Minor Quake May Be Behind Wisconsin's "Boom" Town

UPDATE: Mystery solved? Maybe.

The U.S. Geological Survey says that a 1.5-magnitude earthquake struck outside the Wisconsin city of Clintonville earlier this week, possibly setting off a series of mysterious booms that have puzzled area residents for the past several days.

"To be honest, I'm skeptical that there'd be a sound report associated with such a small earthquake, but it's possible," geophysicist Paul Caruso told the Associated Press, explaining that loud booming noises have been known to accompany earthquakes.

The AP has more on the story here.

Thursday, March 22: When it turns out that the Mayans were right and the world ends this December, more than a few will point to the mysterious noises currently keeping residents of a small Wisconsin town awake as where it all began. 

For the past three nights, Clintonville residents have heard loud, mysterious booming noises at night—and no one seems to have any clue as to the cause.

The Associated Press explains the noises sound like "distant thunder, fireworks or someone slamming a heavy door," and that some have been loud enough to shake houses. No one has been injured, but that's doing little to calm the nerves of the town's sleep-deprived residents.

Investigators have been left puzzled, despite checking everything from the sewer system to gas lines to the methane levels at a local landfill. They've even asked the military about any super secret tests they might be conducting nearby with no luck. Experts have begun checking for geological explanations, although there are no known fault lines in the area.

Without a firm explanation for the noises, residents have speculated that the cause is anything from the construction of a secret White House bunker to mole men, the AP explains, adding the remark of one resident to the mix: "the aliens, of course, there’s always the aliens.”