It’s baaack… a mysterious “boom” that shook houses, rattled windows, and put residents of Stamford, Connecticut, on edge happened on the evening of Friday, September 7, at around 9:30pm. The strangest thing? This isn’t the first time such an event has taken place in the city of Stamford. And SGRA was on the case the last time as well!
“Our organization is known mostly for our exploration of the paranormal,” explains SGRA Director Jon Nowinski, “but we’re actually called upon for all sorts of strange news and mysterious happenings.” And this latest incident remains mysterious. Back in October of 1999 an “boom” shook an area of downtown Stamford, and despite police, fire, gas, and other services searching for an answers, none was ever found. SGRA was called by several people – including some within the city’s services – to see if they could dig deeper into the mystery. Through extensive investigation the group was able to rule out weather phenomena, an earthquake, and even a sonic boom caused by a low-flying military aircraft (at least any that showed up on radar or were admitted to have been in the area).
You can read an article published in 2009 – 10 years after the “Stamford Boom” of 1999 – that covered the original event, as well as the SGRA’s investigation, by clicking here. In 1999, and then again in 2009, SGRA released a report of its investigation and findings, and even the re-release of that information resulted in numerous people who had experienced the “boom” coming forward to share their story.
So what exactly was this most recent “boom?” Well, as of 4:00pm on Saturday, September 8, the cause remains a mystery, but SGRA is once again on the case. “We’ll be checking into the same things we looked at before. Could it have been something atmospheric? Something like a low earthquake? A military fighter jet breaking the sound barrier? A gas or other service issue? Right now it’s just too soon to say anything with great confidence,” says Jon Nowinski. He also explains that SGRA’s investigation into events like these are made public, and that updates will be regularly available on the website at www.sgra.org and that anyone wishing to report their story, or interested in information, is more than welcome to reach out to the organization.
For now, this event is filed under “active investigation” in the SGRA’s office, and only time will tell if a conclusion to this mysterious “boom” will be discovered.
** UPDATE **
The United Sates Geological Survey (USGS) has confirmed that there was a “minor earthquake,” which they have recorded as a magnitude 2.1 which hit Fairfield County just before 9:30pm on Friday. The quake was centered near Old Greenwich the neighboring town to Stamford). Earthquakes are not an impossibility, even here in Connecticut, though they are often so minor that people don’t even feel them. When you do, it is often quickly dismissed as a large truck or train passing by. Even so, this area can sometimes be hit with larger quakes. Let’s home this isn’t the beginning of a new trend!
