Virginia Beach is a city full of sound. Waves crash at the Oceanfront and fighter jets scream overhead. However, a boom Tuesday night caught hundreds of normally unfazed residents from Virginia Beach to the Eastern Shore completely off-guard.

"It shook my house," said one man.

"It almost felt like an earthquake and then I had to think about it. We're in Virginia Beach we don't get earthquakes," said Pam Trotter.

10 On Your Side called the military, the U.S. Geological Survey and the Department of Energy. Turns out the answer may be found out of this world.

"It's most consistent with a meteor coming into the Earth's atmosphere and creating a large sonic boom," said NASA scientist Dr. Joe Zawodny.

Dr. Zawodny said sonic booms are not uncommon. Two years ago, hundreds of people across the region heard a similar boom most likely caused by a meteor.

This just happens to be a popular time of year for them said Dr. Zawodny.

"We're on the tail end of a meteor shower here which peaked last week. It could be associated with that," he said.

It is easy for some to blame the jets. "With the jets and everything flying they're always setting off car alarms and things like that with the military base who knows, you know?" said one bike vendor.

Some things actually do make more noise.

"The first thing I did was look up in the sky and check, thought it might be a meteor or something but I didn't see anything," said Trotter.

Dr. Zawodny said even something as small as a golf ball could cause a big boom if was traveling fast.