What was that? Two loud booms in Suffolk prompt 911 calls, police say

Perhaps Joseph Polizzi, a homeowner in Lake Grove, can shed some light on the two loud booms that Suffolk County police said led to "numerous calls" and a search by ground and air early Monday.

Polizzi said he heard the first boom, thinking it could have been a nearby home exploding.

Heading outside to check, he said, a few minutes later Polizzi "saw a projectile go into the air" where it exploded, "with no colors, no nothing." The scenario, he said, "was characteristic of a firework shooting up in sky" and would have been around an eighth of a mile from his home.

His impression then shifted to the possibility of someone setting off fireworks to mark some celebration at the start of a new day, said Polizzi, 39, who works in banking.

In response to calls at about 12:05 a.m. Monday reporting loud booms in the area of Lake Grove and Lake Ronkonkoma, patrol cars and two helicopters from the aviation unit were dispatched, police said.

"We received numerous calls of two loud booms and when we went out, we found absolutely nothing," a department spokeswoman said.

Powerful fireworks were one of several possible sources for the noise suggested by Sue Rose of East Meadow, president of the Amateur Observers' Society of New York. Others included military aircraft or an astronomical event.