Civil War-era cannonball, other explosives detonated at the Joint Base [video]

    Fire in the hole! 

    An explosives team detonated a Civil War-era cannonball yesterday afternoon at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, resulting in a boom that was heard and felt in portions of Ocean County.

    In addition to the 12-pound cannonball, the 87th Explosive Ordnance Disposal team detonated a mortar and small hand grenades that were all found in Bergen County, NJ.com reported. 

    A military spokesperson posted on the base’s Facebook page that the overcast conditions could result in the sound traveling farther or seeming louder. 

    • WHYY thanks our sponsors — become a WHYY sponsor

    That was confirmed by social media comments.

    “Heard that thing go off. I think it scared every goose in Ocean County cause they all headed east over my house very quickly afterwards,” Tim McCarthy wrote on the base’s Facebook page. 

    WHYY is your source for fact-based, in-depth journalism and information. As a nonprofit organization, we rely on financial support from readers like you. Please give today.

    Want a digest of WHYY’s programs, events & stories? Sign up for our weekly newsletter.

    Together we can reach 100% of WHYY’s fiscal year goal