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  #1  
Old Posted May 8, 2023, 5:43 PM
jmecklenborg jmecklenborg is offline
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Sonic Booms - have you heard one in a city?

This article recalls the era of frequent sonic booms over American cities:
https://www.cincinnatimagazine.com/a...er-cincinnati/

I heard two as a kid. I remember sitting in class one day and suddenly it felt like the building had shattered. We all looked around at each other wondering if we were still alive. It was much, much louder than thunder.

The second one occurred about a year later just as I was stepping off the school bus. At the instant my foot touched the surface of the street, the whole world exploded. That second incident really illustrated the danger of the booms - if someone was working on a ladder or handing something to someone at the moment the boom hit, there is a good chance that they'd fall or drop something.

I also experienced an incident where I was nearly struck by lightning while mowing grass in the rain. The bolt hit about 100 feet from me, and obviously was very startling, but in my estimation the booms were even louder.
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  #2  
Old Posted May 8, 2023, 7:32 PM
Prahaboheme Prahaboheme is offline
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Sonic booms were a frequent occurrence during the Shuttle program years in Central Florida, when shuttles were returning to Earth and entering the atmosphere.

If you weren’t expecting it, it could knock you out of bed!
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  #3  
Old Posted May 8, 2023, 9:48 PM
galleyfox galleyfox is offline
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Yep, Space shuttle.
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  #4  
Old Posted May 8, 2023, 10:09 PM
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LosAngelesSportsFan LosAngelesSportsFan is offline
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Used to hear then fairly often in the LA area when shuttles would take off
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  #5  
Old Posted May 9, 2023, 1:53 PM
jmecklenborg jmecklenborg is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by galleyfox View Post
Yep, Space shuttle.
Per this NASA document, the Space Shuttle and Concorde produced more dramatic sonic booms than fighter jets due to their size:https://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/...S-016-DFRC.pdf

But I'm also seeing that the Space Shuttle's landing paths varied wildly from one mission to the next. I was under the impression that they landed going something close to due east (especially since The Columbia broke up over Texas) and had to align with the runway many thousands of miles away. It turns out that the Texas approach only happened during "low inclination" missions, and that the shuttles as often approached Florida from sharp angles and performed pretty dramatic turns close to the landing sites:
https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/167415main_LandingatKSC-08.pdf

This document also describes the booms, but is dismissive of their impact. Perhaps the boom isn't particularly noticeable while the shuttle is still gliding at high altitude. I can attest that the fighter jet booms I heard as a kid were absolutely epic.

Elsewhere, it has been proven that sonic booms disturb the homing ability of homing pigeons. The Concorde was responsible for the loss of many pigeons during cross-channel homing pigeon races. It even affected homing pigeon experiments in the United States hundreds of miles from New York City, as it was discovered that the pigeons can hear the ultra-low sound waves that travel much farther than what the human ear can detect.

Last edited by jmecklenborg; May 9, 2023 at 2:09 PM.
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  #6  
Old Posted Jun 5, 2023, 1:14 AM
jmecklenborg jmecklenborg is offline
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The U.S. Air Force scrambled fighter jets over Washington, DC today. The sonic boom motivated tons of 911 calls:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBnRwLBUe6c

I don't think that any of the videos really capture the scope of the sound.
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  #7  
Old Posted Jun 5, 2023, 1:17 AM
jmecklenborg jmecklenborg is offline
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  #8  
Old Posted Jun 5, 2023, 3:31 AM
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A good video for the subject, and it's transit related since they are on a boat .
Video Link
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  #9  
Old Posted Jun 5, 2023, 4:35 AM
mrnyc mrnyc is offline
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you can still hear occassional sonic booms from wright patterson afb.

they did one at a dayton dragons 4th of july game we went to via a blackbird.

as for targets, check this modern china target weirdness out in the gobi desert:

https://www.livescience.com/17052-my...ts-expert.html

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