U.S. Military Officials Reportedly Identify Cause of Mysterious Sonic Boom That Rocked N.J. Coast

UPDATE 5:13 p.m. ET: U.S. military officials say an F-35C joint strike fighter jet caused "a number of sonic booms," which were reported Thursday along the New Jersey coastline, NBC News reported.

UPDATE: US military officials: F-35C Joint Strike Fighter jet created a “number of sonic booms” during flight tests off NJ coast Thursday.

— NBC Nightly News (@NBCNightlyNews) January 28, 2016

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Authorities are investigating the source of a sonic boom that rocked parts of New Jersey Thursday.

The. U.S. Geological Survey said a series of booms were heard along the state's coastline, from southern New Jersey all the way up to Long Island, New York, the first of which was reported at around 1:30 p.m.

"Several secondary booms and tremors" occurred following the initial disturbance, according to the USGS. The agency said the event was not an earthquake.

Not an earthquake but a sonic boom in New Jersey: https://t.co/eUr4sB28Wm pic.twitter.com/TQFlkGr633

— USGS (@USGS) January 28, 2016

A spokesman for Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurs, which is near the region where the sonic boom occurred, said after the fact, "it was not us," saying that particular military base doesn't have aircraft machines capable of supersonic flights and was not conducting ground artillery training.

The 177th Air National Guard said it flies F-16s but was not doing so at the time, WPVI-TV reported.

The New Jersey State Police tweeted it is "looking to confirm" reports of the tremors, echoing the assessment by the USGS that the blast was not seismic in nature.

We are not reporting any type of seismic blasts anywhere in NJ. Looking to confirm reports of reported tremors.

— NJSP - State Police (@NJSP) January 28, 2016