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Loud booming sounds leave Grand Rapids neighbors confused

The sounds were heard Tuesday and Wednesday on the Northeast and Northwest sides.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Dozens of people in West Michigan are trying to figure out what caused loud booming sounds in Grand Rapids early Tuesday and Wednesday morning.

Residents took to community-informed pages on Facebook to find answers.

One comment said, "woke me up, sounded like gunfire, return gunfire of smaller arms, and then a really big gun or explosions and it went on quite long."

Another comment said, “just heard a ton of weird booming noises in Highland Park neighborhood. At first, we thought it was fireworks (which we're used to, so we're familiar with those sounds) but then 3 more louder booms sounded more like explosions.”

Someone else commented, “I heard them as well. I have no idea what they were either. Not fireworks, thunder or gunfire. Very strange. The night before around six am I was woken to a very loud bang and my dog even woke and barked!"

With so many more comments asking what's going on, 13 ON YOUR SIDE decided to try and hunt for the answer.

First, 13 ON YOUR SIDE reached out to the Grand Rapids Police Department and the Kent County Sheriff's Office.

GRPD and the sheriff's office said they do not have any reports on this. 

With an eye in the sky, 13 ON YOUR SIDE then checked with the Gerald R. Ford International Airport, which says officials there haven't gotten any reports on or around their campus.

We even checked with Grand Valley State University to see if there was a geological explanation, and they said there wasn't. 

13 ON YOUR SIDE also asked Consumers Energy if they had any reports of a transformer blowing but they said no.

But then, going back to the Facebook posts, some neighbors pointed to an MLive Media Group article, stating parts of Michigan could hear a sonic boom from military jets!

Unfortunately, that also was not the answer.

The 180th Fighter Wing Military Base in Ohio says the sound couldn't have come from them, because the functional check flights planned for this week were canceled and other flights to Northern Michigan from their base couldn't have broken the sound barrier in Grand Rapids.

Some have questioned whether the loud boom could be coming from the large gypsum mines under the city of Grand Rapids and Wyoming.

13 ON YOUR SIDE reached out Michigan Natural Storage, which uses part of the mine.

Officials there say the noise isn't coming from the mines.

The city of Grand Rapids checked for us as well, and again, nothing.

So unfortunately, the loud boom remains a mystery.

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