Thousands of people in the metro heard the "big bang" Wednesday morning. The mystery noise happened around 11 o'clock. It was apparently a sonic boom.

People reported hearing the "bang" for miles around the Omaha area and many called law enforcement agencies looking for answers about what caused the mystery "boom."

Lt. Col. Les Carroll, with the McEntire Joint National Guard base in South Carolina, addressed the issue Wednesday night with the following comment.

"The sonic boom was made by an F-16 from the South Carolina Air National Guard. It was traveling from Louisiana to Sioux City. The aircraft was at 43,000 feet when it caused the sonic boom. The pilot flew very high to avoid severe weather and was on his descent into Sioux City. There was never any danger to people on the ground. The South Carolina ANG one of the longest-standing safety records of any USAF unit, more than 110,000 accident free hours including 2500 combat sorties in Desert Storm, Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. The pilot was an experienced aviator and the sonic boom was accidental. We apologize to the people of Omaha for the anxiety this caused."