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Vibrations and a loud blast heard by Western Australian residents have been clarified as a sonic boom produced by Republic of Singapore Air Force aircraft during a training exercise.
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The disturbance drew confusion from local residents when it was heard across most of Perth on 21 August.
Western Australian Police had previously confirmed there was no police incident at the time, while St John Ambulance paramedics also confirmed they were not called to any related incidents at the time.
“The F-15 aircraft are flying about 70 kilometres from the coast at above 24,000 feet over sea in the designated training area. Initial findings indicate that the noise could have come from the training aircraft,” a statement published by the Republic of Singapore Air Force read.
“The loud noise was unexpected as the F-15 was far out at sea.”
Minister for Defence Personnel and Minister for Veterans’ Affairs Matt Keogh, speaking to 6PR Perth Radio on 22 August, has also confirmed that the noise was likely produced during the military activity off the WA coast.
“From here in Canberra (we’re) looking at all of the reports and social media in my own electorate and across particularly the south of Perth, it looks like people have had a pretty worrying time, sort of feeling what they felt in their houses and as they were out and about, and a pretty unusual experience for us in Perth,” he said.
“But what has occurred here is there’s currently a group of Singaporean Air Force exercises going on off the coast.
“That’s an exercise that was well briefed to the people around Bullsbrook where they take off and land from, and people may be aware the Singapore Air Force has been training, doing their initial training, in Perth for their pilots for about the last three decades.
“So pretty regular occurrence to have the Singaporean Air Force operating out and around Perth and off the coast. And they’re doing an exercise there at the moment with their F-15 fighter jets.
“The noise seems to have emanated from one of the aircraft involved in that training exercise off the coast, quite a way off the coast, I might point out.
“So, I don’t think it was expected that noise would travel as far as it did across Perth and even further inland than Perth. And, of course, not something that happens every day in the Western Australian context.
“I’m sure for people who live in Newcastle, for example, where our fighter jets are based, they’re probably a bit more used to that sort of activity. So very shocking for a lot of people, but that’s where the noise has emanated from that everyone experienced.
“I don’t think they were tracking for what may necessarily have been a sonic boom. It may well have been, but the noise has come from that activity. So whether it was close to or an actual sonic boom, but something of that nature.
“I can tell you ... I’ve had this experience when I was a kid. I was at an Air Force open day once up at Pearce when I was a kid and one of the F-111s came down low over us and went past, and it set off every car alarm that was in the – parked on the oval there at RAAF Base Pearce. Yeah, look, it’s pretty intense, and if you’ve not experienced it before ... pretty shocking.”
