I think the popular interpretation was a world-ending event, which is one of the reasons it spurred so much interest around that particular time. That interest led to more people studying topics that were once considered far out and woo woo, and those topics tend to expand awareness in various ways, even leading to discussions about things that had never been allowed into conversation before around water coolers and such.
You're not sleeping, there's an equal and opposite noise going on at the same time to hide the rapid awakening, no way anyone can sleep now!