Sonic Booms or Explosions?

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Sonic Booms or Explosions?

Postby blackturtle.us » Thu Dec 13, 2018 2:50 pm

Were the sounds heard Wednesday evening around and after 5:30 p.m. sonic booms or explosions? People who were in Ridgecrest at the time say they did not hear them, but people in Trona did hear them. People in the high school gymnasium said that a couple shook the gym really hard. One shook my house pretty good and I felt the shock wave caused by another while I was outside. Most people agree that there were about eight booms in all. Any other theories?
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Re: Sonic Booms or Explosions?

Postby surfsteve » Thu Dec 13, 2018 6:58 pm

I was in Ridgecrest at the time but I heard about this. Thanks for posting. I hope we get some answers.
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Re: Sonic Booms or Explosions?

Postby ergot » Thu Dec 13, 2018 7:34 pm

I heard them and if they were sonic booms, then they were made by invisible and silent jets.
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Re: Sonic Booms or Explosions?

Postby mrgreen » Thu Dec 13, 2018 9:10 pm

Supersonic booms possible Jan. 15 and 16
It appears that normally the military base makes a public announcement warning the public before they allow pilots to exceed the sound barrier. This is from a few years ago.
CHINA LAKE - Range activities will result in supersonic flights over the Panamint area crossing the Trona Gap the mornings of Thursday and Friday, Jan. 15 and 16.

http://www.news-ridgecrest.com/news/story.pl?id=0000003367
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Re: Sonic Booms or Explosions?

Postby mrgreen » Thu Dec 13, 2018 9:12 pm

Sonic booms possible Feb. 26 and 27
Here's another example of a courtesy announcement.
Supersonic flights through the Trona Corridor during the morning hours Thursday and Friday, Feb. 26 and 27, may cause sonic booms in the Ridgecrest and Trona areas.

http://www.ridgecrestca.com/article/20150223/news/150229901
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Re: Sonic Booms or Explosions?

Postby mrfish » Fri Dec 14, 2018 7:13 am

They did not sound like sonic booms to me. I thought that they might be munitions disposal explosions, but it doesn't make sense to do that after dark... unless there were toxic materials that would change the smoke color that they didn't want the public to see. The other rumor I heard was that they were showing off for a film crew. That would be completely irresponsible, but pilots like to show off.
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Re: Sonic Booms or Explosions?

Postby wildrose » Fri Dec 14, 2018 8:28 am

Usually the military does the responsible thing and alerts the public before it conducts any operations which might frighten members of the public or disrupt GPS or cell service in a given area. It's highly unusual not to do so. The number of booms or explosions is quite alarming. Perhaps whoever is in command of the base went AWOL!
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Re: Sonic Booms or Explosions?

Postby twister » Fri Dec 14, 2018 9:47 am

The explosions or whatever they were scared quite a few young children and a few adults for that matter. It's really hard to excuse the lack of public notice no matter how you look at it. Of course, the usual attitude is that it's just those people over in Trona. Apparently as long as Ridgecrest folk aren't bothered or alarmed that's all that matters. I thought maybe there was an accident at the plant. I know people who work there. It would have saved me a little worry if I had known in advance that the military was going to be conducting some kind of exercise or drill.
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Re: Sonic Booms or Explosions?

Postby ergot » Sat Dec 15, 2018 8:11 pm

As I said earlier, I saw no jets, but others claim to have seen rockets and flashing lights. There is even a story that someone said they thought it was a UFO. Somehow I missed the flashing lights. Not sure what happened there. Of course, I wasn't outside for all of the booms/explosions and there were somewhere around as many as ten depending on who was counting.
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Re: Sonic Booms or Explosions?

Postby panamint_patty » Sun Dec 16, 2018 8:35 am

What I heard was that some of the loud sounds were explosions and some were sonic booms. I don't think anyone has solid info. One story was that the military was doing serious testing and taking measurements and another story was that it was just pilots fooling around and showing off. If they were doing testing, then it was planned in advance and there should have been advance warning to the public. If it was just pilots showing off, then it was totally unacceptable and personnel should be the subject of disciplinary action. In any case, according to the various stories I heard, more than a few people were startled and more than a few children were seriously frightened. I guess this goes to prove that "military intelligence" really is an oxymoron!
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