Local ·
‘What Was That Explosion?’ Gets Asked for the 143rd Monday in a Row
Apparently forgetting that Camp Peary is still doing Camp Peary things, locals turn to social media every Monday at 11:00 AM to ask the same question.
WILLIAMSBURG, VA. Residents were once again startled Monday to discover that living near a CIA training facility occasionally sounds like living near a CIA training facility. Within minutes of the first boom, local Facebook groups filled with questions from people whose knowledge of the area includes which Harris Teeter has the better produce but somehow excludes Camp Peary. Length of residency appeared to offer little protection. Some commenters had moved here last month. Others had been asking about the noise since their children attended schools that have since been renamed.
Most responses were patient. Neighbors explained that Camp Peary conducts training, that the noise carries, and that this comes up regularly. Others simply typed “Camp Peary.” Several longtime members had reduced their response to “CP,” having spent years gradually removing letters from an answer they expect to keep providing until they die. Nobody asking the question appeared to have considered Google, which would have deprived the community of another opportunity to establish that there are government facilities nearby.
The explanation satisfied most people until someone announced that this one had sounded “different.” A routine noise question then became an intelligence briefing led by a person whose reliable source could not be named but apparently had clearance to discuss national security preparations with them at Starbucks. “I’m just saying, my source says there’s a reason they’ve stepped things up,” wrote one resident, supplying neither a reason nor evidence that anything had been stepped up. Whether these commenters believed their own accounts or simply enjoyed making six retirees check the locks remained unclear.
By early afternoon, the thread had split between neighbors explaining ordinary training noise and residents interpreting those explanations as proof that something was being covered up. A moderator eventually closed comments after someone introduced an unrelated helicopter sighting and Barbara asked which restaurant in town has the best tomato basil soup, thinking she was in a different thread altogether. The matter was considered settled until next Monday, when a homeowner of 23 years is expected to ask whether anyone else heard that explosion.