Police Search For Source of Loud Boom Heard in Hudson Valley

Police in parts of the Hudson Valley are searching for the source of what residents described as a "loud boom or explosion" heard over the weekend.

Several comments on the police department Facebook group speculated it could anything from a sonic boom from a passing jet to a transformer exploding. Some say it could have been thunder from the storms that occurred over the weekend, though the storms did not arrive until a day later.

WENY out of Elmira has since reported that several other similar loud booms have been heard in other parts of the state, such as the Finger Lakes region.

Loud Boom or Explosion Heard in Putnam County

The Carmel Police Department posted on their Facebook group that they received a number of calls Saturday night about a loud boom or explosion. Police said that while they had no specific information at the time, there were no reports of any damage.

The advisory was posted April 14 around 8:50 PM, though the boom was being reported from the night before, according to the Daily Voice.

Town of Kent Police also posted on Facebook that they received numerous calls from the Lake Carmel area to Western Kent regarding a "loud boom, possible explosion."

The departments, along with the Putnam County Sheriff's Office, say they canvassed the area where the calls originated but found no evidence of an explosion. And while not completely ruled out yet, it does not appear to be gunshots or fireworks that residents heard.

Possible Cause?

Some speculated that it could be another aftershock from the 4.8 magnitude earthquake that struck northern New Jersey April 5, though the loud booming sound doesn't necessarily resemble the low rumble an earthquake produces.

Carmel Police later said they have ruled out any aftershocks through the US Geological Survey, and NYSEG reported no transformer or electrical outages in the area

A very plausible explanation though would be the reported meteor that was witnessed in the same part of New York around the same time Saturday night.

NASA says that a fireball became visible 50 miles above Mamaroneck in Westchester County, "moving a bit east of north at 38,000 miles per hour". Meteors can create sound waves such as a sonic boom in the same way a fast-moving airplane does, according to BBC Science.

Police also said on Facebook that they checked with the National Weather Service, and found that there had been lightning strikes in Kent a few hours prior to the report of the noise.

A representative from the NWS told WENY that the recent thunderstorms could have created an "inversion in the atmosphere", which could cause the thunder from those storms to "sound a lot louder and it can cause the ground to shake,"