By Tim Binnall
A mysterious boom occurred in South Carolina earlier this week and no one can figure out what caused the curious sound that shook homes and rattled residents. According to a local media report, the powerful blast was heard and felt by people in several communities around the city of Charleston at around 8:40 in the morning on Tuesday. Unlike many such mystery booms, which often go maddeningly undocumented, this particular instance happened to be captured by a doorbell camera (heard in the video above), however despite that fortuitous turn of events, the source of the sound has managed to evade authorities as each possible explanation has fallen by the wayside.
One initial theory was that the boom have been caused by an earthquake, which has happened with some frequency in the past. That hypothesis was seemingly eliminated by the South Carolina Emergency Management Division, which said on social media that they had no reports of such seismic activity and, in turn, assured residents that "we're working to determine the source" of the event. Attention then understandably turned towards a Coast Guard training exercise involving "explosive operations" that was scheduled to be held in the area this week. However, that scenario was also crossed off the proverbial list of suspects as a spokesperson for the service indicated that there was no connection between their work and the weird event.
As the possibilities narrowed, some have suggested that the sound could be the result of a meteor bursting through the atmosphere and causing a sonic boom. Yet, once again, the theory appears to be untenable as there were no signs of such an event occurring on radar nor reports of a fireball from any witnesses. With that array of explanations having been dismissed, more imaginative individuals have pointed the finger at, of course, aliens. That said, a more prosaic cause for the boom could simply be the detonation of an explosive by someone in the area. Should that be the case, given that the blast may have been illegal, it's unlikely that anyone will step forward to take responsibility.