Upstate NY Residents Say Super Loud ‘Booms!’ Rattled Windows. What Was It?

What caused a series of loud, window-rattling BOOMS heard throughout the Capital Region on Thursday?  There are some pretty interesting theories...

Many residents throughout the Capital Region took to hyper-local apps and websites on Thursday wondering if others also heard the series of loud, unexpected "Booms!" shooting down from the clouds.  On one such place for these types of discussions, Albany Reddit, users had plenty to say about the sounds that were heard in Albany, Averill Park,  Bethlehem, Niskayuna, Rensselaer, Schodack, and more.

Most people on Reddit agreed that, unless it was an alien invasion, it had to have been fighter jets.  But what were they practicing?

"Came here to see if anyone else was hearing them. I couldn't find anything on the news about it." -needsunshine

 

Some say they too heard the "abnormally loud noises" and thus the search began to find out what caused it.   The loud sound that many heard was believed to be a highly skilled training exercise

One Albany Reddit user who goes by the name of phantom_eight had an even more detailed description, "The Civil Air Patrol flew through the area, likely some mock intercepts. (For) those who are unfamiliar, the CAP will play the role of aircraft that enter restricted airspace or aircraft that have not been responding to communication, the Guard units will then intercept them," they explained.

The Jets that flew through the area likely were doing some mock intercepts.

According to phantom_eight, the pilots will roll up alongside another craft and make an attempt to get their attention, often giving orders to the unfamiliar aircraft.

"If you are still uncooperative they'll do stuff like deploy flares or cross in front of you and they'll show you what's hanging from their wings... What happens after that? It's up to you if you become a smoking hole in the ground or not."