Loud Boom Heard In Palos, Chicago Ridge And Worth Thursday Night

PALOS HEIGHTS, IL— Neighborhood Facebook groups were all atwitter after residents reported hearing a big boom on Thursday evening that rattled windows and had owners scurrying to grab thunder shirts to put on their frightened dogs. Some people said they saw flash. The big boom was heard in Palos Heights, Chicago Ridge, Worth and even as far away as Evergreen Park.

The explosive sound had people speculating whether it was transformer blowing, a common occurrence in the south suburbs, a sonic boom or an alien invasion. A few pranksters on Chicago Ridge Neighborhood Watch even apologized for eating a burrito earlier in the day.

“Can you describe the boom????”

“I wonder what is going on? Scared the crap out of my kids and dog.”

“My house in Palos Heights shook. It was so loud and powerful.”

And because there isn’t enough drama in our lives, residents took to posting on Facebook instead of calling 911. We checked with Palos Park PD. Police there didn’t hear anything and there were no 911 calls made to the Southwest Dispatch.

However, Deputy Chief Bill Czajkowsk, of the Palos Heights Police Department, did get back to us about the big boom.

“It appears it was a mortar type firework that originated from the Palos area. Not sure of the exact location,” Czajkowsk said in an email to Patch. “At first it was thought to be a ComED transformer. But later it was determined to be a large firework.”

Mystery solved. It was some idiot blowing off a very large firework.