STORIES OF THE YEAR No 2: Mystery booms across Southern Arizona

Source: Luke Air Force Base
Source: Luke Air Force Base
Updated: Dec. 30, 2017 at 7:32 PM MST
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PIMA COUNTY, AZ (Tucson News Now) - As the year comes to an end, we continue to count down the important local stories of the year.

The mystery booms across southern Arizona didn't attract the most clicks of the year on TucsonNewsNow.com, but they certainly generated more phone calls, emails and social media messages to the news room than any other story in 2017.

From Marana down to Nogales and Sells over to Sierra Vista, everyone seemed to have an interest in the booms.

The story originally appeared the week after Thanksgiving.

After asking around to various businesses, military installations and the University of Arizona, we found somewhat of an answer from Luke Air Force Base.

A statement from the base said leadership there could not confirm or deny that training at the Barry M. Goldwater Range was the cause of the booms.

"The areas around Luke and the BMGR may experience more noise than usual as a result of the increased air activity and types of aircraft involved," the base said in a news release. "Aircrafts involved will include F-16 Fighting Falcon, F-15E Strike Eagle and Heron 1UAS. There will be an increased military presence with military movements along Highway 85 south of Gila Bend as military position themselves within the Barry M. Goldwater range.".

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