NWS reports loud boom in Little River, Longs area may have been military aircraft breaking sound barrier

HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WMBF) – WMBF News received several messages and calls from viewers reporting that they felt their homes shake Thursday night.

Viewers in the area of Little River, Longs and Cherry Grove reached out saying that they felt a shaking around 7 p.m.

WMBF News reached out to the Horry County Police Department and Horry County Fire Rescue, but officials said their crews searched the area and couldn’t find anything that would have caused any kind of shaking.

It turns out it may have been a military aircraft that broke the sound barrier.

The National Weather Service in Wilmington said it received several calls as well from up and down the coast about the “loud booms.” The agency tweeted out late Thursday night that during the latest series booms, the radar observed chaff around the time of the reports indicating the presence of a military aircraft.

Chaff is used by military aircrafts as a radar countermeasure in training.

Did you happen to hear any "loud booms" Thursday evening? If you did, in this case it could have been caused by aircraft off the coast breaking the sound barrier. pic.twitter.com/xNLD9Qf42x
— NWS Wilmington NC (@NWSWilmingtonNC) February 28, 2020