Mystery solved: Why the Jersey Shore (and more) shook Thursday
TRENTON — It was another test flight out of Maryland that caused the southern end of New Jersey to shake on Thursday afternoon.
Naval Air Station Patuxent spokesman Patrick Gordon told New Jersey 101.5 "we did have a plane in that area between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. that was cleared to go supersonic. It was just a regular test flight run. I don't have clear indication it did actually go supersonic."
Gordon said the plane was an F-35 that is part of the Joint Strike Force.
"It's of the newest platforms the Department of Defense is testing and it's headquartered here," he said.
According to the JSF website, "the F-35 is the most affordable, lethal, supportable and survivable aircraft ever to be used by so many warfighters across the globe."
People commenting on Townsquare New Jersey Chief Meteorologist Dan Zarrow's Facebook page reported feeling a shaking between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. in southern Ocean County and into Atlantic County, in towns including Barnegat, Little Egg Harbor, Winslow, Toms River, Sea Isle City and Southampton. Zarrow became increasingly skeptical it was caused by an earthquake when it did not appear on the USGS website.
"We would have had seismographic confirmation by now,” Zarrow said early Friday morning.
There are also those who said they felt shaking in Clinton, in Hunterdon County.
In January, the same area felt a shaking that turned out to be test flights out of the same Maryland base.
Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com.
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