Jan 5, 2013

Mystery Booms Continue

The first story from Oklahoma is near a number of "fracking" (oil-company made) earthquakes, while the second story, from Alaska, occurred not long before the 7.5 listed above.

Unexplained "boom" regularly echoing over Guthrie, Oklahoma
 Greg Newkirk
Who Forted

Mystery Boom
© Who Forted 
No one knows what's causing it, but everyone can hear it: a loud, bone rattling "boom" that shakes the sky, causing locals to phone their friends (and the police), asking "what the hell was that?"

According to Mayor Chuck Burtcher, the noises are nothing new either, admitting that he started getting asked about them three months ago, but even he doesn't know what's unnerving his town, musing that the booms could possibly be from oil exploration (though they're too far from town to cause such a noise, reported KFOR NewsChannel 4)

Other residents have their own theories, ranging from local shooting ranges to a lone man at the edge of town who owns a cannon and fires it off for fun. One of the most logical explanations for the strange noise were exploding transformers, but the local electric company says they haven't had any transformers blow lately.

A resident from the neighboring town of Mustang shared his own experience with the noises:

"[I heard the] same sounds in Mustang around 2:30 am Thursday morning. It woke me up, I got up, but couldnt figure out what it was. I spoke to my neighbor the next day and she heard it, too. Her dogs jumped up and started barking."

Another resident figured that the two most recent booms, due to their timing, could have been "meteors from the Quadrantid Meteor shower breaking the sound barrier as they entered our atmosphere".

Regardless of whether the noise stems from local nutjobs with personal canons, meteors, or the earth cracking at the seams, mysterious sky noises have been pretty popular the last couple of years, even if a good chunk of them are hoaxes.

I hope it's a the canon guy

Read more at - http://www.sott.net/article/255724-Unexplained-boom-regularly-echoing-over-Guthrie-Oklahoma

Alaska authorities silent on cause of booming noise

Anchorage - Southcentral Alaska authorities didn't have any immediate cause for a loud booming noise heard Thursday night and reported by Channel 2 viewers, but seemed to rule out sonic booms from aircraft in responses Friday.

Reports of the sounds were posted on Channel 2's Facebook page Thursday evening by people ranging from Eagle River to the Mat-Su Valley. Some reports placed the phenomenon between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. Thursday, with Channel 2's Late Edition airing a brief update on the reports. Viewers' descriptions of the sound varied, but those who heard it generally agreed that it was a strong and persistent noise.

"I live in Peters Creek and I heard several loud noises outside and then muted the television," Channel 2 viewer Rachel Lee wrote. "After about a minute of silence, there was a rumble and my chandelier started to shake. I thought it might have been an earthquake but I looked online and there weren't any listed at that time; it was 8:05 p.m."

"About the only thing I can compare it to is someone going down a dirt road really fast," viewer Deb Spaulding wrote. "(I)t was that sort of rumble."

"I was in the garage and I heard it. It (lasted) for a while," wrote viewer Michelle Thomas Hanks. "At first I thought it was the wind until I stepped outside... My (neighbor's kids) looked for what was making that loud noise and they could not see anything just kept hearing the loud noise."

John Pennell, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson's chief of media operations, says the base wasn't flying any of its supersonic fighter jets capable of causing sonic booms Thursday night, with only subsonic C-17 Globemaster III transports flying until 9:30 p.m.

"Although they are loud, I don't think anybody's going to mistake them for a sonic boom," Pennell said.

Val Jokela, a Federal Aviation Administration community-affairs representative in Anchorage, says the FAA's regional operations center received no noise complaints overnight.

Law enforcement agencies were similarly stymied by the reports, with Anchorage Police Department spokesperson Dani Myren saying no noise complaints were listed for Thursday or Friday. Dispatchers on duty overnight didn't relay any reports of the booms to the next shift, which came on duty at 7 a.m.

Alaska State Troopers spokesperson Megan Peters says troopers also had no noise complaints from the region, with AST dispatchers also not relaying any updates during a 6 a.m. shift change.

"There wasn't anything there big enough for them to pass on or be told about," Peters said.

The Alaska Volcano Observatory had no reports Friday on the noise itself or any volcanic activity that may have caused it. The West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center's latest listed earthquake was a magnitude 4.6 temblor on Dec. 24, centered 40 miles northwest of Valdez.

The National Weather Service forecast office in Anchorage also didn't have any possible causes, saying there was some shower activity in the area Thursday but nothing more severe in terms of weather conditions.

With no immediate answers on the matter Lee, the Peters Creek viewer, echoed the confusion of many people about the source of the noise.

"It's strange no one knows what caused it," Lee wrote.
 
Read more at - http://www.sott.net/article/255715-Alaska-authorities-silent-on-cause-of-booming-noise

Source of loud boom in Red Bank remains a mystery
Lexington County, SC (WIS) - Residents of Red Bank in Lexington County appear to have gotten a loud awakening Thursday morning as multiple reports indicate a loud booming noise in the area.

WIS News 10 viewers poured onto our Facebook page this morning to report the sound.

"What was the horrific boom in the Redbank area," asked Lisa Russell Fields. "People are saying it sounded like a plane crash or explosion."

"I also heard the "big boom" this morning. So did a lot of other people, it sounds like a close cannon or something and will shake the whole building/house," said Jennifer Lee Stokes Kleine.

"Does anyone have a concrete explanation for the loud boom that shook houses in Lexington County around the Redbank/YMCA/Old Barnwell Road area this morning around 8:30 a.m.," said Mary Frances Henry Bell.

So, what was it? The Lexington County Sheriff's Department doesn't know either.

"Law enforcement officers and public safety personnel have been unable so far to determine the source of the noise," said Sheriff's Department spokesman Maj. John Allard. "No explosions have been reported."

A similarly loud explosive noise happened last year in the South Congaree portion of Lexington County.

Residents reported then being woken up to the boom around 8 a.m. on a Sunday. Seismographs at the University of South Carolina even measured something in the area.

However, there was never any cause determined for that loud noise either.
 
Read more at - http://www.sott.net/article/255579-Source-of-loud-boom-in-Red-Bank-remains-a-mystery