Western N.B. residents left puzzled by mystery bang that shook homes

A loud bang and accompanying shock-wave that shook homes has residents of a western New Brunswick village wondering what could have caused the Christmas Day incident.

Andrew McDougall was sitting in his living room watching television when he heard a loud bang and felt what seemed to be an object hitting his house.

"It was like a huge gunfire or a very loud thunder clap, but it was short, like it was just a bang, and then the house shook right at the same time," said McDougall, adding it happened right around 4:37 p.m. as he was waiting for Christmas dinner.

"And like I say, it just felt and sounded like something big hit the house like a car or something that would move the house, right? Because the house shook."

Sandra Hanson was in the kitchen of her home in Centreville when she heard and felt the same thing.

"I was in the kitchen working on Christmas dinner … and all of a sudden we just heard this loud sound — you could call it a boom — and it was pretty immediately followed by a very noticeable shake."

Hanson said she went outside to investigate the noise, but couldn't find any obvious explanation.

Neither could McDougall, and so he turned to social media, and found many other residents in the area had experienced the same thing.

Theories ranged from a meteor hitting the earth, to the movement of tectonic plates causing an earthquake, to the lesser-known, lesser-understood phenomenon known as "skyquakes," McDougall said.

It's unclear whether a meteor caused the loud bang reported by residents. Neither were any earthquakes detected in the region on the day in question, said Michal Kolaj, a seismologist with Natural Resources Canada.

But around the same time residents in New Brunswick reported the noise, residents across the border in Maine phoned their local emergency services to report what sounded like an explosion.

Bridgewater Fire Chief Troy Bradstreet said at about 3:30 p.m. ET, his department received calls about an explosion in the area of 616 Main St. in Bridgewater, Me.

"And upon investigation, we discovered some young gentleman in a back gravel pit target practising with Tannerite," Bradstreet said.

"I don't know what the distance would be but there were some local residents in Bridgewater also who heard the explosion and felt the shock wave."