Washington DC area ‘explosion’ sound caused by military jet pursuing civilian plane: Department of Defense

A loud explosion sound heard in the Washington, D.C. metroplex area, and areas as far east as the Eastern Shore of Maryland, and west as Manassas, Virginia, was a military aircraft. 

The City of Annapolis Office of Emergency Management reported that the boom was in fact caused by an authorized DOD flight.

“The loud boom that was heard across the DMV area was caused by an authorized DOD flight,” the office said. “This flight caused a sonic boom. That is all the information available at this time.”

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Bowie, Maryland officials confirmed that the sonic boom heard was from a plane out of Joint Base Andrews.

The DOD did not immediately respond to inquiries from Fox News Digital about the incident.

Around the same time the military jet went supersonic, another plane crashed in the mountains of Virginia, leading to some to speculation of a connection.

Reuters reported that U.S. authorities scrambled jet fighters to pursue a light aircraft that entered restricted airspace over the U.S. Capitol area, that later crashed into the mountains in southwestern Virginia.

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According to the Federal Aviation Administration, a Cessna Citation that took off from Elizabethton, Tennessee, and bound for Islip, New York crashed in the sparsely populated town of Montebello, Virginia in around 3 p.m.

Congressional sources told Fox News the U.S. Capitol when into “AirCon” on Sunday as officials tracked the aircraft when it pierced the no-fly zone in the Capitol region.

Fox is told that security officials at the Capitol briefly flipped the alert posture from “Green” to “Yellow.” Blue” and “Red” are higher levels of alert, and when the latter is issued, the Capitol is evacuated.

Officials told Fox that the Capitol was at an elevated posture for a short time before determining the plane that entered restricted airspace was not a threat. In fact, officials also told Fox the Capitol was never in any danger.

Rumors began circulating on social media at about 3:15 p.m. on Sunday of a loud explosion heard across Washington, D.C.

One user posted, “Did anyone feel that explosion in #DC,” with another person responding, “All the way out in Prince George’s too,” referring to a nearby county in Maryland.

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Another Twitter user posted, “Did you feel what felt like an explosion! I’m thinking #sonicboom, but from what? I’m just South of Bowie. If you felt it, tell me where you did. Thank you.”

A user on the Eastern Shore in Queen Ann’s County, just across the Chesapeake Bay from Annapolis, reported the explosion.

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The hashtag #explosion trended on Twitter Sunday afternoon as reports of the sound poured in. 

“As explosion dissipated, I heard a plane heading over Chesapeake Bay. Estimated altitude 25,000 ft with contrails. No reports. Did anyone hear this,” the user asked. 

“I live on the Eastern Shore and it shook my house,” another user responded. “Thought there was an explosion somewhere. Scary.”