UPDATED: 5:25 p.m., Monday:
The Bucks County District Attorney’s Office issued a statement confirming the incident is believed to be an explosion that happened in Northampton Township.
Anyone with information has been asked to contact Bucks County Rangers at 215-348-6624, Northampton Township Police at 215-322-6111, or the Bucks County Detectives at 215-348-6354.
Original Story:
A loud explosion-like noise that rattled homes in Lower Bucks County Saturday night is under investigation by law enforcement, an official told NewtownPANow.com.
The explosion happened around 10:30 p.m., according to multiple reports received by this news organization.
Bucks County Detectives, Bucks County Rangers, and Northampton Township were working on Monday to investigate the cause of the noise, according to Bucks County District Attorney’s Office spokesperson Manuel Gamiz
Reports from readers came from Bensalem Township, Bristol Township, Langhorne Borough, Lower Southampton Township, Middletown Township, Newtown Township, Northampton Township, and Lower Makefield Township.
“Sounds like a huge explosion somewhere near here. Son saw a flash of light in the sky,” one reader in Middletown Township said.
“Do you have anything on a loud explosion near Newtown? We heard it and my husband swears he heard smaller ones, but we didn’t hear any sirens after,” another reader asked.
“Loud boom that shook my house and my neighbor’s house on Newportville Rd,” a reader from Bristol Township said.
Those who reported hearing the noise weren’t alone.
There were a number of threads started about the sound on area Facebook groups throughout Lower Bucks County. People speculated that construction, meteors, and military training at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey were to blame.
No significant weather activity was reported in the area at the time.
The U.S. Geological Survey did not report any earthquakes in the region on Saturday.
Bucks County spokesperson James O’Malley said the county 9-1-1 center did receive more than 70 calls in the wake of the noise, with the majority coming from residents in Northampton and Lower Southampton townships.
A county drone team went out late Saturday night with the Bucks County Rangers, who patrol county property, to check for possible damage near the Churchville Nature Center in Northampton Township, the spokesperson said.
O’Malley said the preliminary search led to nothing being recovered on Saturday night.
Gamiz, the spokesperson for the district attorney’s office, did not release further information on whether later investigation revealed any clues. However, previous loud noises heard the area haven’t led to police investigations like this past weekend’s incident.
Earlier this year, military training was suspected of causing a house-shaking overnight explosion.
A 2021 noise that rocked Lower Bucks County remains a mystery.
The demolition of a New Jersey power plant in 2020 caused a rumble through the area at that time.
The entire Philadelphia region heard an unexplained boom in November 2018.
In October 2017, a mystery boom rocked the region and no cause was ever released.
