Credit: Bill Ingalls/NASA
The cause of a loud boom that caught the attention of Lower Bucks County residents Sunday night remained a mystery on Tuesday.
The boom, according to LevittownNow.com readers, was heard just after 11 p.m. in Bristol Borough, Bristol Township, Falls Township, Middletown Township, Langhorne Manor Borough, Lower Makefield Township, and Northampton Township.
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“It was enough to give my house a little shake,” one reader said in an email.
“Got my dogs up and barking in Goldenridge,” another stated.
In a voicemail, a third reader said they did not “want to be a Nextdoor Karen, but the boom was pretty strong.”
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Levittown-area fire and police officials said some had heard the boom or reports of it, but none said it was tied to any emergency calls.
A check showed no earthquakes that could have been to blame for the noise were reported in the area.
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Alex Staarmann, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s regional office, said the atmosphere was pretty stable Sunday night. He added there was a lack of thunderstorms or strong winds that could have caused the boom many heard.
One suggestion from Staarmann was that a meteor may have made the noise as it tore through the atmosphere.
Meteors have been known to cause booms. In western Canada on Sunday evening, one was blamed for a loud boom.
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The boom did take place during the annual Geminid meteor shower, which peaked early Tuesday morning.
NASA noted meteors from the Geminid shower can get as low as 29 miles above the Earth’s surface before they burn up.
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