BOOM! USAF shuttle returns to Earth with loud introduction

PUNTA GORDA, Fla. Bonnie Weber was one of many across Southwest Florida who felt it.

“Our windows rattled, our house shook,” she said. “It sounded like something fell up in the attic. You know, everybody kind of had the same thoughts. But nobody knew what was going on.”

An X-37B, the U.S. Air Force’s most advanced unmanned spaceship, returned to the Kennedy Space Center on Sunday after nearly two years in space.

The loud sound heard across Southwest Florida was a sonic boom – when the spaceship broke the sound barrier as supersonic speeds – before it landed.

The shuttle is part of an experimental test program for reusable unmanned spacecrafts.

“It was, you know, a little unnerving because sometimes you’re aware that they’re going to be doing it but this time we weren’t aware of anything so we weren’t expecting it,” Weber said.