Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Reported by: Melissa Mecija

CENTRAL COAST

Mysterious shaking rattled the Central Coast late Wednesday morning.

It happened around 11:00 and was felt all the way from Santa Maria to Morro Bay.

Some said it felt like a small earthquake. Others thought it may be another sonic boom.

Caltech and seismic experts at UC Santa Barbara says there was no earthquake in the region during that timeframe, except for a couple small ones in the Paso Robles area.

They agree that it was most likely caused by military flight testing.

There are several military facilities that test supersonic aircraft, including Vandenberg Air Force Base, Lemoore Naval Air Station, and Edwards Air Force Base. None could confirm they tested their aircraft during that time.

Hundreds of you called in during the last mysterious shaking in July. At that time, Edwards Air Force Base says new F-22 Raptor training missions probably caused that sonic boom.

Raptors are known for the distinctive sound they make when they go supersonic.

Most residents we talked to were not too startled by this morning's shaker.

"The mobile home kind of rocked a little bit and the windows shook and that was it," said Lompoc resident, Joan Baker.

"It just sounded like there was something on the roof, something hit the roof-maybe some strong wind," said Lompoc resident, Gavin Simpson. "It didn't really occur to me [and] it kind of stopped me for a moment."

Military aircraft do fly through the area frequently. Even though some do reach supersonic speeds, like the F-22, a low flying aircraft not going at that speed could have also caused minor shaking.

A spokesman from Edwards Air Force Base says right now, conditions are ideal to hear a sonic boom or any noise coming from large aircraft.

The spokesman adds, winds coming in off the ocean help to carry that sound.