Many Twitter users puzzled by space shuttle sonic boom

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For many in Los Angeles, yesterday afternoon started out like any other Sunday: chores around the house, football on the living room TV, then -- BOOM!

What the heck was that noise? An explosion? A terrorist attack? Hmm, where might one go for time-sensitive information of a local nature?

Why, Twitter, of course!

‘I just heard some sort of explosion,’ Grey Munford wrote on his Twitter page. ‘Anybody else in 90048 hear that?’

Numerous L.A.-based Twitter users broadcast their befuddlement about the big rumble minutes and, in some cases, hours after the reverberation. The racket was, of course, sonic booms resulting from the Endeavour space shuttle landing at Edwards Air Force Base.

The event was covered by CNN, the L.A. Times and numerous other major media outlets, yet Twitter was a go-to news source for some. ‘I just realized that the weird explosion-y noise I heard earlier was a sonic boom from the space shuttle’s return ... cool,’ Brigitte Dale wrote on Twitter.

‘I’m late to the space shuttle sonic boom party,’ wrote Twitter user Pluimer. ‘That dude was loud and powerful. I looked around expecting to see an explosion somewhere.’

Does the general unawareness about the Endeavour landing correlate with a lack of warning in mainstream news or a lack of knowledge about (or interest in) NASA? Launch your opinions in the comments.

-- Mark Milian