Last year in mid-June, I was lying awake, listening to the sounds of what was shaping up to be a warm but spooky night. My fiancé was out of town and I was home alone. A storm was coming in, and it was blowing my door to and fro, the Venetian blinds flapping in the window. Suddenly I heard a loud explosion, followed by what sounded like an armada of police cars. The booming sounds and the police sirens continued for several minutes. That was my first exposure to the mysterious South Minneapolis explosions that have been waking residents in the middle of the night since about 2007. Last year, there were reports in the media about the sound, most of which seem to come from the river bluffs. About half of them turned out to be exploding electrical transformers and teenagers lighting fireworks. The others remain unexplained. And apparently these “mystery booms” have been taking place in other cities as well…enough for them to warrant their own website.
The sounds have been dormant since February. Then, last Sunday night, I heard another one—again coming from the river. If they continue throughout this summer the way they did last year, I’ll be doing some investigation of my own to see what I find…