Loud boom reported in central Missouri

Officials are trying to figure out what caused the boom and shaking reported by people around Columbia and Boone County on Monday.

However, a denfense contractor said it was testing a military aircraft in the area at the time.

Authorities and the ABC 17 newsroom started receiving reports of the boom before 11 a.m. Tom Hurley, deputy director of the Boone County Office of Emergency Management, said 911 dispatchers have received numerous calls of a loud boom from a geographically diverse area but can find no incidents in Boone County.

“Our office, working closely with Joint Communications, will continue to monitor this event,” Hurley wrote in an email.

Boeing, which has facilities in St. Louis, said in a statement that it was testing a military aircraft in the mid-Missouri area between 10:20 and 11:30 a.m. The test was for a customer and required by contract. Such tests are routine in this area, the company said.

ABC 17 News received calls from around mid-Missouri about the boom.

The Columbia Police Department could find no evidence of any explosion or indications of what caused the noise Monday morning, spokesman Jeff Pitts said.

Columbia Police, Columbia Fire and Office of Emergency Management is aware of the loud “boom” in the Columbia area. Agencies are currently working to determine what caused the noise.

— ColumbiaPD (@ColumbiaPD) March 4, 2019

An FAA spokeswoman told ABC 17 News there was “nothing out of the ordinary” to report from central Missouri.

The Whiteman Air Force base public affairs office said the boom did not originate from any aircraft operating out of the base. The B-2 stealth bombers stationed there are not capable of breaking the sound barrier and the supersonic training aircraft that operates out of the base was not flying, the office said.

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