[meteorite-list] Sonic Boom Rocks Delaware

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:32:44 2004
Message-ID: <200403011825.KAA20063_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.delmarvanow.com/news/stories/20040221/localnews/451285.html

Sonic boom rocks eastern Sussex

Blast prompts 911 calls; Air Force officials say they were unaware
of noise or problems

By Chip Guy
Gannett News Service
February 21, 2004

GEORGETOWN -- A sharp boom rocked eastern Sussex County on Friday
afternoon, jostling homes and prompting some people to call 911.

Emergency officials said they weren't sure what caused the noise
around 3:15 p.m., which was felt and heard from Fenwick Island to
Angola. Some residents speculated that it was a military jet
breaking the sound barrier, causing what is known as a sonic boom.

Paul Smith, who lives in the Pot-Nets Bayside community in Long Neck,
said whatever it was, it was sharp and short. It didn't feel like
an explosion or an earthquake.

"It was just, 'Boom,' " Smith said.

Just down the street, James Snyder also was rattled by the noise,
and left wondering what happened.

"We live in a manufactured home community, and I thought maybe a
house being delivered fell off a truck," Snyder said. "It didn't
actually shake any dishes or glasses, but ... it had that
concussion feel to it."

At least two people called the county 911 center, said Debbie
Jones, a spokeswoman at that facility. Jones said police and other
emergency workers were notified of the noise. A quick check was
made in the area but turned up nothing.

A spokesman for Dover Air Force Base said no one there was aware
of the noise, or any problems. Officials at the Patuxent River
Naval Air Station in southern Maryland said they didn't know if
any planes from their facility were in the area when the noise
occurred.

A variety of military aircraft ranging from C-130 transports to
F-18 jets fly from that air station. Some fly over southern
Delaware to conduct tests off the coast.

"We have airplanes flying today, but I don't know what's going on,"
spokesman John Romer said.

Romer suggested anyone who heard the noise to contact the Patuxent
River Naval Air Station hot line at 1-866-819-9028. Callers should
report what they heard, when they heard it and the location.

Romer said military officials next week would check flight logs to
see if any aircraft were in the area at the time, and whether any
might have been responsible for the noise.
Received on Mon 01 Mar 2004 01:25:27 PM PST