Gasconade County law enforcement officials believe a “sonic boom” from an aircraft was responsible for an extremely loud explosion heard Friday evening across the southern portion of the county.

Major Paul Owensby said several of the department’s deputies speculated that as the cause absent any other reports of damage or injuries from any other blast source. “Everybody familiar with it thinks sonic boom,” said Owensby, chief deputy for the county. “The area it was reported is such separated parts of the county and area.”

Owensby said reports of a loud blast were heard 50 to 60 miles away.

Owensville Fire Department, city police and county deputies responded to the Orscheln Farm and Home Supply store on the west end of Owensville for a report of an alarm sounding. Store personnel said windows rattled but no broken glass was reported as the scene.

Gasconade County’s E-911 dispatching center received eight calls about the event described as a loud explosion which rattled windows and home in Owensville. Owensville police had received no reports of damages.

Lisa Schlottach, manager of the center, said the first call was reported at 9:32 p.m. from a residence on West Jackson. Within minutes, similar calls were received including 9:34 p.m. from a resident on Fairview and Second and the alarm going off at Orscheln’s, 9:39 from resident on Route EE, 9:40 from a resident on Farris Road, another call from the Owensville area at 9:43 and one at 9:48 from an “unknown location.”

The final call came at 9:51 from a residence in Bland. A deputy on scene at Orscheln received a cellular phone call shortly before 10 p.m. from a fellow deputy residing in Bland who also reported a loud explosion.

At 9:55 p.m., dispatch center personnel called Whiteman Air Force Base at Knob Noster, Mo., to see if they could confirm the presence of aircraft overhead. According to Schlottach, USAF personnel “said that there has not been any airborne aircraft since 6 p.m.”

At 10:05, dispatch personnel called Scott Air Force Base in southern, Ill., and were told “that there were no airborne aircraft in our area. They all said it was nothing,” added Schlottach.