# Sonic Booms rock Western WA.



## Trebor (Aug 17, 2010)

I heard and felt this. this scared the hell out of me

Sonic booms rock Puget Sound-area | KING5.com | Seattle Area Local News


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## Aaron Brooks Wolters (Aug 17, 2010)

I can remember hearing them when I was little. I don't know what the big deal is about them. It would not bother me if the occurrence had not been outlawed. In which case people would be use to it. I don't know, maybe I'm wrong. Am I the only one who misses hearing them?


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## Trebor (Aug 17, 2010)

I've never heard a sonic boom IRL before so this scared me. I thought Mt. Rainier or Mt. St. Helens blew their tops

more detailed report Fighters scrambled after flight restriction violation during Obama visit; booms reported around region


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## evangilder (Aug 17, 2010)

I have heard a lot of them over the years. And sometimes we get an occasional hot shot Navy pilot who puts a little too much throttle into it at night. Woke me from a sound sleep a couple of weeks ago. If you haven't heard one before, they can be quite a shock. We got used to them during the heydays of the shuttle.


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## B-17engineer (Aug 17, 2010)

Jamming 911 phone lines....my dad says it annoys him when the power goes out and people call 911...


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## RabidAlien (Aug 17, 2010)

Sonic booms are cool. I still don't think they should be outlawed...if people don't want to hear airplane noises, then move away from the flight patterns!


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## Erich (Aug 18, 2010)

I remember tons of em in the 50=60's and on occassion we get them over southern Orygun.......no big deal at all. think those in the Seattle area re making a fuss ssnce the president was loitering there actually I think it was abit on the funny side

if had been a Cascade peak blowing you would of known it then you would of probably been dead within the hour living in the proximity of Seattle area


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## Matt308 (Aug 18, 2010)

Gents, I assure you that you would not want to hear sonic booms like the two that hit my house yesterday. They weren't a mild annoyance or something that would only wake you up from a deep sleep. These F-15s made a sonic boom whose signature was massive. Imagine what it might sound like if you dropped your 400lb refridgerator on your roof from about 10ft above the roof line. I'm am convinced the only reason I don't have cracks in my plaster or broken windows is sheer luck. Those guys must have been decently low and haulin' azz.


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## FLYBOYJ (Aug 18, 2010)

In the area close to Edwards AFB you could hear as may as 10 a day and as far south as Palmdale (35 miles).


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## fly boy (Aug 18, 2010)

I thought someone was bombing us.But then my friend told me they where f-15's


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## lqcorsa (Aug 21, 2010)

I was taking a nap. First one nearly knocked me out of bed! Sat up..

"What in the hell was th.." -KABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM- *Glass falls off window sill.*


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## skeeter (Aug 21, 2010)

The sound of freedom, ordinarily.


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## RabidAlien (Aug 21, 2010)

skeeter said:


> The sound of freedom, ordinarily.



 Well said.


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## Aaron Brooks Wolters (Aug 21, 2010)

RabidAlien said:


> Well said.



EXACTLY!!!!!!!


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## tyrodtom (Sep 9, 2010)

Back in the late 50s and early 60s when they was still teaching us " duck and cover" in school, a sonic boom could really mess up your day.
And in spite of what Mythbusters might have say, a sonic boom can break glass. I don't know if the USAF ever paid out claims for broken glass, but if they did you know they would be a lot of bogus claims for glass that was broken before one of their jets flew by too low, and too fast.
Even though I lived, (and still do) about 250 miles from the nearest TAC base, our secluded mountain valleys was a good practice area. When I was young you'd see low level jets about every week. After about 62-63 the sonic booms became pretty rare, because that's when they started flying low.


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## Matt308 (Sep 10, 2010)

I recall seeing a bio on the USAF Thunderbirds. At the time they were flying F-100 Super Sabres and were doing a demonstration at an airbase in South America (can't remember which one). The base commander asked them to break the sound barrier in a diving high speed run. They obliged noting that it would cause significant damage to proximate buildings. Nevertheless, they were asked to continue. The interviewing Thunderbird pilot noted that they broke out every window in the near vicinity. Mythbusters got that one wrong. As evidence check out this video of an F-111 doing a supersonic pass on a mountain observation station and the resultant damage that was "proven" to never occur. I can't find the full length version, but it includes filing cabinets thrown on the floor, huge cracks in the walls and ceiling, windows blown out, gutters on the roof torn off, etc.


_View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8124lhm6d7o_


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## tail end charlie (Sep 10, 2010)

Matt308 said:


> I recall seeing a bio on the USAF Thunderbirds. At the time they were flying F-100 Super Sabres and were doing a demonstration at an airbase in South America (can't remember which one). The base commander asked them to break the sound barrier in a diving high speed run. They obliged noting that it would cause significant damage to proximate buildings. Nevertheless, they were asked to continue. The interviewing Thunderbird pilot noted that they broke out every window in the near vicinity. Mythbusters got that one wrong. As evidence check out this video of an F-111 doing a supersonic pass on a mountain observation station and the resultant damage that was "proven" to never occur. I can't find the full length version, but it includes filing cabinets thrown on the floor, huge cracks in the walls and ceiling, windows blown out, gutters on the roof torn off, etc.
> 
> 
> _View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8124lhm6d7o_





Didnt the Israelis use sonic booms to smash windows as a means of harrassment back in the 60s or 70s?


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## RabidAlien (Sep 15, 2010)

Sometimes Mythbusters doesn't take into account the materials used at the time. Glass windows back in the 60's weren't all double-pane laminated safety glass, were they? I remember watching an episode they did where they disproved that Carlos Hathcock could have ever made his through-the-scope shot. They used modern scopes to shoot through, with multiple layers of optics, and a rifle similar to the one Whitefeather was shooting with. The bullet went about halfway through the scope before it was deflected out through the housing. So they called it "busted". The scope the VC sniper had only had two lenses, front and rear. Another show I saw on History Channel about snipers also did a test to recreate the shot....they did better research, and targeted a modern scope that only had two optic elements. They did three or four shots to make sure it wasn't a fluke, and every one nailed the target's eyeball through the scope.


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## jhuckle (Sep 15, 2010)

I was recording an F-86 a few weeks ago and managed to stand in the standing wave/wake (or whatever its called) as it went overhead. The sensation was the most disconcerting thing I have ever heard - a bit like hearing in normal binaural then switching to surround sound 3 or 4 seconds later - it made you want to shake your head to get rid of it, which didnt work (needless to say). Sadly the sound I recorded didnt have the same effect.

If any wants to listen, the recordings are here


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## Njaco (Sep 15, 2010)

James I really have to check your site out. Looks cool!

and did we just have a flyboy sighting?

A agree Matt on that F-111 boom. I was at an airshow a few years ago that have a flyby of one about 1000 ft and, my lord, disintegrated the wax in the ears!


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## Matt308 (Sep 15, 2010)

tail end charlie said:


> Didnt the Israelis use sonic booms to smash windows as a means of harrassment back in the 60s or 70s?




Likely. I can tell you that we (US) did use SR-71s to fly over Nicaraqua to use their sonic booms to scare the current regime in the 1980s. It apparently put them on high alert because of the significant number of reports coming in of "an invasion with bombs and explosions".


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## drgondog (Sep 15, 2010)

I guarantee that low altitude sonic booms broke window panes. When I was 6-8, we lived on the base at Eglin - when the F-100 and the early 101/102's were going through the Air Proving Ground.

Later when dad went to Air War College, Command and Staff and Pentagon we lived off base and it took me a long time to adapt to quiet night sleeping.


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