Yesterday , thousands of residents across New Jersey , New York , Maryland and Connecticut describe bizarre growl   sensations , despite no   earthquake activity being   report .   Cue   the " X - Files " theme tune .

At 1:24 p.m. EST   in the good afternoon of January 28 , the first tremors were memorialize   northeast of Hammonton , New Jersey . In the next time of day and a one-half , nine more were recorded as far up the east sea-coast as Long Island , New York ,   according to the U.S. Geological Survey ( USGS ) .

The event was ab initio thought to be   an earthquake , propel thou of tweet and 911 calls to report they were feeling earthquake microseism .

Unconfirmed reports of an earthquake in NYC / NJ field . No temblor activity identify by US Geological Survey . No reports of damage .

— NYCEM - Notify NYC ( @NotifyNYC)January 28 , 2016

However , after no earthquake action or destruction was cover ,   scientist initiate to think the palpitation picked up on their seismometers could have actually been from a sonic godsend . These occur when an physical object or explosion   travel faster than the speed of sound ;   that ’s over 1,225 kilometers per 60 minutes ( 761.2 miles per hour ) at ocean - storey aviation .

Then came the issue of see out what caused the sonic boom . Gizmodoreports that even the USGS did n’t know what had stimulate it at first , responding   to an inquiry with the affirmation : “ We do n’t know what for certain . ”

It’sillegal for civilian aircraftto break the   “ sound barrier ” in the United States under regulations from the Federal Aviation Administration ( FAA ) , so head turned towards the armed services . Yet , ABC Newsreported that three of the major military atmosphere bases and organizations on the east coast , McGuire Air Force Base , U.S. Federal Aviation Administration , and North American Aerospace Defense Command , all deny essay any supersonic aircraft that twenty-four hour period .

After a few hours of disoriented panic , the U.S. Navy confirm it was them all along . NBC News reported that the Navy had confirm they were carrying out tests on a supersonic F-35C champion jet over the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday afternoon .

The Navy has confirmed testing of ultrasonic aircraft offshore from where sonic booms and judder were reported .

— USGS ( @USGS)January 28 , 2016