PENSACOLA, Fla. — Many people living near the Gulf Coast in South Alabama and the Florida Panhandle were startled Tuesday night by a loud boom outside.
Multiple news outlets in the area report 911 calls came streaming in around 11 p.m. Eastern, all concerning the mysterious boom. Many people thought it might have been an explosion, one report said.
So what was it? Most likely, it was a sonic boom caused by a returning SpaceX Dragon capsule. According to a tweet from SpaceX, the capsule splashed down just after 11 p.m. in the Gulf of Mexico near the Florida Panhandle.
Santa Rosa County Emergency Management said the sonic boom happened as the SpaceX capsule reentered the atmosphere.
One person on Twitter shared a video of what appears to be the Dragon capsule streaking across the sky as it made its reentry, asking if anyone felt an "explosion or sonic boom" in Pensacola. In a reply to his tweet, he said the unsettling sound came about "15-20 seconds" after the video ended.
According to The Associated Press, the SpaceX splashdown returned four astronauts who were part of an Axiom Space private nine-day trip to the International Space Station. Two Saudi astronauts and two Americans made up the private space flight. This included the first Saudi woman in space — Rayyanah Barnawi, a stem cell researcher.
The Saudi government picked up the tab for Barnawi and fighter pilot Ali al-Qarni's trip. A Tennessee businessman who started a race car team, John Shoffner, paid his own way to the space station.
The ticket-holders were accompanied by retired NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, who now works for Houston-based Axiom Space that chartered the flight.
Florida Today reports people living or visiting along the Space Coast will likely hear more sonic booms in the coming months. This is due to SpaceX changing where its Falcon 9 boosters will land, the news outlet said.