A mysterious blast reverberated across the US East Coast on Thursday afternoon, startling thousands of residents and shaking homes from South Carolina to Virginia. The loud explosion-like noise, characteristic of a sonic boom, was captured by doorbell cameras and surveillance systems around 5:24 pm ET.
Reports Across Multiple States
While the epicenter appeared to be near Saint Andrews, South Carolina, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS), reports flooded in from North Carolina, Georgia, and Virginia. The USGS confirmed it received over 1,600 reports from at least four states regarding the phenomenon, which was not an earthquake.
Witness Accounts and Video Evidence
Videos shared online show a quiet afternoon suddenly disrupted by an echoing blast that shook buildings and homes, sending residents into panic and pets scrambling for cover. At Frisky Business Rescue in Lexington County, dogs were seen fleeing in terror. One social media user commented: "These poor puppies had ZERO clue what was coming… One minute they’re just chilling, the next - BOOM." Meteorologist and storm chaser Chris Jackson described feeling a sudden spike in air pressure: "It felt like someone shoved me right in my chest an instant before the boom began."
Possible Explanations Dismissed
Speculation initially centered on a military jet breaking the sound barrier or a meteor entering Earth's atmosphere. However, both military officials and NASA denied any such incidents. The Pentagon's Noise Working Group notes that sonic booms from Department of Defense flights are typically confined to low-population areas near Special Use Airspace (SUA), but the area around Saint Andrews is not designated as SUA. Officials at Fort Jackson in Columbia, South Carolina, stated they were "unaware of the cause."
NASA's Bill Cooke from the Meteoroid Environments Office added: "There have been no eyewitness reports of a fireball and no satellite detections of a meteor over the area at the time." Despite this, some social media videos show a long white trail overhead, fueling meteor theories. Robert Lunsford from the American Meteor Society suggested a military jet as the likeliest explanation, but witnesses remain unconvinced. One person on X claimed: "This was a meteor. I have heard sonic booms from jets and this sounded exactly like the sonic boom in Ohio from the meteor."
Context and Comparisons
Unlike Thursday's event, a meteor on March 17 produced clear footage of a fireball and was detected by satellites. The Meteoritical Bulletin Database records over 1,200 confirmed observed falls, though scientists estimate 17,000 meteorites strike Earth annually, mostly in oceans or remote areas. The cause of Thursday's boom remains a mystery, leaving residents and officials searching for answers.
