In a follow-up to our reporting earlier this week on the mysterious boom heard around San Diego on the evening of June 8th, 2021, we can now report that Marine Corps Air Station Miramar has put out a statement saying essentialy “it was probably us.”
We came to a similar conclusion that it was indeed a fighter aircraft likely from one of two bases in the region that were operating off the coast that night. One aircraft, in particular, was tracked online well exceeding the sound barrier quite close to shore off San Diego and the Baja Peninsula.
A tweet from MCAS Miramar starts out comically with “So, about the other night…” and continues with the following statement:
The release is not on the installation’s media release page nor is it on Facebook. We inquired with MCAS Miramar before publishing our original article. At the time, their message was quite different:
The only aircraft flying from that base at the time “were KC-130s, and they are definitely not producing a sonic boom sound.”
The public affairs officer at MCAS Miramar then told us to inquire with Camp Pendleton because they were doing artillary fire exercises. Apparently, the facts changed in the days since publishing our story. Regardless, MCAS Miramar now admits there were some of its aircraft out that night that were highly-likely the culprit of the phantom boom.
The vast range complex that extends off Southern California is a busy place, above, on, and below the waves. Supersonic flight profiles are flown out there constantly, so it should come as little surprise when the sonic booms travel inland from time-to-time, especially when aircraft are operating a bit closer to shore than normal.
Contact the author: Tyler@thedrive.com