Comment
Rate
Mystery sound rattles windows, residents; baffles officials
| Advertisement |
By Jeff Haldiman
jhaldiman@newstribune.com
Around 12:20 p.m. Monday, a series of loud booms was heard in many parts of Jefferson City and Cole County.
The origin remains a mystery, but an aircraft breaking the sound barrier is considered the most likely cause.
Numerous calls were received at the 911 center. Some reports indicated the noises rocked and shook buildings, but authorities reported no damage being attributed to the booms.
Police went to the area where crews are working on the City View interchange. Blasting has been taking place to reshape the land, but workers said they were not blasting at that time. However, they did hear the booms, just as other citizens had.
“If that were a blasting incident, something catastrophic would have happened,” said Jefferson City Fire Department Education Officer Jason Turner, who said their department got a number of calls and e-mails from citizens wondering what had happened.
“After we got the calls we started checking with those contractors who had blasting permits at this time and all were not blasting when the booms were heard,” he said.
Streaks were spotted in the sky by police officers not long after the booms were heard, making them believe it was an airplane breaking the sound barrier.
Officers called the control tower at the Jefferson City Memorial Airport to see if they could find out from the FAA what had taken place. Although no definitive answer was found, all indications pointed to a sonic boom.
Since Monday was a state and federal holiday, the Missouri National Guard was not flying their planes, according to spokesperson Capt. Tammy Spicer.
“Most of our activity would be down at Ft. Leonard Wood, where we do have a bombing range,” she said. “Because it was a holiday I would be shocked to find out someone was flying around, unless it was a something set up ahead of time.”
The Missouri National Guard does have a squad of F-15's based at Lambert Airport in St. Louis.
The origin remains a mystery, but an aircraft breaking the sound barrier is considered the most likely cause.
Numerous calls were received at the 911 center. Some reports indicated the noises rocked and shook buildings, but authorities reported no damage being attributed to the booms.
Police went to the area where crews are working on the City View interchange. Blasting has been taking place to reshape the land, but workers said they were not blasting at that time. However, they did hear the booms, just as other citizens had.
“If that were a blasting incident, something catastrophic would have happened,” said Jefferson City Fire Department Education Officer Jason Turner, who said their department got a number of calls and e-mails from citizens wondering what had happened.
“After we got the calls we started checking with those contractors who had blasting permits at this time and all were not blasting when the booms were heard,” he said.
Streaks were spotted in the sky by police officers not long after the booms were heard, making them believe it was an airplane breaking the sound barrier.
Officers called the control tower at the Jefferson City Memorial Airport to see if they could find out from the FAA what had taken place. Although no definitive answer was found, all indications pointed to a sonic boom.
Since Monday was a state and federal holiday, the Missouri National Guard was not flying their planes, according to spokesperson Capt. Tammy Spicer.
“Most of our activity would be down at Ft. Leonard Wood, where we do have a bombing range,” she said. “Because it was a holiday I would be shocked to find out someone was flying around, unless it was a something set up ahead of time.”
The Missouri National Guard does have a squad of F-15's based at Lambert Airport in St. Louis.
 |
 |
|
| Memorial brick unveiled for local hero | Board reviews discipline report |
Article Rating |
|
Before commenting read the News Tribune Forum's policies and procedures.
Thanks.
RSS
floyd wrote on Oct 22, 2007 8:46 PM: