Boom Over Connecticut Friday Remains a Mystery

The source of a loud boom over Connecticut late Friday remains a mystery.

The noise was so loud it rattled windows on homes and prompted some residents along the shoreline and further inland to call 911 to ask, 'What happened?"

The boom was noticed in Middlefield, according to a Patch reader. 

"It was felt & heard in the Middlefield-Rockfall area about 10:00 PM last evening and there were no Jets or thunder around when it happened, STRANGE," a comment posted on Saturday read.

Another reader living in Middlefield wrote, "What was that Big boom earlier. I thought it was thunder???"

Authorities in Madison received numerous calls from people reporting what sounded like an explosion shortly after 10 p.m. Friday, according to a post on Facebook, " ... along shoreline neighborhoods and as far north as County Road and Guilford Lakes. Also getting reports of the same thing as far west as West Haven and Milford. Anybody know what happened???"

The National Weather Service predicted thunderstorms Friday night, a possible explanation for the thunderous boom.

"Just to reiterate: We've investigated and checked in with several other agencies (including on Long Island)... many other towns getting similar reports of a single loud "boom", no reports of light flashes or power outages in the area. Our best guess is that this was a huge thunder clap. Mother nature playing tricks on us while we're already on edge," the Madison 911 Facebook page said.

Readers for several Patch sites in southern Connecticut — including nearby Wallingford — posted on Facebook that they heard the booming sound. 

"We heard and felt it on the Hamden/Wallingford town line," said reader Dennis Demott.

Suzanne Novak, from Madison, reported that it shook her house in Legend Hill and people in Clinton said they'd heard the boom as well.

The American Meteor Society website did not log any reports of that overnight, but we have an inquiry in to them to see if this might be a plausible explanation for the sound.