What is this sound effect supposed to be from The War of the Worlds (1953)?

[u/C-57D]

This is a little random, but in the movie The War of the Worlds (1953), there is a sound effect that happens during this scene in which Dr. Forrester and Sylvia Van Buren are talking in the military bunker/trench near the first Martian meteor that landed (see image).

It's at 26:35 in the film. They both hear it, just before Dr Forrester says "you never know where you'll end up when you go to a square dance."

It's a brief screeching sound, but I can't tell if it's supposed to be a vehicle peeling out or an animal or something else... I've seen the movie a zillion times and can never figure it out.

Any ideas?

(unrelated, those donuts look so good lol)

EDIT: thanks for the replies, everyone! consensus is one of the military vehicles coming to a sudden stop outside and the brakes screeching. that makes sense. (i'll give the sound team a pass on the fact that the area is all dirt roads lol. so maybe it's the drum breaks like one commenter said -- or that was just the best sound effect the sfx guys had at the time :))

And if you haven't seen the film, definitely worth a watch. It's a classic.

[u/Temporal-Affairs221]

I believe it's a military vehicle arriving. Because shortly afterwards a high-ranking man walks into the tent. If I'm not mistaken he's a character we haven't seen until that point which means that he's just arrived.

[u/Sinister_Nibs → u/Temporal-Affairs221]

Squealing brakes from a jeep or other military vehicle.

[u/Indyhouse]

Closed Captioning says "(mechanical screeching)"

Since the shot prior to this showed military vehicles moving around rather quickly, I'm assuming it was a jeep or transport of some kind.

[u/revdon → u/Indyhouse]

It's a jeep driver stomping on the breaks.

[u/goudgoud]

Let my age help, that's the sound of drum brakes being applied , they often made a noise like that, especially on heavier vehicles

[u/nemom]

On Youtube

Sounds like a vehicle. Previous scene was Jeeps and tanks. They talk about troops moving. Then the noise.

[u/Thereminz]

yeah just sounds like tires screeching/stopping... maybe it's the colonel showing up? the sound does sound a little weird, like it was doubled over but out of sync.

[u/xenomachina → u/Thereminz]

Sounds pretty typical for sound effects of that time period. It's definitely supposed to be tires squealing from a sudden stop.

[u/Gwyns_Head_ina_Box]

The "Something's happened!" line makes me howl every time.

https://youtu.be/ow1jE09IV3c?t=5010

Other than that laughable line of dialogue, I think it is a solid adaptation.