Sonic boom felt over large area

An apparent sonic boom from military aircraft shook a wide swath of the region Friday afternoon.

Dozens of residents in Quay County and beyond reported to authorities and on social media about rattling windows and shaking homes, making several think it was an explosion.

The boom was felt in Conchas to the north and as far east as Amarillo.

Quay County Sheriff Dennis Garcia said he received no reports of damage.

He said he was informed by dispatchers that military aircraft from an Air Force base were in the region at the time.

A public affairs officer at Holloman Air Force Base on Monday said none of its aircraft were in the area at the time. Emails to the Cannon and Kirtland bases, seeking clarification, hadn't been answered.

Garcia said sonic booms are rare in the area. He said he last experienced one decades ago, when he was a sixth-grader at the long-closed Granger Elementary School in Tucumcari.

Jamie Luaders, director of the Tucumcari-Quay County Regional Emergency Communications Center, said dispatchers received the first call at 5:52 p.m. Friday.

She said two people reported the boom to dispatch in person, along with one caller from Conchas and four or five callers from Tucumcari.

Federal law prohibits civilian aircraft from breaking the sound barrier over land. The Air Force discourages sonic booms except at 30,000 feet over water, though its aircraft can fly at supersonic speeds in designated areas.