‘That noise was not thunder,’ Poconos residents say: Boom violently shakes houses in Pennsylvani

I live in Florida. Down here, daily afternoon thunderstorms are the norm from June through October. If you happen to be a Gulf Coaster, you're one of the ones who get the sea breeze storms, the ones that bubble up inland & are pushed west by the Atlantic winds. I've lived here my entire life. Know the daily summer sea breeze storms like an old friend. And know damn well that the thunder from them can travel upwards of 100 miles away, and sound like (get ready for this shocker!) an explosion rather than thunder. The storm does not have to be right on top of you for you to hear it, and the more distance between you and the source, the more distorted or otherwise altered the sound wave can be. Even something as simple as a storm well out into the Gulf can have an eerily altered thunderclap (or many of them, for that matter) That reverberation echo between the source, and the solid land it travels over can sound totally spooky & otherworldly even when you know what it is. The same can be said for the right conditions over land. Depending on atmospheric conditions between here & there, the direction of the wind levels, etc, you can hear the sound of an ominous deep rumbling thunderclap over Okeechobee going on seemingly forever, or it can be and abrupt, jolting boom that stops just as suddenly as it started with nothing else following. A storm can bubble up in the blink of an eye, and die off just as quickly.
Anyone that tries to say the only sounds of thunder are a handful of commonly known ones is a obtuse fool. I know better, as should most if they observed nature a little better. It's very likely the people reporting these booms that simultaneously saw flashes (we all know lightning isn't just the forked bolt cloud-to-ground kind) heard abrupt thunder, probably from a fleeting, short-lived cell. It's not that big of a deal, and it's not that uncommon if you pay attention to nature around you.

However, I'll also wager a guess that power transformers may have blown, too. I think that is unlikely, but I'll leave it there as a possibility. it would also account for the light flashes & booms.

Originally posted by descendedstar
reply to post by FearEater

 

Just like the kitty in your avatar says "proof it or it no happen".. MEOW

edit on 2-4-2012 by descendedstar because: (no reason given)

I've seen DUMBs in a many pictures. -I've also heard of 'insiders' going against their leaders, in our protection (cannot confirm this)- I just need to see one blow up in a video and then i'll draw a line to makea nice picture, like in those "connect the dots" books we had in them good ol' days.

reply to post by Nyiah


well i am glad you are around to educate us all
since i and everyone i have ever known have lived in total sensory deprivation our whole lives
and we just do not understand these phenomena
certainly we have none of your experience living on planet earth and dealing with the weather
every single day of our lives
next could you teach me about that wet stuff falling from the sky?

seriously guys
where does this attitude come from
that everybody else's experiences and thoughts on those experiences are fallacious?
try putting a little faith in people
try imagining that [just perhaps] they are as advanced as you are.
if that hurts, start small; try imagining they are capable of recognising something
that they have experienced as frequently as you have

reply to post by BadBoYeed


We had a storm here in Va also. I just happened to walk out on our screened porch as lightning struck fairly close (it hit a friend's house about 1/4 mile away, thankfully no fire, but damaged phone, computer, tv, etc). Anyway, between that & the thunder that followed, our house shook, & we felt a heavy thud underfoot...my guess is that we felt it so strongly as it was right overhead.

Interesting Thread.. more interesting is that I heard the same thing last night at around 11 pm (01-04-2012) here in switzerland (canton aargau).. the only difference is that it was only one explosion, and i didn't feel any shaking. I was in my room when there was a big explosion-like sound, and a very very bright flash (even saw it in my room). A friend was in the balcon smoking a zigarette, he saw the flashlight, he was surprised too, he said it was very bright, he even had to cover his eyes.. we came to the conclusion that it must have been a collision or something with a high-power grid or something like that. Weather was nice, no clouds the whole day and no storms or rain at night so i would exclude a Thunder. Also interesting was that not one word mentioned it in any Swiss-Newspaper..

The other day there were news reports out of Wisconsin about the tile being shaken off the floor in a schol and water coming up through them..

Lightning storm? Me thinks not.

Someone else already mentioned this but in Ferndale, Michigan over the weekend they experienced a very similar phenomenon with boom sounds and shaking. After the sounds there were reports of helicopters in the area. The comments after the article come from people who experienced what happened. I would have to agree that this and what occurred in PA is probably not from a thunderstorm (or fireworks in MI as the article states). I was reading some comments from PA and there were people who heard and felt this pretty far away from the western side of the state as well.

Did You Hear That Boom?

Ive seen lightning with few clouds. Throw in cloud to cloud lightning and a nearby strike and it sounds like an explosion with groundshakes. Relax. It could be something else but its most likely lightning.

Originally posted by AscendingPhoenix
Do you really know it was lightning? Please justify your post.

edit on 1-4-2012 by AscendingPhoenix because: (no reason given)

I've lived in the Poconos most of my life. Believe me, you can hear thunder there that'll curl your toes. I've often heard thunder there when I was a kid that sounded like explosions and causes the windows to rattle.

What was scarier was one storm I witnessed was an intense lightening storm at night in the early 80's where there was lightning several times a second.

Originally posted by DaTroof
Flash of light? Check.
Rumbling/booming? Check.

It was lightning, nothing more. People are getting less and less intelligent by the day. I want out of this country.

Flash of light? Check.
Rumbling/booming? Check.

