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Sonic boom rattles some on East Coast

 

ASBURY PARK, N.J. — Did you feel that?

People from Ocean City to Long Island are wondering what caused a series of rumblings that started at about 1:30 p.m. ET Thursday.

 

ASBURY PARK, N.J. — Did you feel that?

People from Ocean City to Long Island are wondering what caused a series of rumblings that started at about 1:30 p.m. ET Thursday.

Shortly after 3 p.m., the U.S. Geological Survey offered its conclusion: Sonic booms originating about 2 miles northeast of Hammonton, N.J.

"At least 9 sonic booms were recorded in the following hour and a half," according to the USGS's event summary.

Scientists at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University concurred, telling the Asbury Park Press that there were no "obvious seismic signals."

"So far, it appears to be like a sonic boom from an airplane," Won-Young Kim said in a statement.

 

A sonic boom occurs when a plane or flying object exceeds the speed of sound. The object displaces air molecules with such force, that a booming shock wave results, according to NASA.

A spokesman for Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst said the sound was not related to any military activities there. Base officials are working with local authorities to figure out what's going on.

Shaking resulting from a sonic boom is not considered an earthquake, according to a USGS spokeswoman.

There's been so many reports that the Ocean County Sheriff's Office issued an alert to say they have "no reports of military training or an earthquake."

Jim Farmer, a homeowner in Bayville, said his "whole house shook back and forth quickly" for about five seconds. Five minutes later, it happened again, and a third time just after 2 p.m.

"It was bizarre and alerting for sure," he told the Press. "I'm used to feeling the explosions from military testing at the (Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst), but these were profoundly different as they carried on and were rattling everything for a period of time."

As of 2:30, Farmer said he had felt the rattling on seven distinct occasions since it started an hour earlier. Other people on social media are reporting similar frequencies.

 

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