SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Did you hear it? A loud "boom" rattled communities in central Illinois Tuesday morning. One man asked 5 On Your Side if there was an earthquake. He said his house shook.
"Everyone on my street came outside," said Gary Philip Wyman Sr. of Greenville, Illinois. "It was like an explosion went off."
Turns out, it was a sonic boom. The Illinois Emergency Management Agency confirmed the noise was an F-15 fighter jet above central Illinois, similar to the one pictured above. The jet course-corrected and that made a sonic boom, the agency wrote on Facebook. The jet broke the sound barrier, causing the noise and minor shaking in the area.
The agency said they were first made aware of the loud boom at about 11:20 a.m., and many residents felt shaking. Federal, state and local officials worked to figure out what happened. Right now, the agency said there are no reports of any damage associated with the sonic boom.
Springfield Police Lt. Jason Brands said officers received numerous reports from residents who heard a loud noise and that other local communities received the same type of reports from the public.
One emergency management office asked people to refrain from calling 911 about the loud boom to keep the line open for other emergency calls.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
