There's a good chance that the mysterious booming noises that were heard and felt across the Hampton Roads region the evening of May 10th may never have an official explanation. Earthquakes were ruled out by seismologists; a sonic boom from a meteor has been suggested. There's even a term that defines the phenomenon but not the source: Seneca Guns. More on that in a moment.
As I detailed in an earlier post, last week's unexplained noise was only the latest in recent memory in Hampton Roads. Many have been attributed to sonic booms from military aircraft, but one, heard in 1999, was never explained.
It wasn't seismic, but the rattling reported by many equaled the impact of a magnitude 3.0 earthquake, as detailed here. I emailed the U.S. Geological Survey, the nation's earthquake experts, for some insight. Geophysicist Lisa Wald of Colorado took time to write back and point me towards a FAQ page on unexplained noises occasionally heard along the East Coast.
Their research finds there have been many reports of booms over several decades that cannot be attributed to man-made sources. Many predate the era of supersonic aircraft. There is speculation they could be shallow earthquakes, large enough to be heard but perhaps not felt by people nearby or by seismographs. Again, that is only speculation.
Guns of the Seneca
Seneca Lake in New York is the site of more unexplained booming noises going back centuries. Called Seneca Guns, or more colorfully, Mistpouffers, the legendary sounds inspired James Fenimore Cooper's short story, "The Lake Gun," written in 1851. Loud, unexplained booms heard in various parts of the U.S. and elsewhere are sometimes called "Seneca Guns" today.
The military may one day admit the May 10th event was caused by a sonic boom from a warplane. Until that day, you can add May 10th to the list of Virginia's mysteries.
Links:
USGS FAQ on Unexplained Noises
Mistpouffers at Wikipedia
James Fenimore Cooper's "The Lake Gun"
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