‘Mystery boom’ stumps seismologists on Washington island — and it wasn’t a meteor
A “mysterious boom” jolted a seismologist awake on a Washington island.
Seismologists have not pinpointed what caused the loud boom on March 7 on Orcas Island, according to the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network.
Tom Owens, a retired seismologist, heard the boom around 4 a.m. and reported it to the network to see if it was captured on the seismic stations in the San Juan Islands.
Sure enough, the boom was recorded on multiple stations. Seismologists located the source of the boom near Crescent Beach Preserve, in the northern part of the island near Ship Bay.
A seismologist discovered the boom was neither a “shaking source in the ground,” nor a meteor, the agency said.
Instead, the boom was “consistent with the velocity of acoustic (sound) waves in the air.”
A seismologist also ruled out if the boom was man-made, like a mining blast because all explosions must be done during the day, the agency said.
A sonic boom from a military exercise could have been another cause for the loud boom, the agency said. But artillery practice and super sonic aircrafts are easily recognized by the “shape of the cone of sonic booms generated.”
The Naval Air Station Whidbey Island told McClatchy News there was not a sonic boom near Orcas Island and that supersonic flights in the area are not allowed.
March 7 wasn’t the first time Owens was startled with a mysterious boom.
He heard a similar boom in December and saw a flash from his bedroom window, the agency said.
The agency said the booms could have been illegal explosives, but they have not been able to confirm it.
