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Пятхъдесят Шест · 06.21.2007, 01:11 PM

Odd and loud occurrence happened in these parts yesterday:

Officials say sonic boom was made by an F-16
BY JON NYATAWA
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

It was just before 11 a.m. Wednesday when a Bellevue police captain heard the boom.

Herb Evers was in the city's fleet maintenance facility, talking to a mechanic.

"The windows in the garage doors rattled," Evers said. "It was like you could feel the concussion."

He thought a plane had exploded and called the base police at Offutt Air Force Base. The person who answered the phone said, "Yeah, I know. We heard it, too."

They weren't alone.

People heard the boom from Cunningham Lake on Omaha's northern edge to Cass County, from La Vista to the west end of Council Bluffs.

Sarpy County emergency dispatchers fielded about 100 calls, while Douglas County dispatchers were just as busy. OPPD also received a number of calls.

Officials ruled out several possibilities: fire, explosion, earthquake, meteorite.

So what caused metro-area residents to momentarily question their safety around 11 a.m. Wednesday?

An F-16 exceeding the speed of sound, an event known as a sonic boom.

The fighter plane, which can fly at twice the speed of sound, took off from McEntire Joint National Guard Base in Eastover, S.C., and was flying over the central United States, said Lt. Col. Les Carroll, a McEntire base spokesman.

Offutt has no planes that can make a sonic boom.

Carroll said planes aren't legally allowed to fly fast enough to create a sonic boom over U.S. land, except over some remote areas. They do conduct training missions over the ocean, where speed isn't restricted the same way.

"It's rare," he said. "I'm sure . . . they didn't intend to do it."

Carroll did not identify the plane's destination, but said it was scheduled for a paint job.

The lower the aircraft is traveling, the louder a sonic boom would sound, said Ken Plotkin, chief scientist at Wyle Laboratories in Virginia.

He said sonic booms aren't dangerous, but they can be startling to unsuspecting people and damaging to fragile objects, such as glass.

06.21.2007, 01:11 PM	#1864
Пятхъдесят Шест invito al cielo Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Omaha, Nebraska, USA Posts: 3,063	Odd and loud occurrence happened in these parts yesterday: Officials say sonic boom was made by an F-16 BY JON NYATAWA WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER It was just before 11 a.m. Wednesday when a Bellevue police captain heard the boom. Herb Evers was in the city's fleet maintenance facility, talking to a mechanic. "The windows in the garage doors rattled," Evers said. "It was like you could feel the concussion." He thought a plane had exploded and called the base police at Offutt Air Force Base. The person who answered the phone said, "Yeah, I know. We heard it, too." They weren't alone. People heard the boom from Cunningham Lake on Omaha's northern edge to Cass County, from La Vista to the west end of Council Bluffs. Sarpy County emergency dispatchers fielded about 100 calls, while Douglas County dispatchers were just as busy. OPPD also received a number of calls. Officials ruled out several possibilities: fire, explosion, earthquake, meteorite. So what caused metro-area residents to momentarily question their safety around 11 a.m. Wednesday? An F-16 exceeding the speed of sound, an event known as a sonic boom. The fighter plane, which can fly at twice the speed of sound, took off from McEntire Joint National Guard Base in Eastover, S.C., and was flying over the central United States, said Lt. Col. Les Carroll, a McEntire base spokesman. Offutt has no planes that can make a sonic boom. Carroll said planes aren't legally allowed to fly fast enough to create a sonic boom over U.S. land, except over some remote areas. They do conduct training missions over the ocean, where speed isn't restricted the same way. "It's rare," he said. "I'm sure . . . they didn't intend to do it." Carroll did not identify the plane's destination, but said it was scheduled for a paint job. The lower the aircraft is traveling, the louder a sonic boom would sound, said Ken Plotkin, chief scientist at Wyle Laboratories in Virginia. He said sonic booms aren't dangerous, but they can be startling to unsuspecting people and damaging to fragile objects, such as glass.
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