Boom That Rattled N. Utah Wasn’t An Earthquake – It Was An F-35
Jan 26, 2021, 5:38 AM | Updated: 3:35 pm
HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah – Many Utahns in the Salt Lake Valley heard and felt a boom Monday night, but it wasn’t an earthquake.
Hill Air Force Base is conducting F-35 night operations and combat exercises through Jan. 30.
Authorities said multiple people contacted the base about the boom, and the Salt Lake City dispatch had an array of calls from people reporting the noise. Some residents thought it was a possible earthquake.
The boom even registered on the University of Utah seismographs, though no actual seismic activity took place.
“While it was energetic enough to be recorded by our seismometers, the waves are traveling too slowly to be seismic,” according to the UUSS. “AKA, not an earthquake.”
We’ve heard some reports of people hearing “booms” and feeling shaking along the Wasatch front. While it was energetic enough to be recorded by our seismometers, the waves are traveling too slowly to be seismic. Aka not an earthquake. pic.twitter.com/vrWUwT9HI4
— UUSS (@UUSSquake) January 26, 2021
On average, there are about 30 – 40 flights from HAFB on a normal day. However, during what they call surge operations, there can be upwards of 100 flights per day.
“Our mission with the F-35s involves deploying the aircraft quickly to anywhere in the world, and then being ready to employ those aircraft in combat very soon after we arrive in theater,” said Lt. Col. Yosef Morris in a video posted by the 388th Fighter Wing. So that mission may require us to fly at night.”
Sonic booms that occur on the range aren’t usually heard/felt across the Wasatch Front. However, if the strong inversion layer from yesterday still existed at the time, energy from the sound wave can get trapped and persist as "a strong signal for greater distances"
— 388th Fighter Wing (@388fw) January 26, 2021
“As a matter of fact, a way that the aircraft is designed, and many of the missions that we do, we prefer to fly at night in actual combat because it makes us harder to see,” he added.
The night flights will be happening until approximately 9:30 p.m. each night.
