[meteorite-list] Sonic Boom Shakes Utah

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:27:47 2004
Message-ID: <200311131756.JAA23284_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://tv.ksl.com/index.php?nid=5&sid=57203

Sonic Boom Shakes Utahns
John Hollenhorst
KSL 5 TV
November 6, 2003

People all over Northern Utah heard or felt a big noise and a big shake
last night around 9:00. Today the Air Force fessed up; it was caused by
one of their pilots who made a slight mistake.

The mysterious noise shook people out of their complacency all over the
Salt Lake Valley and far beyond. They even felt it in Davis County.

Marc Earnhardt, Layton: "Some shaking of the windows. The house actually
shook, and a couple of loud booms, I believe at least two."

Eva Jensen felt it in West Jordan.

Eva Jensen, West Jordan: "Everything started jiggling. And my husband was
next to me and we glanced at each other and said, 'Could that be an
earthquake?' "

Well, it wasn't. It was a sonic boom from an F-16. Six F-16's were
practicing combat maneuvers west of the Great Salt Lake.

Lt. Col Alfred Hawley, Hill Air Force Base: ?All six of those airplanes
actually went supersonic last night, which is normal during intercept
training."

In that area, planes flying faster than the speed of sound are supposed
to stay above 30,000 feet.

Lt. Col Alfred Hawley, Hill Air Force Base: "And in fact we had one pilot
who was below 30,000 feet and went supersonic. But barely supersonic."

Ordinarily it?s no big deal, but atmospheric conditions caused the sonic
boom shock wave to travel 50 to 100 miles, an extremely unusual event.

Lt. Col Alfred Hawley, Hill Air Force Base: "The sonic boom can get
trapped between the ground and the clouds and travel further."

The Air Force says the pilot wasn't hot-dogging or showing off. He was
just doing normal training and made a little mistake.

Lt. Col Alfred Hawley, Hill Air Force Base: "But there will be corrective
action taken to prevent it from happening again."

The sonic boom may have gotten an additional boost from cold air, which
boosts jet performance and makes shock waves travel further. No damages
from the sonic boom have been reported.
Received on Thu 13 Nov 2003 12:56:33 PM PST