NEW ORLEANS — A loud boom is leaving many across the New Orleans metro area scratching their heads.
People from Algiers to Gentilly to St. Bernard Parish say they heard what sounded like an explosion around 11:15 Tuesday night.
“Just like one big boom that kind of sounded like someone crashed into something, maybe like a big firework,” said Alex Cvelbar, who heard the noise from the 7th Ward.
“I heard a loud explosion. It was just really deep, sounded like a very large explosion and almost felt a little vibration from it,” said Bywater resident Devin Debeux.
Adding to the unusual, other neighbors reported seeing a yellow flash just a few seconds before the noise.
“Just scary, all of sudden everything was quiet and all of a sudden an explosion,” said Joyce Kelly who heard it from St. Bernard Parish.
Kelly and her daughter Aileen thought the noise was from a transformer exploding.
“It was a boom that went off for a couple of seconds,” Aileen Kelly said. “I thought it was a transformer. We didn’t lose power, but it did kind of shake the house a little bit.”
Entergy told us Wednesday the noise was not caused by the utility. There were some reports that it could be a meteor, but NASA says there was no significant activity over the New Orleans area. Furthermore, they say there was no scheduled test activity at Stennis Space Center during that time that could account for the noise.
The Chalmette Refinery confirmed Wednesday that they had no issues either, leaving many wondering -- what the heck was it?
“Somebody has got to know something you would think,” Debeux said. “It was so loud and you could almost feel the vibration from it.”
The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality says they were not aware of the noise, but told us they are working to find out more information.
The NOPD says they did receive several calls about the noise, but there is no crime associated with the sound under investigation at this time.
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