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The weather service started receiving reports of the boom and shaking around 8 a.m. A James Island resident wrote on Facebook that the boom shook her house. A man said he heard it in West Ashley.
The United States Geological Survey has not reported an earthquake in the area.
"At this point, we're pretty confident it's not an earthquake," said Carl Barnes, a meteorologist with the weather service. "Unfortunately, we really can't say with any confidence what it was. ... If it is military testing, which is certainly a possibility, they don't let us know."
Otherwise, Tuesday in Charleston started off with cool temperatures, but more comfortable weather is ahead. The high is expected to be near 69 with sunny skies.
Wednesday should bring more of the same weather, according to the National Weather Service. Then daytime temperatures will drop to 65 before they climb back up to a high of 74 on Friday.
Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 50.
Wednesday: Partly sunny, with a high near 71.
Wednesday night: Mostly clear, with a low around 50.
Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 65.
Thursday night: Mostly clear, with a low around 50.
Friday: Sunny, with a high near 74.
Friday night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 54.
Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 64.
Saturday night: Mostly clear, with a low around 46.
Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 64.
Sunday night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 49.
Monday: Partly sunny, with a high near 69.
I would like to know when these noises were first reported. It seems to me that I've been reading reports about this phenomenon from different countries and places in the U.S. for several years now.
Possibility #1 and one that the U.S. government loves to use: Sonic booms from fighter jet training and testing [Link]
Possibility #2 and a reason why sea life is currently leaving areas of the Arctic Ocean: July 18, 2014, U.S. east coastal waters were opened for oil and gas exploration. Companies are allowed to use sonic cannons which are deafening to anything in the water and the cannons have been shown to cause mass beachings of sea mammals. [Link]
Possibility #3 and my favorite because of the implications for the Empire should it be true: Seismic anomalies are rife along the U.S. Eastern seaboard, from the Bermuda Triangle up to the odd geography of the Maritime provinces. [Link] Not only are there magnetic and crustal anomalies which appear to be dynamic, there are terra-tonnes of liquid hydrocarbon (frozen methane) locked up in the eastern continental margin and the warming water or sudden pressure release by drilling will cause these formations to change state and possibly deform the surface land around them. [Link]