The mystery surrounding loud booms and rattling windows reported through parts of southern and central New Jersey Monday afternoon is under investigation by military authorities to see if aviation training is the culprit.
The Naval Air Station Patuxent River in southern Maryland was scheduled to conduct “noise generating” aircraft carrier training from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday as part of a nearly two-week span of exercises, according to a noise advisory from the station’s public affairs office.
The Naval District Washington Public Affairs Office said Tuesday it would be launching an investigation to determine whether its planes created the noise and rattling that many believed was a minor earthquake or major crash.
A conclusion is expected by week’s end, the office said. Sonic booms from planes breaking the sound barrier have been blamed in the past for similar noises.
Meteorologists confirmed no earthquakes were detected in or near the Garden State and no thunderstorms passed through the area on Monday.
Officials at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, which frequently rattles windows in the Mercer, Burlington, Monmouth and Ocean county areas during intense training, also ruled the base out as the source of tremors.
While the base was scheduled to conduct weapons tests of “moderate noise” on Monday, a spokesman said it would not have caused the shaking reported by residents as far south as Cape May and Cumberland counties.
“There weren’t any out-of-the-ordinary activities that warranted that reported noise on our end,” said Chief of Media Relations Derek VanHorn.
A spokesman for the New Jersey Air National Guard said the 177th fighter wing, based at Atlantic City International Airport, did not fly any planes at all Monday.
By Tuesday morning, more than 35 people had reported feeling some sort of shaking in New Jersey on Monday afternoon and posted their reports on volcanodiscovery.com.
The website described the incident as an “unconfirmed earthquake or seismic-like event,” saying it occurred 25 miles southeast of South Vineland in Cumberland County at 12:46 p.m.
But the U.S. Geological Survey shows no sign of earthquake activity in New Jersey over the past week.
Monday’s events are similar to those reported in February, when residents said they felt shaking and heard loud booms throughout central and southern New Jersey. The source of the earthquake-like event was investigated, but never confirmed.
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