Southern Idaho ‘BOOMS’ – What Are They?

Social media has been going crazy over the last 48 hours with inquires about loud 'booms' heard around Southern Idaho.

If you've lived in the Twin Falls area for any length of time, you are probably familiar with the occasional bouts of rumbles we feel from time to time. It's not unusual for the booms to resonate throughout a building and shake windows, very similar to what you might feel during an earthquake. But these (usually) are not earthquakes... So what are they?

Possible Sources: 

1. Earthquakes - Southern Idaho experiences its share of small earthquakes, but these are not usually the source of the rumbles around Southern Idaho. You can easily cross-reference booms against the USGS site to see if there has been any seismic activity reported in our area.

2. Skyquakes - These are a debated phenomenon that are often described as cannon-like sounds and rumbles. I believe these are the least likely source of our noises. It made our list because this a term that is often used to describe what we hear in Southern Idaho.  (Talk amongst yourselves.)

3. Mountain Home Airforce Base & Surrounding Bombing Ranges - In our opinion, this is the most likely source. Mountain Home AFB is less than 100 miles from Twin Falls and Saylor Creek Bombing Range is about 50 miles west of us. There is rarely any official word that maneuvers are being conducted. Regardless, the sounds you hear could be from jets conducting maneuvers. Residents who live and work near any of these areas, often describe increased activity that coincides with reports of rumblings.

We've seen several other explanations, including everything from UFO conspiracies to a reasonable conclusion of possible work happening at a quarry near Hollister.

Feel free to leave a comment and let us know what you think the strange Southern Idaho 'BOOMS' are.