Sonic boom from a SpaceX rocket that re-entered the atmosphere rattled buildings, caused a scare for many, prompted many calls to 911early on.
Hans Koenigsmann, vice president of flight reliability at SpaceX said, "We announced this. We tell people that there’s going to be a sonic boom. In my eyes it’s very similar to the shuttle. The shuttle has a really characteristic sonic boom that people could recognize."
Many residents woke up being shocked and shaken early on Monday morning by the earth-trembling waves that re-echoed through the county after the Falcon 9's first stage returned to land at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
911 calls and social media flooded with calls and posts from panic stricken residents immediately after the booster landed, which occurred about 10 minutes after the rocket's 12:45 AM liftoff carrying a Dragon capsule en route to the International Space Station.
Carrie Bailey of Titusville posted on Facebook group page, “Did anyone else feel that boom last night with a flash??? Please tell me i'm not tripn..lol..that made both my dogs jump in bed with me and my son felt it to so i know im not nuts..”
While local news stations were labeled the event as the return of SpaceX’s rocket booster left the residents around the state confused, “The sonic boom just happened from Cape Canaveral which is 75 miles away felt like someone ran against the house.”
The Brevard County Sheriff’s Office received about 10 calls to 911around 1 AM
By Prakriti Neogi
