SLIDELL, La. — Did you hear the boom? Residents from Slidell and beyond said they heard a loud boom around 8 p.m. on Tuesday.
A Slidell resident, Brian Wagner, shared videos with WWL Louisiana that captured the noise.
Some viewers said the boom shook their homes and rattled their windows.
After reaching out to both the Slidell Police Department and the John C. Stennis Space Center about the noise, a spokesperson from Stennis issued a statement to WWL explaining the boom could have been associated with an engine test being conducted at the time.
"While we cannot confirm with certainty, reports of a loud noise last night (Feb. 20) may have been associated with engine testing activity at NASA’s Stennis Space Center. Despite a large acoustical buffer zone, atmospheric conditions sometimes cause the sound of testing to be heard beyond the site."
The Slidell Police Department issued a playful response, saying, "Puzzled by the loud “boom“ last night? Yeah, so are we. We haven’t been able to track down the source of the unexplainable noise, but we do have a possible lead on the case."
Meanwhile, the United States Geological Survey showed no recent history of any earthquakes in Louisiana. They are rare but do occasionally happen offshore in the Gulf of Mexico.
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