Mysterious Booms Happening in Berkeley but No One Knows What's Causing Them: 'Scared the Hell Out of Me

For weeks, some residents in Berkeley, California, have had a hard time staying asleep thanks to loud booms in the middle of the night.

"I’d say it was around one in the morning, scared the hell out of me," Rachael Marzoline told KPIX-TV of what she heard. "I jumped out of bed."

Marzoline told the news station that this boom occurred Sunday night, but Joel Bryant said he has heard them at least eight times within the last month.

"We’re puzzled by it,” he told KPIX. “It’s not as crisp as a gunshot. It sounds like an aerial bomb explosion."

Some on Twitter have associated the #berkeleyboom with a flash of light, and an occurrence happened as recently as early Wednesday morning.

Flash reflects southwards from Ward houses, east of park Instant later: BOOM #berkeleyboom #haiku

— craigsuperstar (@craigsuperstar) April 1, 2015

BREAKING NEWS: #berkeleyboom heard from Piedmont and 40th in #Oakland.

— Claire Little (@isolinearchick) April 1, 2015

Just heard the #berkeleyboom 15 minutes ago which I have never heard about until this evening https://t.co/oRNon14pRD

— Cary Bass-Deschenes (@bastique)

April 1, 2015

Here are some tweets from previous incidents.

another #berkeleyboom near McGee and Russell - anyone? Bueller? ... Bueller? ... .@berkeleyside?

— Matthew Lewis (@mateosfo) March 18, 2015

@berkeleyside was that a #berkeleyboom ? Heard two right in a row from Gilman and Santa Fe.

— martin francis hitch (@martinfrancish)

March 9, 2015

Heard the #berkeleyboom. I knew I could count on you for corroboration, Twitterverse.

— Krista Meyer (@missingbravo) March 4, 2015

@berkeleyside another weird #Berkeleyboom heard near Sacramento & Ashby

— Emily Parcell (@eparcell) March 4, 2015

Another loud boom. Is this going to be a regular occurrence? #berkeleyboom #berkeley @berkeleyside

— Farra Levin (@farralevin) March 1, 2015

Berkeley police told KGO-TV that it's most likely fireworks, though they have yet to find proof.

"People are reporting like a large flash of light and then also maybe some smoke in the area which could be just left over from the actual device going off," Officer Jennifer Coats told the news station.

Watch KGO's report on the mysterious booms:

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Front page image via Shutterstock.