Residents baffled by loud BOOM in the middle of the night

Oct 14, 2024

WEST JORDAN, Utah — Some residents of West Jordan and Kearns were woken up in the middle of the night by loud "booming" sounds.

"It sounded like a shotgun right outside went off," said West Jordan resident Lela Martinez. "I thought maybe something blew up."

Multiple other FOX 13 News viewers sent emails Saturday morning, inquiring about the explosion-like sound.

Danielle Winch said the "boom" rattled her home in West Jordan around 1:30 a.m. She shared a video from her home security camera, which can be viewed above. In the video, two booms are heard within a few seconds of each other, each accompanied by flashes of light.

The second boom was preceded by a whistling noise, making some wonder if fireworks were the source of the sound. At least one nearby car alarm was triggered by the second boom.

Alex Hardcastle said it "sounded like a helicopter crash."

Martinez echoed that initial thought.

"We were wondering if a train derailed or if a helicopter went down," she said. "Our windows shook, and some of our wall hangings shook."

Adding to the mystery, Winch said the same thing happened just under two weeks ago on Sep. 29.

Richard Jackson said the same, but he said Saturday morning's noises were far more alarming.

“I ended up spending three to four hours on the police scanner trying to figure out what the heck was going on," he said.

Patrick Wiggins, an ambassador to Utah from NASA, said he doesn't believe Saturday's incident was a meteor.

"[T]here was so little time between when the lights started and the sound was heard," Wiggins said in an email to FOX 13. "In the case of meteors, they are so far [away] that it takes much longer than the flash for the sound to reach the ground."

Kearns Mayor Kelly Bush wrote on Facebook that she has heard numerous reports about an explosion. She asked anyone with doorbell camera footage to contact the Unified Police Department.

"I mean, there’s always the possibility that Tooele Army Depot is blowing stuff up at 1a.m.,” Jackson said.

FOX 13 is no stranger to reporting on loud, unexpected explosions rocking residents, day or night. Just last month, the Tooele Army Depot detonated expired military munitions, which rattled homes as far away as the east bench of the Salt Lake Valley.

In the past, detonations at the Utah Test and Training Range — a branch of the Hill Air Force Base in the West Desert — have surprised residents as far away as Weber County. HAFB's fighter wings have also previously caused sonic booms during training flights that shook homes all along the Wasatch Front.

Camp Williams in Bluffdale also sometimes warns residents of live artillery training that may cause booming noises — but typically not at 1:30 a.m.

Two years ago, a meteor was confirmed as the source of another ground-shaking boom that was felt and heard across multiple counties in northern Utah.

Another example was in March 2023, when residents in Draper were confounded by an early morning explosion and accompanying flash of light. Officials later ruled out meteorites or any other form of "space debris" and said they determined it was a human-caused explosion.

FOX 13 has reached out to experts and officials at multiple agencies to try to determine what the source of the sound was. This report will be updated as we learn any new information.

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