Man claims his ‘hail cannon’ is responsible for loud booms in N.J. town, report says

The mystery of what was shaking homes in Mullica Township has apparently been solved.

A resident and vineyard owner from nearby Hammonston, Rob Butkowski, told the New York Post that the booms were coming from his homemade “hail cannon” which he has used to break up cloud formations and scare away birds that eat his grapes.

“It sounds like a jet going by,” Butkowski said in the report. “It’s like the loudest thing you’ve ever heard just blew through your chest — it’s amazing.”

Butwokski told the outlet that the shockwaves created by his contraption, which he cobbled together using scrap metal from street signs and other objects and a mixture of acetylene and oxygen in a propane tank, travel 30,000 feet in a 1.5 mile radius above his property.

Hammonton Chief of Police Kevin Friel confirmed to the Post that Butkowski was the culprit of the booming sounds and that the device is legal and there are no plans to stop him.

“It doesn’t fire projectiles, and it’s not a firearm or an explosive,” Friel told the Post. “It uses gas — and that’s it.”

However, Mullica Township Police Chief Brian Zeck said in the report that the boom may be coming from multiple sources and that police were looking into “all other possibilities.”

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Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com.

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