Emergency departments were equally confused by the event, telling the Southern Riverina News that they were unaware of any explosions or fires in the area.
The so-called ‘booms’ — as described by earwitnesses — were intense enough to rattle windows, with some suggesting that the noise came from above.
Yet open-source aircraft tracking program Flightradar24 recorded no overhead activity at the time of the event.
‘‘My husband (Dave Gilbert) saw a glow and sparks in the distance, following the sound,’’ said Dawn Gilbert, who was inside at the time of the noise.
Mrs Gilbert posted about the sound in an online forum popular with locals, which received more than 60 comments.
Those commenting were divided, with some hearing the sound intensely, and others hearing nothing at all.
‘‘Perhaps it was someone burning off and something in the fire went off with a bang?’’ suggested Mrs Gilbert.
‘‘But that’s only conjecture’’.
The origin of the noise was east-north east of Murray Haven Village, according to Mr Gilbert.
Others reported hearing, or feeling, the boom on Murray St, Sandy Lane, Honniball Drive and Boomerang Way.
Similar reports were made as far away as Queensland the night before.
‘‘We had what sounds like the exact same thing last night about 7.15pm on the Fraser Coast, Queensland,’’ said one person who commented on Mrs Gilbert’s post.
‘‘Everyone kept saying fireworks, but this certainly wasn’t like any firework I’ve ever experienced.’’
And a similar event occurred in Sydney four months ago, with multiple reports of an explosion — but with no known cause.
‘‘Fire and Rescue New South Wales and New South Wales Police responded to the calls, but said they found nothing, not even a fire, to
indicate an explosion had taken place,’’ The Guardian reported at the time.
‘‘Residents reported windows shaking, and that the sound was something like an explosion or a backfiring car, but with no visual indicators.’’
Neither of the two comparable incident’s have been explained.
‘‘I was only a block or two from the street people heard it on,’’ said Tocumwal’s RFS captain Ian Desailly.
‘‘We have no idea what it is, and we didn’t get any calls.’’
If you can shed some light on the noise heard, please get in touch via email john.thompson@southernriverinanews.com.au.
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