Loud booms heard in Chattanooga are apparently explosive demos

The world isn't ending.

Loud "booming noises" today is just the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives doing explosive demos for the U.S. Attorney's Office, Chattanooga and East Ridge police say.

The demos are being carried out at the shooting range on Moccasin bend, East Ridge acting police Chief Stan Allen said.

Contrary to earlier reports about blasting going on at the Chickamauga Lock, a spokesman for the Army Corps of Engineers told the Times Free Press that blasting had been finished for about a month.

Engineers are dumping rocks into barges at the Lock, though, and that could be what people are hearing.

Numerous people near the East Ridge area reported hearing "booming noises" Thursday afternoon. And several calls reporting an explosion lit up the Hamilton County 911 website.

In a private Facebook group, one person said she heard three booms within the last hour, and others reported their children were becoming scared.

Upcoming Events