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Mysterious Explosion Rattles North Hollywood Last Night
Photo by Jezper via Shutterstock
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At around 9:30 Tuesday night, something went "BOOM!" in North Hollywood, and this morning there is still no explanation for the mysterious explosion.
People in the area took to Twitter to share their experiences, fears, and theories about what they'd just heard, but even over an hour after the explosion was heard, no one, including the authorities, could offer an explanation.
LAFD, LAPD say tell me they have received no emergency reports from North Hollywood, where some people heard "sonic boom." #nightblog
— robert lopez (@LAJourno) January 9, 2013
The boom was followed minutes later by sirens, and a helicopter circled overhead the area in and around the NoHo Arts District, perhaps spurred by rumors something had happened at the Metro Red Line Station.
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People on twitter saying the explosion was at the North Hollywood Metro station. Waiting to hear more.
— Eric M. Miller (@ericmiller3) January 9, 2013
It was soon confirmed there was nothing wrong at the North Hollywood Red Line Station, and then a rumor circulated that the "explosion" was caused by Mylar balloons becoming entangled in a power line. Alas, that rumor was soon debunked; it had been perpetrated by a web user who'd found a January 3, 2011 news article about such an incident causing an explosion in North Hollywood.
Someone reported seeing smoke in the sky:
Um can someone in north hollywood please look at the sky and tell me if you see the big line of something. Smoke? Am I tripping?
— Becca Nunez (@becaboowho) January 9, 2013
The suggested explanations veered towards the imaginative, as did the numerous replies on a Reddit thread on the subject:
The extra-terrestrial invasion of North Hollywood has begun!! Welcome back to earth, little alien dudes.
— Don Creonelius (@SeventhWard) January 9, 2013
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It took just over an hour for the item to appear on the City News Service wire, who posted at 10:35 p.m.: "Police have received numerous reports of an explosion in North Hollywood but have not determined the source of the blast, which was first reported around 9:30 p.m., says a desk officer at the Los Angeles Police Department's North Hollywood Station."
L.A. Now got about the same "we don't know" reply from the LAPD in NoHo: "An officer at the Los Angeles Police Department's North Hollywood station said police searched the area for a half an hour Tuesday night but had no luck in determining what caused the sound," they reported.
Our readers (and I) heard it, too, but despite our best efforts, I couldn't get an explanation, either.
@kitson been trying to find out since it happened w/out success. mystery. i (@squashblossom) heard it, too.
— LAist (@LAist) January 9, 2013
As of this morning, North Hollywood-area residents remain stumped by the strange singular blast that had the whole neighborhood rattled Tuesday night.
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