Mystery Boom Reported in Fayette County, Pennsylvania
Smithfield, PA
November 15, 2012-12:04 PM
Over the years there have been reports of mystery booms, and localized vibrations and earth shakings. Many of those cases were found to have rational explanations, but some remain mysterious. In past years such cases have been reported in Pennsylvania, as well as other parts of the country and even overseas. I have recently heard of possible similar activity in nearby West Virginia as well. If you have any knowledge of this type of activity, please contact me.
The following report was just received from researcher Jim Brown.
The boom heard in the Smithfield area occurred at 12:04 PM on 15 November. I heard it at my home. I also received two calls from nearby residents inquiring about it as well. One is a neighbor, the other from just outside Smithfield about 3/4 mile away from me. It was a single boom, not rumbling like thunder but more like an explosion. From my location it appeared to be more above me than something associated with the ground. I base this observation on the fact I heard it rather than felt much vibration of the house itself. It was not exceptionally loud, although it was easily heard above the sounds of TV which was on in the same room.
I also checked for any magnetic field disturbances on my anomaly detector /data logger which was running at the time, as well as for any residual infra sound components. Nothing was detected in either case. Both of my callers described it the same as what I heard, a single boom. One said he thought a truck had wrecked at first although that was not the case. I monitored the 911 dispatch and no reports were sent out to police or fire so it is my assumption the event was local to my area.
I made calls to the weather service and local police to determine if anything was reported, no reports of anything out of the ordinary at this time. I am continuing to monitor for magnetic anomalies as well as an infra sound sensor into a recorder in event of a repeat of whatever it was.