Loud Boom Heard Across San Diego County

In a strange occurrence today I personally experienced something that is, so far completely anomalous.

After going fishing early this morning, as I do frequently I came home to my small house in Oceanside, CA, just south of Camp Pendleton. Camp Pendleton is the largest Marine Corps base in the western US, and growing up in Oceanside we are all extremely numb to the loud artillery fire drills, and the occasional 500 pound bomb being exploded in our backyards. On a quite day you can even hear the light fire teams using 50 cals and stuff too.

Any way, this noise was nothing like that. It sounded to me as though it came from the sky and seemed to be of an audible magnitude that was immense. Not overly loud, like deafening, but something that could be heard for miles. Immediately after the noise my house literally shook for several moments, maybe 10 seconds or so and then stopped. It was very strange. Having been through several earthquakes here, I can say it was not like that, and in fact the usgs has reported no seismic activity in the area.

So, after posting in another related thread I just decided to share this whole thing with you all. If any one in San Diego felt it or heard anything unusual today feel free to let us know!

SD 10 News, Boom Heard.....

reply to post by W3RLIED2


Are you sure nothing went supersonic? I used to live in San Clemente a long time ago.

All these mysterious booms...... Anyone ever wonder if it could be just a bunch of pilots playing pranks with Military aircraft? They are not supposed to break the sound barrier over land but who is to say it has not happened?

I know of a couple of boys who would think blasting a boom just offshore or overhead in the dark would just be a hoot about now.....

It could be something to do with the thunderstorm happening right now, worst one in a while out here.

And Twenty-nine Palms is the largest Marine Corps base, in the west or anywhere.

reply to post by Silverado292


So far according to the news desk, all the local bases said nothing went super sonic. There's been a state law in effect that maintains no super sonic flights over rural areas,too. So I personally doubt it was a sonic boom. But that's just my opinion, I'm not sure what it was.

I live a little further north and have heard thunder a few times today. Been raining pretty much non-stop since this morning. Lots of comments on that link seem to agree.

It may be suggested by some that earthquakes will be at fault for it - But unlike other areas of the nation where the ground is much more rock-like, this won't fly so easily as an excuse on the west coast.

It doesn't take long looking through this forum to see that these booms are not isolated incidents and are happening with more and more frequency in many areas. By the way a few members here in Las Vegas including myself have heard similar sounds in recent weeks, too.

From your source for other members missing it,

We asked our Facebook fans if they felt it and over 100 people responded. The USGS has not reported any significant earthquakes in the last few hours. The news desk has been calling all the local military bases and all have denied that it was a sonic boom from their aircraft.

You'd think the news team would rule out thunder before calling surrounding military bases, yes?

reply to post by watchitburn


I know there's a thunderstorm, but this happened well before the rain did.

I'm right on the coast, I've been watching the storm all day.

reply to post by ColAngus


I saw those on the Facebook page, but to me it didn't seem like thunder. and evn the one time we had a good rumble of thunder locally it didn't shake my house.

Thanks for the quick replies everyone.

Originally posted by watchitburn
It could be something to do with the thunderstorm happening right now, worst one in a while out here.

And Twenty-nine Palms is the largest Marine Corps base, in the west or anywhere.

edit on 13-4-2012 by watchitburn because: being polite.

Hehe, my bad. Forgot about 29 palms.

I'm in east county San Diego, Lakeside. This morning around 9ish, the sky was beginning to cloud up but there was no wind. Suddenly all the windows in house started to rattle, but the floor wasn't shaking, and outside not a leaf was moving.

I thought, mild earthquake, on the 11am news they reported the boom and denied an earthquake or sonic boom. Weird!

Damn, I missed the boom then. I would like to hear one of them for myself.

It was pretty nice out earlier this morning.

reply to post by W3RLIED2


The mundane explanation is never as sexy as the conspiracy-slanted one.

I'm sure lots of folks would like to believe it was the Earth groaning from the incredible gravitational effects being exerted upon it by the approaching brown dwarf, like rivets on a flagpole being ripped out during a hurricane.

But it was probably just thunder or a jet.

I live near Palos Verdes and there was a thunderstorm with one huge BANG that shook the entire West Caost it seemed.

I thought a bomb went off as it was louder than any thunder clap I've ever heard. I seriously thought a nuke hit. No idea what it was but it seemed to mingle with the thunder storm.

This could be anything, however, with the uptick in quakes along the west coast....it makes me go hmmmmm.

reply to post by ColAngus


I understand, and there is no conspiracy that I can see here. Just something weird that many people experienced.

I honestly don't think it was thunder, and if it was a sonic boom it was made by something really big to effect such a wide area of the county. SD county is pretty immense.

I'm not saying one way or the other, but in my experience living here, I haven't heard anything like it.

reply to post by W3RLIED2



Was it around NOON today? If so I think we heard the same thing. It was unlike anything I've ever heard. Not like a sonic boom. It was the loudest explosion I've ever heard in my life. It set off car alarms for blocks too.

Like I said it sounded like a NUKE. Not saying it was, but damn that was loud.

If you heard it near San Diego then it sounded for 100 miles between the both of us.

What would have the energy to do that?

reply to post by PaxVeritas


Yeah I just double checked with my fishing partner, we were at the dock at 11:40 which means I was in my house right before 1200 noon.

You and I heard the same thing my friend. Gave me quite a jump.

reply to post by PaxVeritas


That to me indicates multiple sounds... Seismic activity? I don't know.

The article was posted at just before 10 this morning.

Here is my thoughts about what you are hearing,

It is possible that what you are hearing is Positive Lightning. I have had recent experiences with this near my home. It is quite rare and very loud and scary when it strikes close by.

My subdivision had strikes at 4am that woke me like a bomb hit my house. It happened 4 times that morning and scared both my wife and I so much that we could not go back to sleep. It sounds like rolling rumbles for about 30-45 seconds after the strike too.

Positive lightning strikes typically carry six to ten times the charge and voltage difference of a negative bolt and last around ten times longer.

Positive lightning is a rare form of lightning which carries a positive charge to the ground, rather than the negative charge which is typically associated with lightning. This type of lightning can strike across very long distances, and with formidable power, making it extremely dangerous. It is often much more powerful than regular lightning, striking with as much as one billion volts of power. As you might imagine, positive lightning is not something you want to tangle with.

In the case of positive lightning, the charge comes from the positively charged top of a storm cloud, and it connects with a negatively charged streamer. Positive lightning can travel across ten miles (16 kilometers) to meet a negatively charged streamer, releasing a burst of positively charged energy to the Earth. Positive lightning is often associated with human activities, especially rocket launches and the testing of nuclear devices.

Because positive lightning can travel across great distances, it is not as predictable as other forms of lightning, and this makes it more dangerous. Positive lightning can also travel from cloud to cloud, also across great distances, and it may sometimes make a connection with the ground after traveling from cloud to cloud. The result can be a so-called “bolt from the blue,” a lightning bolt which strikes in seemingly fair weather.

Recent weather forecasters have stated that the number of Positive lightning strikes have increased it the last year.

Hope this helps you to find the cause.

Sirric