footage of frustrated and frightened people swarming the mountain looking to solve the mystery soon found its way online and, in turn, drew the attention of local authorities, who dispatched a team to investigate the situation.
Fortunately, experts were able to allay the fears of residents when they determined that the sounds had a rather benign source. Amazingly, wildlife officials say that the noises actually came from a buttonquail, which is a fairly small bird that boasts a powerful call that can be heard from quite a distance away. This assessment was echoed by one villager who noticed one of the diminutive creatures making the sounds that has caused such a commotion in the community.