{"id":20875,"date":"2016-01-28T22:14:53","date_gmt":"2016-01-28T22:14:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2016\/01\/28\/meteors-aliens-or-foreign-aircraft-sonic-boom-heard-over-east-coast\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T20:37:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T20:37:21","slug":"meteors-aliens-or-foreign-aircraft-sonic-boom-heard-over-east-coast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2016\/01\/28\/meteors-aliens-or-foreign-aircraft-sonic-boom-heard-over-east-coast\/","title":{"rendered":"Meteors, aliens or foreign aircraft? Sonic boom heard over East Coast"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Residents of New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and other E<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">e<\/span>ast C<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">c<\/span>oast states took to social media on Thursday asking, &#8220;What on Earth was that noise?&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A series of sonic booms were heard overhead, but officials\u00a0at\u00a0the Pentagon, U.S. Northern Command<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">,<\/span> and\u00a0the Coast Guard could not confirm the boom&#8217;s origin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;It was definitely not U.S. Air Force aircraft,&#8221; an Air Force\u00a0spokeswoman\u00a0<span class=\"rte rte-comment\"> for the Air Force <\/span>told Air Force Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sources tell ABC News that the sonic boom was a result of the Navy conducting an\u00a0F-35 test flight:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But in the matter of public opinion\u00a0the mystery continues, with many believing that agents Fox\u00a0Mulder and Dana Scully from the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.fox.com\/the-x-files\">X-Files<\/a> should get on this mystery ASAP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are some of the best Twitter\u00a0<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">Tweets <\/span>and Facebook posts below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<script>(function(d, s, id) {  var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];  if (d.getElementById(id)) return;  js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;  js.src = \"\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.2\";  fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));<\/script>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"fb-post\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JerseyShoreHurricaneNews\/posts\/1139767486042762\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">NEW: Sonic boom in NJ likely result of an F-35 being tested out of Naval test facility at Patuxent River, Maryland, defense officials say.<\/p>&mdash; ABC News (@ABC) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ABC\/status\/692836134515113984?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 28, 2016<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Did you hear that <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hashtag\/SonicBoom?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#SonicBoom<\/a> in NJ? <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/USNavy?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@USNavy<\/a> saying it was an F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Calm down people&#8230; it&#39;s just the sound of freedom.<\/p>&mdash; Justin Fishel (@JustinFishelABC) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/JustinFishelABC\/status\/692836597482426369?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 28, 2016<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"qme\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/NoradNorthcom?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@NoradNorthcom<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/USGS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@USGS<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/24toXxsCFd\">pic.twitter.com\/24toXxsCFd<\/a><\/p>&mdash; County Comms (@PECsandbagger) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/PECsandbagger\/status\/692824977515663360?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 28, 2016<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">@QuakeAlarmMex <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/USGS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@USGS<\/a> When I was a kid back in the &#39;60s, they were a common occurrence all over the country. Now, the sky is falling! 2<\/p>&mdash; Greg Durocher (@akrockhound) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/akrockhound\/status\/692814757703741441?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 28, 2016<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/USGS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@USGS<\/a> explain to us how 1 sonic boom can cause 6 tremors over 30 minutes from <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hashtag\/nj?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#nj<\/a> to <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hashtag\/ct?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#ct<\/a> and I&#39;ll believe you <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hashtag\/earthquake?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#earthquake<\/a><\/p>&mdash; John Nash (@NikonNash) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/NikonNash\/status\/692802840264327168?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 28, 2016<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/kempatsu\/status\/692805210503254016\">https:\/\/twitter.com\/kempatsu\/status\/692805210503254016<\/a><\/blockquote><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Reburned619\/status\/692807564845674496\">https:\/\/twitter.com\/Reburned619\/status\/692807564845674496<\/a><\/blockquote><\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Residents of New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and other East Coast states took to social media on Thursday asking, &#8220;What on Earth was that noise?&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":12259,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":67,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[16,67],"tags":[],"coauthors":[1640],"class_list":["post-20875","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-your-air-force"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"XWCPBUJ3YBD7TOSVJ26ZZXYTKU","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-air-force\/2016\/01\/28\/meteors-aliens-or-foreign-aircraft-sonic-boom-heard-over-east-coast\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Meteors, aliens or foreign aircraft? 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Sonic boom heard over East Coast\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Residents of New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and other East Coast states took to social media on Thursday asking, &quot;What on Earth was that noise?&quot;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2016\/01\/28\/meteors-aliens-or-foreign-aircraft-sonic-boom-heard-over-east-coast\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Air Force TImes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-01-28T22:14:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-07T20:37:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Oriana Pawlyk\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Oriana Pawlyk\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/news\\\/your-air-force\\\/2016\\\/01\\\/28\\\/meteors-aliens-or-foreign-aircraft-sonic-boom-heard-over-east-coast\\\/#article\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/news\\\/your-air-force\\\/2016\\\/01\\\/28\\\/meteors-aliens-or-foreign-aircraft-sonic-boom-heard-over-east-coast\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"author\": {\n\t                \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"headline\": \"Meteors, aliens or foreign aircraft? 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