Mystery Booms Heard First in Kentucky and Then Arkansas on Consecutive Nights

A mystery boom on January 22nd in Kentucky’s Jackson County was followed the next evening by a second boom in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Residents of Kentucky began to alert the authorities in the early evening to a loud boom heard across four counties.

"Well, at about 6:19 p.m. yesterday evening a couple of people called in and said they heard this loud boom in the county. We went to check on it in the area, and we never found anything," said Jackson County Sheriff Paul Hays.

Local resident Devonna Hisel from northern Jackson County told WKYT that the mysterious explosion shook the foundation of her house and scared her neighbors.

"We've had it shake the house before but not this much. We have a little dog that jumped and that never happened before," said Hisel.

Residents of Madison, Estill, and Rockcastle counties in Kentucky reported a similar boom the same evening.

Local authorities have so far been unable to explain the phenomenon.

The following evening on January 23rd, residents of Arkansas took to social media to report a mystery boom near the downtown and northern areas of Little Rock.

"I was in bed when I heard it around 9:30 or 10," area resident Rickki Benton told Fox16. "My dog got up and ran to the window and was barking."

"My family has served and have been to war—at one point I thought we might be under attack," said fellow concerned citizen Colette Young. "I just want to know what it is, so the next time I hear the sound I am not so startled."

Some have blamed F/A-18 Hornet combat jets for the noise, but the Clinton National Airport reportedly had no information on the arrival of F/A-18s or an explanation for the mystery boom.

Military aircraft do sometimes stop in Little Rock without first notifying city officials, however, Lt. Hunter Rininger, public affairs officer for Little Rock Air Force Base, offered no explanation for the phenomenon.

"We don't have any knowledge relating to the strange noise," said Lt. Rininger.

No explanation has yet been forthcoming for this second boom.

Reports of mysterious booms—sometimes accompanied by flashes of light and/or minor tremors—have been on the rise worldwide since 2017, continuing throughout 2018 and into this year. The booms have been reported across the United States in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Washington; as well as in the countries of Russia, Denmark, England, and Australia.

Meteors and other natural events remain popular explanations for the booms, and bolide meteors were blamed for mystery booms in California, Michigan, and Washington in 2018. However, no blanket explanation covers every occurrence of a mystery boom and many cases go unexplained entirely.

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