What was the deafening #BAMABOOM? NASA has no idea - but Alabamians have some guesses

A thundering BOOM rocked the northern part of Alabama Tuesday, shaking walls, freaking out pets and causing hundreds of Alabamians to peek out their front doors and check to make sure the sky hadn’t fallen down.

The boom, which only lasted about one second, was heard across at least seven counties Tuesday afternoon, reported the Anniston Star - and nobody seems to have any clear idea what it was.

“We don't have an answer, and can only hypothesize with you. 1) sonic boom from aircraft; 2) meteorite w/ current Leonid shower?” tweeted the National Weather Service in Birmingham.

The boom was detected on a seismograph as a large spike.

It can be heard on this home video, posted to Twitter. The sound can be heard exactly 10 seconds in.

Even NASA doesn’t know what caused the sound, reported AL.com. “It could have been generated by a bolide (a meteor which explodes in the atmosphere), larger supersonic aircraft or a ground explosion,” the agency told the site.

NASA scientist Bill Cooke said it almost certainly wasn’t caused by a meteor from the Leonid meteor shower, which will peak on Nov. 18, according to NASA. “Leonids never penetrate low enough into Earth’s atmosphere to produce sounds audible on the ground,” Cooke told WHNT.

Cooke told the station that some witnesses reported seeing a vapor trail in the sky, and Jason Holmes, a meteorologist from the National Weather Service in Birmingham, told the Anniston Star there were some reports of “minor damage, like cracked windows.”

While scientists worked on finding a definite answer, #BAMABOOM began trending on social media — and many Alabamians began posting their own thoughts and theories on what might have made the mysterious noise.

This story was originally published November 15, 2017 at 8:29 AM with the headline "What was the deafening #BAMABOOM? NASA has no idea - but Alabamians have some guesses."