'Mystery booms' continue, remain unexplained in face of numerous theories

A series of extremely loud, unexplained “booms” were reported again this week in Conecuh and Monroe counties, and so far no one has any answers as to what’s causing the unusual noises.

Stephen Riley, who lives between Evergreen and Lyeffion, reported to The Courant that he heard “two different booms” just before 9 p.m. on Friday. The noises sounded “like thunder, except there was nothing on radar,” Riley said, noting that the noises seemed to come from the direction of Evergreen.

Riley wasn’t alone in hearing the unexplained noises as witness reports flooded in from a number of distant communities, including Repton, Belleville, Lenox, Monroeville, Excel, Halls Crossroads, Frisco City, Sugar Hill and Goodway Junction. The distance from Lyeffion to Goodway Junction, which is between Frisco City and Uriah, is 37-1/2 miles as the crow flies.

Jessica Ozgowicz, who lives in the Excel area, said that the sound “just kind of traveled down one side of my house and was almost like the house settling or some sort of pressure was pushing it.”

Carlton Waters, a former Evergreen mail carrier, said that he was at his sister’s house between Repton and Belleville, when he heard the noise around 8:30 p.m.

“I heard it and thought it was thunder,” Waters said. “I took out my phone to check the weather and there was nothing out there.”

Retired state fire marshal Ken Smith “heard something here” in Monroeville about that same time, but he wasn’t sure what it was, he said. He noted that he didn’t hear any police dispatch traffic about the incident.

Shawn and Jen Partin, who live between Excel and Repton, said that they were outside between 8:30 p.m. and 8:45 p.m. and heard it. She described the sound as “weird,” noting that it sounded similar to thunder.

Amy Ikner, who also lives in the Excel area, said that the noise occurred “exactly” at 8:30 p.m. because she was texting a friend when she and her husband heard it from inside their home. “He (her husband) went outside to see what it was,” she said.

Margie Peacock of Repton said that she heard it too and wondered at first if it might be thunder. She thought “the rain was coming in sooner than forecast,” she said. “It was pretty loud too. This time, it sounded like it came from towards Evergreen, which would be northeast of me.”

Former Courant reporter Julie Adams and April Brooks of Monroeville were among those who said they heard similar “booms” earlier in the week. Gloria Cole of Excel said that these sounds have “been going on since summertime,” saying that she remembers hearing other people talk about the phenomenon.

The most recent reports of the unexplained “booms” come almost two months after a similar unexplained noise that occurred around 11:33 p.m. Nov. 18 and was heard over a wide area in western Conecuh County and eastern Monroe County. On that occasion, the noise was heard by witnesses from Repton to Monroeville and as far south as Goodway and Wildfork in Monroe County.

Theories about the possible causes of the unexplained sounds vary and include the off-burning of oil rigs, seismographic testing, high-speed naval aircraft and meteorites. Or it could be the work of a handful of brave pranksters who are setting off homemade cannons or other explosive devices. No evidence has been found to support any of those theories.

After the Nov. 18 incident, The Courant contacted officials at Pensacola Naval Air Station, and officials there said that no jets from their facility were in the air in the vicinity of Conecuh or Monroe County at that time of night on Nov. 18.

“We had nothing in the air at that time that would have caused a sonic boom,” Public Affairs Officer Harry White said in November. “And we’ve really got nothing in our training pipeline that could do that.”

One man suggested that the sound was a land oil crew setting off underground explosions as part of a seismological test. Others, including police, say that this is unlikely because these types of tests aren’t typically conducted at night.

One man suggested that the noises were caused by individuals setting off explosives to destroy beaver dams on private property.

In a news story in the Dec. 1 edition of The Monroe Journal newspaper in Monroeville, Staff Writer Josh Dewberry reported that another unexplained explosion occurred on Sat., Nov. 26, at 6 p.m. Witnesses said that it was not as loud as the Nov. 18 explosion.

In the end, The Courant is encouraging its readers to contact the newspaper with their accounts of the noise or if they know its cause.

The Courant can be reached by phone at 251-578-1492 or by email at courantsports@earthlink.net. To contact The Courant by mail, write The Evergreen Courant, ATTN: Lee Peacock, P.O. Box 440, Evergreen, AL 36401.