You're right ... Nothing to see here ... move along people.

reply to post by Nyiah


Of course the low frequency sound waves from thunder travel great distances and can be altered to sound different from a thunder clap. However what many people are describing is a sound that goes on and on and on, in a motion, or beat, not just an explosion or rumble that occurs for a short time, i.e. thunder bursts. In some instances experiences with these types of strange sounds last hours. Check out my experience in my sig thread. I saw conventional aircraft lights in the same airspace where I had just previously seen unconventional looking lights....I am not sure, but I would think that if there was an intense storm, pilots would want to avoid it, right? I understand that aircraft are protected to an extent from lightening, but why would a pilot seemingly fly right into and, seemingly, after "ball lightening?"

Originally posted by CINY8
Someone else already mentioned this but in Ferndale, Michigan over the weekend they experienced a very similar phenomenon with boom sounds and shaking. After the sounds there were reports of helicopters in the area. The comments after the article come from people who experienced what happened. I would have to agree that this and what occurred in PA is probably not from a thunderstorm (or fireworks in MI as the article states). I was reading some comments from PA and there were people who heard and felt this pretty far away from the western side of the state as well.

Did You Hear That Boom?

Interesting...now this is reminding me of the 'fireworks' that millions of birds were suddenly killed by....

I tell ya, they don't even try with their lies anymore

reply to post by BadBoYeed


The closer the magmatic energy gets to the surface, the more energy that is transmitted to the atmosphere. The explosions are the result of exploding rocks, collapsing caves, mixing of hot rock and water. I hope you can swim or levitate when the bottom drops out. There is a 5 university report that explains what they conclude is the eventual event from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. Coincidentally it is also stated in Prophecy.

Texas since you were instrumental to getting abortion legalized You will feel the brunt of returning Karma. YOU Ain't Seen Nothing Yet. You want to stop the drought, You want to stop the Tornados, Stop The Abortion. Get back to God on your own or He will drive you to your knees, actually you will be forced to drop to your knees when you have nothing left by your own design.

reply to post by BadBoYeed


The closer the magmatic energy gets to the surface, the more energy that is transmitted to the atmosphere. The explosions are the result of exploding rocks, collapsing caves, mixing of hot rock and water. I hope you can swim or levitate when the bottom drops out. There is a 5 university report that explains what they conclude is the eventual event from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. Coincidentally it is also stated in Prophecy.

Texas since you were instrumental to getting abortion legalized You will feel the brunt of returning Karma. YOU Ain't Seen Nothing Yet. You want to stop the drought, You want to stop the Tornados, Stop The Abortion. Get back to God on your own or He will drive you to your knees, actually you will be forced to drop to your knees when you have nothing left by your own design.

Just wanted to add my personal account of this noise. I didn't read it in the paper until a family member mentioned it to me earlier today. I checked a few things out and not suprisingly I found a thread here about it. The original Pocono Record article can be found here.

It was a little after 10:00 PM and I stepped outside for a smoke. Almost immediately I noticed a noise and looked up and around to try and identify it. The cloud cover was low and I assummed it was an airplane with its sound waves doing some funky bouncing or something off of the clouds and pretty much shrugged it off as that. When I returned inside my girlfriend asked if I had heard the noise and what it was. I told her my speculation and the conversation was basically over although she was hesitant about it being an airplane. After reading some of the other comments in other places describing the noise, in addition to my girlfriends hesitation, I can't help but wonder if the noise sounded differently indoors than outdoors. I really didn't think that much of the noise and don't remember it lasting very long. I'd guess I only heard it for about 30 seconds. I'm near the center of Pike county PA for reference.

reply to post by BadBoYeed

I'm resurecting this thread because of an experience I had in August of last year.

I worked at a local state park, that particular eveining around 6pm we heard a loud boom, now being so close to Norfolk and Dover bases I been familiar with sonic booms, anyways we heard our building shake and we had a tin roof so we were not sure if the boom was the roof..our first thought was someone jumped off the lookout tower and onto the roof......still nothing, no one had jumped....

After my shift I drove up my sisters turn of the century fixer upper...upon arriving I saw my brother in law removing bricks, he told me his house shook and his chimney collapsed..he thought the booming sound was from his chimney....the chimney began to crumble off the roof.

I also want to add, I live in a coastal plain of the Delmarva peninsula...the ground is flat and sandy, marshlands, there is no rocky areas, and we are at sea level....so no one is boring holes, or mining underground, DUMBS...ect

My sister lives 2miles from my work, it was also reported by people in town...1 month later we did have an 4.2earthquake that ran through VA and the eastern seaboard.

reply to post by kat2684


We had a boom in harpers ferry wv 2 saturdays ago. My neighbors came out expecting to see a mushroom cloud. lol.
Nothing in the news.

Take care

reply to post by odinson


I love Harpers Ferry, I used to camp at the KOA and go white water rafting up there in Milville.....

I think its not being reported, we heard nothing else about it, it was like a bomb that sent intense shock waves....shook everything and I'm guessing it came from an epicenter....but we are surrounded by the bay, and on land its farms and residential areas....it had to travel a distance, and the closest towns 5-11 miles away had to hear something too....

Did you think it was like a burst of energy, or a shock wave ?

Originally posted by BadBoYeed
reply to post by DaTroof

 

the point is that so many people said it was NOT thunder. I think these people have heard thunder before.

I live in PA and I heard the same thing a few days ago.............. Google a thunder clap then come back and let me know if it sounds the same....