Why were Oklahoma Citians subjected to multiple sonic booms daily for months in 1964?

By Rachel Hopkin

Published November 25, 2025 at 2:04 AM CST

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Photograph used for a story in the Oklahoma Times newspaper. Caption: "Sonic Boom Protesters sit together at Tuesday's city council meeting awaiting the subject to be discussed."

Oklahoma Historical Society

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Photograph used for a story in the Daily Oklahoman newspaper. Caption: "Sonic booms normally can't be seen, but this picture of X-15 going Mach 1.56 in a wind tunnel shows what boom pressures would look like during the boom study beginning Monday."

Oklahoma Historical Society

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Photograph used for a story in the Oklahoma Times newspaper. Caption: "Cones of sound made by a supersonic plane looks like this."

Oklahoma Historical Society

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Photograph used for a story in the Daily Oklahoman newspaper. Caption: "Mrs. Floyd E. Williams, 715 SE 21, holds a piece of plaster she said I June, 1964, fell after an early morning sonic boom."

Oklahoma Historical Society

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Photograph used for a story in the Oklahoma Times newspaper. Caption: "Ceramic pieces were broken by sonic booms in April, 1964, Mrs. Cecil Ramage alleged."

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Photograph used for a story in the Daily Oklahoman newspaper. Caption: "Collapse of brick column between stalls of two-car garage Friday at the home of Mrs. C. T. Dickerson, 1724 Dorchester Pl., was blamed on sonic booms."

Oklahoma Historical Society

This month's How Curious dives into the story of what happened when Oklahoma City became the location of a bold experiment concerning sonic booms — a moment when science collided with everyday life. Through historical detail and voices from those who lived it, this episode looks at why the city became a testing ground, the surprising ripple effects on homes and businesses, and the larger questions it raised about progress and public trust.

Download the episode transcript here:

OK Sonic Boom Transcript.docx