POSTED: Friday, February 17, 2012 - 11:37pm
UPDATED: Friday, February 17, 2012 - 11:36pm
HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE BASE - You know those loud, sonic booms that rattle your windows from time to time?
They're going to happen more often. Today, Newschannel 9 learned where those booms are coming from.
"When they go off it's loud, it shakes the house," said Bob Bradley, who lives in Alamogordo, NM.
"It's not normal if you don't hear it," said Diana Gutierrez, a resident of Alamogordo.
Pretty much every resident near Holloman Air Force Base hears those sonic booms at night.
The noise is coming from F-22 Raptors.
"This is the world's only fifth generation stealth fighter, making it the most lethal and combat-capable jet in the world right now," said Capt. Harrison Garlic, U.S. Air Force.
The fighter jets are right in our backyard. The military says Holloman Air Force Base is one of three that trains on, and operates, the state-of-the-art aircraft.
Capt. Garlick said the base is aware of how noisy they are.
"It's a fighter jet, so it's gonna be loud since it's producing jet thrusts and it's going fast," said Capt. Garlick.
Capt. Garlick said the base is doing what it can to minimize the noise.
"Even though we need to fly these scenarios in order to get the training capability that we need, we are still going to very proactively, minimize those complications that we have with the sonic booms," stated Capt. Garlick.
"We will fly only certain profiles near those areas in order to minimize the noise."
While folks in Alamogordo are well aware of the noise, they said they understand the vital role the base plays in protecting our nation.
"It's the sound of freedom," said Bob Bradley.
"I've been here all my life, so it's nothing. You get used to it," said Diana Gutierrez.
Military leaders at Holloman said you shouldn't expect to hear any booms tomorrow night or Sunday. You can look up future flying schedules at www.holloman-dot-af-dot-mil [1]