Some residents of Silver Spring Township in southcentral PA began to experience booming noises days after heavy rain deluged the area in September 2021. Township officials consulted geological experts who concluded that the sounds originated underground but were not related to earthquakes. Instead, the karst system was actively moving the water and debris in the subsurface.
The world is a noisy place. But some sounds shake you to your foundation. Mystery booms that come out of nowhere and have indiscernible sources scare people and leave them wondering, “What just happened?” Every week, we find a few reports of “mystery booms” in the news. People report a surprising, loud noise that shakes their house and rattles their windows. This is not a new phenomenon. Reports of such sounds can be traced back through news accounts from over a century ago.