Wisconsin Town Pays to Find Cause of Weird Booms

About 400 concerned and somewhat sleep-deprived residents of Clintonville, Wisconsin, showed up at a town meeting last night to discuss the mystery booms that have rattled the town three times this week. If they wanted answers, they both did and didn't get them. In the didn't category: Officials haven't attempted to record the noise ... and haven't been able to. In the did category: The town has paid $7,000 to an engineering firm that will install four seismometers around town in a bid to find the booms' epicenter, reports the Post-Crescent.

If the epicenter is located, the city of 4,600 will then try to determine the depth and cause of the activity, which the city administrator says is believed to be just a few hundred feet below ground. But, she cautioned, "It's possible we'll never have a definitive answer." The town has thus far ruled out a long list of potential causes. (More Wisconsin stories.)