“Lake guns” have been around for hundreds of years and we still haven’t figured out what causes them.
These are booming noises heard over bodies of water. In 1850 James Fenimore Cooper wrote a story, “The Lake Gun,” about the mysterious boomings heard over Seneca Lake in upstate New York. But the lake guns are known from all over the world, under a variety of names.
Among the causes proposed are mini-earthquakes, sonic booms, methane gas, ghosts, UFOs, meteorites… and none of them stands up to investigation. The simple fact is, nobody knows what causes lake guns.
My wife and I used to hear them occasionally, over Barnegat Bay. The water always seemed to be unusually calm when the lake guns spoke. Elsewhere, they can be loud enough to move alarmed residents to call police.
We don’t know what they are. They’re cool, they’re a little bit scary, and we don’t know what makes them go boom.
Unraveling all the mysteries of God’s physical creation is a task that will keep us occupied for as long as human beings are on earth. We don’t know–apart from what the Bible teaches us–how non-living matter can acquire life. We don’t know how many species of insects there are.
But we do know that Jesus Christ is Lord–Lord over all we know, and Lord over all we don’t know. As we inquire into the mysteries of creation, let us remember whose creation it is.
This is a fascinating subject. We probably will not know to a certainty until God reveals it.
We’re about two hours drive to the Finger Lakes, of which Seneca Lake is one, and I’ve never heard of this mysterious sound. Puzzling and very interesting indeed.
It doesn’t happen every day. We used to hear lake guns, occasionally, on Barnegat Bay. Took us a while to find out what they were.
I had never heard of them, but my wife has. I’ve spent much time at lakes for recreation and have never heard a boom or anyone who has heard a boom. I feel left out 🙁
Go often enough and you’re bound to hear it–although it must be said that this phenomenon doesn’t occur at all bodies of water. Which makes it just a little more puzzling.