# What happened to the sonic booms?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-sonic-booms/145424>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 29, 2002, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-sonic-booms/145424 "2002-12-29T00:27:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![aha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eada6e/32.png) [@aha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aha)\
**Post date:** [December 29, 2002, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-sonic-booms/145424/1 "2002-12-29T00:27:59Z")

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I use to hear them all the time but seems like I haven’t heard one in years. I know planes still break the sound barrier so I was just wondering.

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**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\
**Post date:** [December 29, 2002, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-sonic-booms/145424/2 "2002-12-29T00:39:10Z")

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Supersonic planes tend not to fly over populated areas and make sonic booms unless they tell the neighbors.

Edwards AFB almost always warns people when sonic booms are going to occur.

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**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\
**Post date:** [December 29, 2002, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-sonic-booms/145424/3 "2002-12-29T00:48:22Z")

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Are you sure it was sonic booms you were hearing? I was under the impression that they had a tendency to shatter people’s windows and were primarily done over the ocean or unpopulated areas.

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**Author:** ![UncleBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d26b3c/32.png) [@UncleBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBill)\
**Post date:** [December 29, 2002, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-sonic-booms/145424/4 "2002-12-29T01:50:37Z")

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I have heard them and the windows remained intact. They are much more restricted in populated areas with Noise Abatement Laws.

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**Author:** ![happyheathen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5e925/32.png) [@happyheathen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/happyheathen)\
**Post date:** [December 29, 2002, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-sonic-booms/145424/5 "2002-12-29T01:57:49Z")

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Years ago, the Air Force got tired of buying people new windows, so the rule is (with few exceptions):

No trans-sonic flights below FL400 (40,000 ft) over populated areas - by the time the “boom” reaches earth from that altitude, it is barely noticible.