The Booms That Baffle Neighbors

New York (United States):
Washington Manor residents started to wonder what was causing those loud bangs during the last month.
The booms occurred during the day from time to time, coming from somewhere in the industrial area.
“It sounds like a shotgun going off,” said one caller to the San Leandro Times.
It turned out that the booms were coming from the L-3 Titan Corporation on Merced Street, which is a government contractor. The company had a permit from the city to do the testing through Aug. 31, so yesterday was the last day.
Titan does research and development, including simulating lightning strikes on aircraft and making x-ray machines to test electronic equipment. Titan sent a letter out to the surrounding businesses before the testing started so people wouldn’t be alarmed.
Titan issued a written statement to the San Leandro Times that said they were experimenting with an “acoustic cannon” and one possible use was “crowd control.” The statement was signed, “Senior Management.”
The statement said the loud reports would be similar to a cherry bomb or loud firecracker. But the bangs from the Titan property were slightly louder than that, according to a Times reporter who conducted numerous experiments with cherry bombs and loud firecrackers as a 14-year-old.
The noise was loud enough to carry to the neighborhoods of Washington Manor, which apparently didn’t get a notice from the company.
Some of the nearby companies weren’t aware of the testing, either.
The warehouse manager of a nearby distribution company said he was a little alarmed when he heard a boom.
-Jim Knowles
sept 02, 2005