Artillery training to blame for loud booms in Edinburgh area

A series of loud booms rattled windows and startled residents in Edinburgh, Nineveh and other areas of southern Johnson County on Monday morning.

An artillery unit at nearby Camp Atterbury, a military installation in southern Johnson County, was shooting off howitzers, one of the largest pieces of artillery, Maj. Lisa Kopczynski said.

Residents may hear blasts from the artillery rounds through Thursday, when the training finishes, Kopczynski said.

Units training at Camp Atterbury occasionally fire artillery rounds as a part of their training, but the explosions were louder than normal Monday morning because of the low cloud cover, which amplifies the sound, Kopczynski said.

The blasts were so loud that Edinburgh police got a call. Normally, residents assume any loud noise is part of training at Camp Atterbury, interim police chief Dave Lutz said.