A Campus Staffer Explains What They Think That Mysterious Debate 'Thud' Was

TheBlaze already told you about the loud thud that interrupted the U.S. presidential debate on Thursday evening. The unidentified noise was so pronounced that it caused President Barack Obama to turn around to see where it was coming from. This morning, we began making calls to determine the origins of the mysterious "thud."

In a phone conversation with TheBlaze, Allan Wilson, a staff member with the University of Denver facilities management, said that the sound likely resulted from an error with the debate's staging.

"I wasn't back stage," Wilson said. "But it's been reported that a piece of staging fell from behind the stage."

Wilson forwarded TheBlaze to the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), the governing body for the presidential debates and the organization that would be able to provide more details about what unfolded. We have reached out to the commission and will post their response as soon as it is received.

As reported, the show-stopping sound occurred last night around 10:07 p.m. ET, briefly interrupting the debate. The “thud” seemed to come from behind the stage, where the candidates were jockeying back and forth on domestic issues.

The brief moment of uncertainty did little to dissuade Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who was speaking at the time. For a split-second, he acknowledged that he heard the noise, then promptly continued speaking.

Watch below and listen for the bizarre noise -- and the candidates' reaction, below: