What was that? House was shaking

**Ohio Girl** · 11-19-2010, 06:38 AM

Yesterday, around 9 AM, my husband and I are in the house (Seacrest) and we hear a low rumbling and then the house shook for about 5 seconds. About 20 seconds later, it happens again. This really freaked us out. Our house is relatively new so we're really trying to figure out what this could have been. Sonic booms? Thanks for any insights.

**kurt** · 11-19-2010, 06:41 AM

Bombs exploding at Eglin Air Force Base. You'll get used to it.

**Jdarg** · 11-19-2010, 06:52 AM

Get some picture putty stuff at the hardware store or you will be straightening your pictures every day!

**kurt** · 11-19-2010, 07:07 AM

Originally Posted by Jenny Dargavell

Get some picture putty stuff at the hardware store or you will be straightening your pictures every day!

Maybe memory fails me but sometimes they have exercises going on a few days in a row and then maybe not for a couple of months.

**Jdarg** · 11-19-2010, 07:19 AM

Originally Posted by kurt

Maybe memory fails me but sometimes they have exercises going on a few days in a row and then maybe not for a couple of months.

All I know is that Eglin must be gi-normous because our house will be shaking, and I will call Bdarg at Eglin to see WTH is going on and he hasn't felt a thing! I guess some days they bomb on the land over this way.

**beachmouse** · 11-19-2010, 07:24 AM

2/3rds the size of Rhode Island, IIRC.

If you discover you're going through incadescent lightbulbs really quickly down here, sometimes it does seem like it's from the vibration resulting from the sound of freedom. Switching to CFs really does seem to help cut down on replacement rate for us.

**Waterbaddrinkwine** · 11-19-2010, 07:49 AM

God bless our military and the men and women that serve our country and protect our freedom!

**Smiling JOe** · 11-19-2010, 07:57 AM

That is the sound of your tax dollars at work, or at practice. Yes, Eglin IS very large, the largest land size air force base in the world, and that doesn't include the vast training grounds over the Gulf of Mexico.

This week, the bombs started on Monday (I think), whatever day we got all the rain. They sound like thunder in the distance, but it wasn't thunder. No bombs today, ... yet.

**Andy A** · 11-19-2010, 09:13 AM

We had them yesterday, though. Not yet today and possibly not at all today.

**Smiling JOe** · 11-19-2010, 09:20 AM

I spoke too soon. Felt some ten minutes ago.

**scooterbug44** · 11-19-2010, 11:28 AM

I know practice and testing are good, but why can't we just drop most of these bombs where we are fighting wars.

Each boom we hear could be pissing off the Taliban, shorting out Bin Laden's dialysis machine, or making IEDs explode.

**SWGB** · 11-20-2010, 12:08 PM

Originally Posted by Smiling JOe

That is the sound of your tax dollars at work, or at practice. Yes, Eglin IS very large, the largest land size air force base in the world, and that doesn't include the vast training grounds over the Gulf of Mexico.

This week, the bombs started on Monday (I think), whatever day we got all the rain. They sound like thunder in the distance, but it wasn't thunder. No bombs today, ... yet.

Actually it's Ramstein AFB.

**heartbren** · 11-20-2010, 03:33 PM

I'm glad I read this post because I heard and felt it to. I'm in Blue Mountain Beach. It happened more than once and I could not figure out what it was. It kind of sounded like thunder, but not exactly. I can say my dog did not like it too much for sure. Thanks for the explanation.

**ShallowsNole** · 11-20-2010, 03:57 PM

My brother used to live on Andrews Avenue in Valparaiso. He wondered why he got such a good deal on the house. Then he looked at an aerial map. Directly in the flightpath of Eglin's main runway. Talk about LOUD...

Several years after he moved, a drone fell into his neighbor's house.

**GoodWitch58** · 11-20-2010, 04:48 PM

Eglin AFB

Eglin AFB, Florida is the former home of the 39th Bomb Wing and 4135th Strategic Wing. The Eglin range, managed by the 46th Test Wing, is the largest Air Force base in the free world. Located east of Pensacola, its 724 square miles of land range occupies much of the Northwest Florida panhandle. Its 101,000 square miles of air space extends over the eastern third of the Gulf of Mexico, an area extending from the panhandle to the Florida Keys. Seventeen miles of shoreline allow T&E in both a littoral environment and over a land-water interface.

By the end of World War II, the installation covered 510,251 acres; 429,758 acres were owned by the United States military, 78,296 were in the condemnation process, 917 acres were leased, and 1,280 acres were acquired by permit from the US Department of the Interior (USDI). Mission requirements were greatly reduced after the conclusion of World War II. Budget cutbacks and reductions in personnel affected all branches of the Armed Forces, forcing the virtual abandonment of many facilities. The advent of the Korean War and Cold War concerns resulted in the reactivation of many of these facilities. During these years, Eglin AFB continued the research, development, and testing of new weapons systems, ordnance, and aircraft.

**Smiling JOe** · 11-20-2010, 05:41 PM

Originally Posted by SWGB

Actually it's Ramstein AFB.

Maybe I'm missing something?

Eglin AFB: The base covers 463,128 acres of land
64.6 million acres air space (includes 1/3 of the entire Gulf of Mexico)

Ramstein AFB -- Size: 3,102 acres

**sunspotbaby** · 11-20-2010, 05:46 PM

265,000 acres of that is dedicated to public recreation.

Eglin Air Force Base Reservation is much more than the largest AFB in the free world. Within its 464,000 acres, more than 265,000 are open for public recreation. Activities such as fresh water fishing, hunting, camping, biking, canoeing/kayaking, hiking await outdoor enthusiasts.

Explore fishing, hunting, canoeing, hiking and camping at Eglin Air Force Base Reservation

**Ohio Girl** · 11-20-2010, 06:51 PM

Thanks for the responses. Makes me feel better. It really almost felt like an earthquake.

**beachmouse** · 11-20-2010, 09:41 PM

Originally Posted by sunspotbaby

265,000 acres of that is dedicated to public recreation.

That retaining of recreational space was part of the deal when the Choctawhatchee National Forest was turned over to the Department of War during WW2.

Anyone remember a few years back when Eglin put out all kinds of press releases about how there was going to be a test of the MOAB weapon, and that local residents would hear noise from it?

Total PR move that they hoped would go onto CNN International and generate buzz in the Middle East about the strength of US weapons technology. And then the national newsies did make it down here, tried to talk to the locals about the AF press releases and how the noise from MOAB was supposed to be all shock and awe, and all the locals they interviewed were all like 'Their usual 9:30am Tuesdy bombing actually makes my house shake a lot worse.' and it actually ended up being rather funny if you know the area.

**ShallowsNole** · 11-21-2010, 01:55 PM

MOAB...boom. Clap clap clap. I stayed outside to listen, in Freeport, and didn't hear a peep.

Meanwhile, Eglin never has admitted anything about the loud boom that EVERYBODY in Walton County heard about 4:00 a.m. about 15 years ago. Sounded like a transformer blowing, but it was every bit as loud in SoWal as it was in NoWal and even over into Holmes County.