[meteorite-list] Cause of Loud Booms in Washington State Remain Mystery

[Ron Baalke]

http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/sited/story/html/236098

Cause of loud booms around Port Angeles remains mystery
by ANDREW BINION
Peninsula Daily News (Washington)
April 30, 2006

PORT ANGELES -- Was it a bird, or a plane? Officials don't know the
cause of a mysterious boom that rattled windows late Thursday night.

The Federal Aviation Administration says it has no record of noises
during the period the explosions were reported in Port Angeles.

The Coast Guard and Whidbey Island Naval Air Station say their aircraft
couldn't cause a sonic boom.

And no earthquakes were reported.

PenCom dispatchers took three calls on the booms at about 11:30 p.m. on
Thursday.

One call came from the 2300 block of Lower Elwha Road, another came from
the 1000 block of East Second Street and the third from West 14th Street
and South Cherry Street.

Callers reported a series of booms.

Media contacted

Similar reports were made by callers to the Peninsula Daily News and
other media organizations in Port Angeles.

Radio station KONP reported on its Web site that one caller said her
sliding glass door was shattered, but there was no independent confirmation.

>From shortly after 9 p.m. until midnight, the FAA -- the federal agency
that regulates U.S. airspace -- says it was a quiet night.

``We have nothing annotated whatsoever about noises or booms or
anything,'' said Karen Byrd, regional operations officer based in Renton.

No earthquakes of any size were reported on the Olympic Peninsula on
Thursday night, according to the Pacific Northwest Seismograph Network.

Additionally, meteorologists did not observe anything Thursday night
that would raise their eyebrows.

``Nothing unusual weather-wise,'' said Carl Cerniglia of the National
Weather Service in Seattle.