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A sonic boom and cold weather combine to rattle some homes and eardrums in southeast Ohio

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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — If you heard a sonic boom Tuesday morning and maybe felt your house rattle a bit, that was physics in action.

Military jet fighters from the Air National Guard’s 180th fighter wing were flying over southeast Ohio practicing combat maneuvers, according to Senior Airman Kregg York, who’s a Public Affairs Specialist for the Ohio Air National Guard’s 180th Fighter Wing.

The jets were moving faster than the speed of sound to create a sonic boom. This boom may have been particularly intense because of the weather.

U.S. Air Force, 1Lt. Mathew Correa, an F-16 Fighting Falcon pilot assigned to the Ohio National Guard’s 180th Fighter Wing, takes off for a routine training mission, from the 180FW in Swanton, Ohio. A similar jet created a sonic boom over Athens County Tuesday morning that rattled some homes.
U.S. Air Force, 1Lt. Mathew Correa, an F-16 Fighting Falcon pilot assigned to the Ohio National Guard’s 180th Fighter Wing, takes off for a routine training mission, from the 180 fighter wing in Swanton, Ohio on July 28, 2021. [U.S. Air National Guard | Facebook]
Temperatures in Athens County on Tuesday at approximately 10 a.m. were recorded in the mid to low 20s.  When the air at ground level is colder than the air at higher altitudes, this creates an inversion layer that can result in shock waves bouncing around more at ground level.

The sonic boom led residents to ask questions on social media groups around Athens shortly after 10 a.m.

The Air National Guard’s 180th fighter wing, which is based west of Toledo, routinely conducts practice missions in the airspace over southern Ohio.