2012-03-22

Mysterious booms update

Wis. town longs for relief from mysterious booms
The strange disturbance sounds like distant thunder, fireworks or someone slamming a heavy door. At first, many people were amused. But after a third restless night Tuesday into Wednesday, exasperation is mounting. And some folks are considering leaving town until investigators determine the source of the racket.

...Sharon Binger said the disturbance has left cracks in her basement walls and floor, and that they're getting worse. She said her insurance company won't pay for the damage until she knows what caused it.

"This is an issue," she said, demanding answers from officials at the meeting. "There is something else going on."

Kuss urged Binger to write down when the cracks occurred and promised to send officials to the woman's home to look over the damage.

Debby Ernst has not heard the sound or felt the tremors but said she is still considering going elsewhere until the mystery is solved.

"It worries me. I'm scared," Ernst, a gas station cashier, said in a phone interview. "Who's to say it ain't going to get worse?"
Note the last comments there. A person who hasn't heard or seen anything is worried and scared. The story by itself isn't driven by social mood, it seems as though something is going on in the town. However, this story is a microcosm of society and reflects how social mood spreads. The national coverage of these mysterious events is what makes it interesting from a socionomic perspective.

There is finally a scientific explanation for the booms that hasn't been ruled out:
However, he speculated that water and granite could hold the key to the mystery. Granite has small cracks that water can fill, but if the underground water table falls especially low, water can seep out, leaving gaps that cause the rocks to settle and generate loud noises.

"Maybe the very dry winter caused more water to be removed from the water table, either through pumping or natural flow," he said.

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