Lake Guns

For as long as the history of the Finger Lakes go back there has been a mystery surrounding the region, a great ominous boom like a cannon. Supposedly heard since before the arrival of first English settlers, the “Lake Guns” have been firing for years, but no one has properly been able to explain what causes the strange phenomenon.
For starters, though around Seneca there is a unique history surrounding the noises, it is not actually the only place that they are heard. All across the globe from India to Ireland, though especially in the Americas, there have been reports of loud booming noises in the middle of clear days throughout history. Though these noises have many regional names, Lake Guns are the name for them around Seneca, the usual name for these mystery noises is “Skyquakes.”
The peak of reports of these noises was seemingly around the time of the early European explorers of North America, with the famous Lewis and Clark expedition reporting strange cannon-like booms with no identifiable source. The explorers and early settlers told of hearing stories from Native American tribes, saying that the booms were the great spirt continuing to shape the earth, or the echo of thunder from a storm that took the life of a legendary chief. Though, there seems to be none or very few Native American sources speaking of these legends meaning they may have been the invention of the Europeans and not true Native American folklore.
Though there is no accepted source of the noises, several hypotheses have been put forward. The most common explanation for modern hearings seems to be sonic booms from above speed of sound aircraft.
A “sonic boom” is a shockwave caused by usually military aircraft passing the speed that sound travels. The phenomenon is caused by waves in the air created by the aircraft, like how a boat makes waves in water. The waves travel at the speed of sound, and as the aircraft gains more and more speed the waves condense creating a very large, very loud, explosion of air. Also of note is that around the time that aircrafts were first breaking the sound barrier there was an air force base on Seneca Lake.
While this explanation is likely for many modern cases, with some instances of skyquake phenomena around known military flight locations, it does have some problems. For instance many areas where these are reported don’t have a military presence, and no records of test flights. Of course, this also doesn’t at all explain reports before supersonic flight began.
Another common explanation, particularly around Seneca, is the buildup and escape of gas from the lake floor. As plants and animals die on the floor of the lake they begin to release gases that get compressed on the bottom of the lake.
As the gases build and build they eventually reach the point where they escape from the lake bottom and come to the surface of the lake as practically a big bubble. Growing as they rise to the surface and the environment becomes decompressed causing the booming noise as the gas escapes at the surface. There have even been reports of the bubbles nearly flipping over small boats on the lake, though it should be said these kinds of events have never been properly recorded.
There are many other less popular reasons people have put forth, small earthquakes not strong enough to affect the surface but still enough to be audible, and thunder traveling much further because of unexplained atmospheric conditions are two of the more believable ones.
The facts are, the facts are not really there on these events. People have been hearing them for centuries but the amount of research and writing on the subject is shockingly limited. Most people having never heard of them and those who have probably not having heard any of the explanations. The explanations they do have too, being little understood. So if you ever hear the strange sounds around the lake, consider that the sound may be something still unexplained and unexplored.