'Shook the windows in my house': Earthshaking boom came from Joint Base Cape Cod Tuesday

Sarah Carlon, Cape Cod Times
·2 min read

A loud boom heard on the Upper and Mid-Cape on Tuesday around 5 p.m. rattled houses and left residents wondering where it came from.

"I had just gotten back from work and let my dog out when I heard this tremendous boom, I mean, it shook the windows in my house" Brien Lenge of Sandwich said. "My Rottweiler Piper, who isn't afraid of anything, came running back into the house with her tail between her legs."

Lenge posted in the Facebook group Sandwich News asking if anyone else had heard the boom, and received 196 comments, including people from Barnstable all the way to Bourne who said they heard the same explosion-like noise.

Major Alex McDonough shows how soldiers line up their sites at Sierra firing Range at Joint Base Cape Cod on April 22, 2021.
Major Alex McDonough shows how soldiers line up their sites at Sierra firing Range at Joint Base Cape Cod on April 22, 2021.

Some wondered if an earthquake had hit the Cape.

AllQuakes, a website that gathers worldwide data about earthquakes, reported that unconfirmed seismic activity occurred 10.4 miles west of Barnstable at 4:59 p.m. on April 26, but as of Wednesday, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) has not reported any earthquakes in Massachusetts.

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After the boom, Lenge thought that it could have come out of the Otis Air National Guard Base, part of Joint Base Cape Cod, which he said he lives near, but was perplexed because in the past base officials alerted the surrounding towns when and where any explosions or testing would take place.

Don Veitch, spokesperson for the Massachusetts Army National Guard, confirmed the boom was a result of disposing of, by detonating, an unexploded ordnance such as a bomb, shell or grenade, that did not explode when originally deployed.

Veitch said the ordnance was found on training grounds at Joint Base Cape Cod, and a Navy explosive ordnance disposal official later determined it was not safe to move. Because of the urgency of the situation, Veitch said, base officials did not have time to alert the surrounding towns. The ordnance was disposed of in place.

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He said that the day's overcast conditions, which tend to make sound travel further, are likely to blame for why residents over the bridge heard the explosion.

"It's not common for Joint Base to have unexploded ordnances, but we do have an explosive ordnance disposal program on-base for this exact reason," Veitch said.

Contact Sarah Carlon at scarlon@capecodonline.com.

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Loud boom, not earthquake, shook Cape Cod, Army Guard said