Mystery surrounds a big explosion in the Outer Hebrides that rattled buildings.
Islanders are waiting to hear if the MoD was responsible for a huge bang heard as far apart as Benbecula and Barra.
Speculation over what Wednesday’s blast could have been ranges from an earthquake to an aircraft’s sonic boom.
Aviation authorities have ruled this out. It was also thought at first to have come from a local quarry.
Sheila MacCormick, of the Borrodale Hotel in South Uist, said: “The actual building shook.
“When we looked out there was people walking on the road – who were standing looking around to see what had happened.
“We didn’t know what it was, couldn’t see any signs of blasting – it was very, very loud to be a blast anyway. We’re not sure what it was.
“One of our bar staff put it on Facebook to see if it was heard anywhere else and we’ve had reports coming in from Benbecula and from Barra saying that they’ve also heard it.”
She added that a plane went past afterwards.
The Hebrides missile range – the largest that tests missiles in the UK – is based on the Uists and centred on Benbecula.
Neither military nor civil aviation controllers say any aircraft in the airspace could have caused the bang and tremor but their enquiries are continuing.
A loud blast which was heard over Kent on Wednesday turned out to be the sound of RAF jets scrambled to intercept a Latvian cargo plane.
A spokesman for Stornoway Coastguard said it had no idea of the possible cause while a spokesman for the British Geological Survey said it had not measured any earthquakes in the area.
“From the description it sounds like a sonic boom. Sonic booms can travel huge distances but it will not be the one that occurred in Kent,” he said.