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Military aircraft shake things up in county seat |
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Friday, 10 August 2007 |
By Mike Gervais
Register Staff
Residents of Independence were startled Tuesday when two consecutive sonic booms rattled homes and nerves.
Just before noon Tuesday, residents of Independence found themselves shaken as two loud “explosions” were heard throughout town, shattering glass and knocking merchandise off the shelves of local stores. Some residents reported knick-knacks being tossed from their shelves as well.
“The Sheriff’s Dispatch Center received numerous calls of an ‘explosion’ in the Independence area,” Inyo County Sheriff Bill Lutze reported. “It was determined that the ‘explosion’ was two large sonic booms from military air traffic.”
According to China Lake Naval Weapons Center Public Affairs Officer Susan Read, the two military jets that broke the sound barrier over Independence on Tuesday were not from NAWS, but rather Lemoore Navel Air Station. China Lake is located partially in Southern Inyo; Lemoore is located on the west side of the Sierra, near Hanford and Fresno.
The general concensus among Independence residents seems to be that the sonic booms were unusually intense.
“We get sonic booms sometimes, but not like that,” said one Independence resident. “That was loud, it scared me.”
According to Lemoore Naval Air Station Public Affairs Officer Dennis McGrath, the base is looking into Tuesday’s incident to determine what exactly happened.
“We are still investigating the data,” said McGrath. “One feeling is that the planes were lower than usual” which can make the sonic booms louder.
Independence “is a training area, but it is not a supersonic area,” he added, noting that the planes should not have broken the sound barrier.
The two jets that were flying over Independence at the time of the sonic booms were F/A-18 Super Hornets, McGrath said.
The planes regularly use the Owens Valley as a training area where they practice maneuvering and sometimes low-altitude flight.
On Tuesday, the Sheriff’s Dispatch Center also received several reports of items falling from walls and several broken windows.
One Independence resident told The Inyo Register she lost several valuable antiques which fell from shelves as the booms rattled her entire home.
Any resident who had property damaged from the sonic booms may log on to www.jag.navy.mil. In the lower right hand corner of that page is a link for residents to file claims regarding damaged property.
There were no reports of any injuries as a result of the sonic booms, broken glass or falling items.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 10 September 2007 )
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