Did you hear loud boom in North Myrtle Beach area? It could be ‘Seneca Guns’
Hundreds of people took to social media Thursday morning reporting loud booms that shook their North Myrtle Beach and Little River homes and had others running outside to see what happened.
The reports started rolling in a little after 9 a.m., including reports from across the border in Calabash, North Carolina.
Some guessed that the window-shaking sound was the result of military jets reaching supersonic speeds as they conducted offshore training exercises.
A spokesperson with Shaw Air Force Base, 20th Fighter Wing, said Thursday morning that there were some military flights happening, but he wasn’t sure where the planes were flying and if they were in the North Myrtle Beach area.
Desirae Gostlin, North Myrtle Beach Police Public information officer, said that they did receive a call about the loud noise and house shaking, but “we don’t know what caused it.”
Others online suggested that it could be “Seneca Guns.”
What is ‘Seneca Guns’?
The phenomenon refers to a series of unexplained loud, powerful booms that sound like distant cannon fire or sonic blasts and are strong enough to rattle homes and windows.
However, scientists have not been able to agree on what causes it.
“Seneca Guns” comes from reports of loud booms echoing across Seneca Lake, the largest of the Finger Lakes in upstate New York, and described in 1850.
Seneca Guns is most frequently reported along the Eastern Seaboard, with a high concentration of reports along the coastlines of South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia. Scientists believe the occurrence has a connection to large bodies of water, such as the ocean.
