Loud Booms Heard In NJ: Here's What Caused Them

The cause of a loud booms heard this week across New Jersey have been revealed.

On Tuesday, many residents of Atlantic, Cape May and Ocean counties reported hearing loud booms and feeling their homes shake.

The cause? Most likely military jets doing supersonic test flights along the coast, according to a report.

“We had aircraft in that area at that time,” Patrick Gordon, public affairs officer for the Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland, told NJ.com. He added that the sound and shaking was likely caused by those jets.

It's not the first time this has happened, either. Depending on the conditions, supersonic booms can be heard far away from where they occur, thanks to a temperature inversion.

"When a fighter jet produces a sonic boom, the inversion layer can bend and channel the sound waves horizontally, allowing the boom to travel much farther than normal," said local forecaster NorEasterNick. "This means people on the ground, even at great distances, might hear a loud and prolonged sonic boom or shaking of the ground due to the way sound waves are refracted and amplified by the atmospheric conditions."

People reported hearing booms and feeling shaking in Cape May Court House, Cape May, Hammonton, Absecon, Whiting, Lakehurst and more.

Additionally, the Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in Burlington and Ocean counties was at a "high noise" level day on Tuesday, according to their noise calendar. That can also cause loud booms and shaking in the area.