NUFORC Sighting 35204

Occurred: 2004-02-20 15:25 Local
Reported: 2004-02-21 12:27 Pacific
Duration: seconds
No of observers: 5

Location: Lewisville, TX, USA

Shape: Unknown

Series of Sonic Booms over Southern Denton County just north of Dallas

At about 3:25 I was sitting in my home office when I heard a loud boom and the windows rattled. A few seconds later a second boom hit and rattled the windows about the same. I wondered if there was some sort of huge metal dumpster or something that fell off a truck near the house but couldn't believe that would rattle the windows like that. Less than a minute later my father who lives about 8-9 miles west of me called me on the phone. He asked if I heard the sonic booms. I said yeah but I didn't know what they were. I had not heard a sonic boom in over 30 years and wondered about that. I immediately hung the phone up and ran outside to look in the sky. I observed at least 7 or 8 contrails going across the sky mostly from east to west or west to east, as I could not see the end of them. But I noticed that to the North Northwest there was one contrail that made a hairpin turn and headed back north. I thought that might have been the source since it would probably be a military craft that made that maneuver. Then about 25 to 30 minutes later I was in my car about to start it when my cell phone rang. As I was answering it I heard a smaller boom but it was distinctly the same as early just much quieter. At that moment I said hello and it was my father again, he asked if I heard the sonic boom again. I said I just heard it as I was answering the phone. I then asked him how long ago he heard it and he said about 30 seconds before I answered the phone. So since he lives about 8 miles west of me we figured that the sound was also west of me since it took at least 30-40 seconds for the sound to travel to me. Then later that evening I took my son to meet with the Boy Scouts to go camping. While the boys were all loading up their gear I told the story to one of the boy's fathers who is retired air force and now works for the air force in civil service. He was in Dallas at the time and did not hear it but a mother of another boy said she heard 3 booms like me and another boys father said he heard it ! and though somebody must have been dynamiting something. The lady lived about half way between me and my father while the other boy's father lives right on Lake Grapevine about 12 miles west of me and about 3-4 miles southwest of my father. When I got home that night after dropping my son off with the scouts, I called my father to tell him what I had heard from others. He then told me that my mother had heard the sonic booms also. She was in the front yard at my brother's house about 12 miles north northwest of me and about 7 to 8 miles north of my father. She said she heard the first two booms that were close together but was probably driving in the car when the third one hit so she did not hear it. I just now called her to ask her if she saw anything and she said she did not but thought that the sound was north of them but could not be certain. She also said that a neighbor asked if she heard the sonic booms and she said she did. He said he heard them and called DFW airport to report them and the airport said they did not hear them.

Posted 2004-03-02