A loud noise that panicked residents of Paris on Wednesday was caused by a sonic boom as a military jet broke the speed of sound, police in the French capital said. 
 
"A very loud noise was heard in Paris and in the Paris region. It was not an explosion, it was a fighter jet crossing the sound barrier," Paris police said on their Twitter account, urging people to stop calling emergency phone lines. 
 
The noise, which was heard all across the city and shook windows, rattled Parisians already on edge after a knife attack outside the former offices of the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo last week that the government has called an act of terror.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://13.235.153.162/world/france-checks-video-claim-for-paris-knife-attack-330754" hreflang="en">France checks video claim for Paris knife attack</a> 
 
Wednesday's incident led to confusion, with people asking on social media about a noise heard throughout the city but that left no trace of damage.&nbsp; 
 
It was clearly heard during the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros, where star player Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland and his German opponent Dominik Koepfer paused in astonishment and worry as the noise echoed around the stadium. 
 
Last Friday, two people were wounded in the knife attack by a man wielding a meat cleaver outside the former offices of Charlie Hebdo in central Paris. 
 
The assault came three weeks into the Paris trial of suspected accomplices in the January 2015 attacks on Charlie Hebdo and a Jewish supermarket. 
 
Seventeen people were killed in the three-day spree of violence, including Charlie Hebdo staff and a policewoman. 
 
The bloodshed heralded a wave of Islamist violence in France that has so far left 258 people dead. The nation remains on high alert for terrorism risks.

A loud noise that panicked residents of Paris on Wednesday was caused by a sonic boom as a military jet broke the speed of sound, police in the French capital said.

A loud noise that panicked residents of Paris on Wednesday was caused by a sonic boom as a military jet broke the speed of sound, police in the French capital said. "A very loud noise was heard in Paris and in the Paris region. It was not an explosion, it was a fighter jet crossing the sound barrier," Paris police said on their Twitter account, urging people to stop calling emergency phone lines. The noise, which was heard all across the city and shook windows, rattled Parisians already on edge after a knife attack outside the former offices of the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo last week that the government has called an act of terror. Also read: France checks video claim for Paris knife attack Wednesday's incident led to confusion, with people asking on social media about a noise heard throughout the city but that left no trace of damage. It was clearly heard during the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros, where star player Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland and his German opponent Dominik Koepfer paused in astonishment and worry as the noise echoed around the stadium. Last Friday, two people were wounded in the knife attack by a man wielding a meat cleaver outside the former offices of Charlie Hebdo in central Paris. The assault came three weeks into the Paris trial of suspected accomplices in the January 2015 attacks on Charlie Hebdo and a Jewish supermarket. Seventeen people were killed in the three-day spree of violence, including Charlie Hebdo staff and a policewoman. The bloodshed heralded a wave of Islamist violence in France that has so far left 258 people dead. The nation remains on high alert for terrorism risks.

Paris rattled by sonic boom from military jet

NASA has captured unprecedented photos of the interaction of shockwaves from two supersonic aircraft, part of its research into developing planes that can fly faster than sound without thunderous "sonic booms".

When an aircraft crosses that threshold -- around 1,225 kilometres (760 miles) per hour at sea level -- it produces waves from the pressure it puts on the air around it, which merge to cause the ear-splitting sound.

In an intricate manoeuvre by "rock star" pilots at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center in California, two supersonic T-38 jets flew just 30 feet (nine meters) apart below another plane waiting to photograph them with an advanced, high-speed camera, the agency said.

The rendezvous -- at an altitude of around 30,000 feet -- yielded mesmerizing images of the shockwaves emanating from both planes.

With one jet flying just behind the other, "the shocks are going to be shaped differently", said Neal Smith of AerospaceComputing Inc, an engineering firm that works with NASA, in a post on the agency's website.

"This data is really going to help us advance our understanding of how these shocks interact."

Sonic booms can be a major nuisance, capable of not just startling people on the ground but also causing damage -- like shattered windows -- and this has led to strong restrictions on supersonic flight over land in jurisdictions like the United States.

The ability to capture such detailed images of shockwaves will be "crucial" to NASA's development of the X-59, the agency said, an experimental supersonic plane it hopes will be able to break the sound barrier with just a rumble instead of a sonic boom.

A breakthrough like that could lead to the loosening of flight restrictions and the return of commercial supersonic planes for the first time since Concorde was retired in 2003.

Some countries and cities banned the Franco-British airliner from their airspace because of its sonic booms.

NASA has captured unprecedented photos of the interaction of shockwaves from two supersonic aircraft, part of its research into developing planes that can fly faster than sound without thunderous "sonic booms".

NASA has captured unprecedented photos of the interaction of shockwaves from two supersonic aircraft, part of its research into developing planes that can fly faster than sound without thunderous "sonic booms". When an aircraft crosses that threshold -- around 1,225 kilometres (760 miles) per hour at sea level -- it produces waves from the pressure it puts on the air around it, which merge to cause the ear-splitting sound. In an intricate manoeuvre by "rock star" pilots at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center in California, two supersonic T-38 jets flew just 30 feet (nine meters) apart below another plane waiting to photograph them with an advanced, high-speed camera, the agency said. The rendezvous -- at an altitude of around 30,000 feet -- yielded mesmerizing images of the shockwaves emanating from both planes. With one jet flying just behind the other, "the shocks are going to be shaped differently", said Neal Smith of AerospaceComputing Inc, an engineering firm that works with NASA, in a post on the agency's website. "This data is really going to help us advance our understanding of how these shocks interact." Sonic booms can be a major nuisance, capable of not just startling people on the ground but also causing damage -- like shattered windows -- and this has led to strong restrictions on supersonic flight over land in jurisdictions like the United States. The ability to capture such detailed images of shockwaves will be "crucial" to NASA's development of the X-59, the agency said, an experimental supersonic plane it hopes will be able to break the sound barrier with just a rumble instead of a sonic boom. A breakthrough like that could lead to the loosening of flight restrictions and the return of commercial supersonic planes for the first time since Concorde was retired in 2003. Some countries and cities banned the Franco-British airliner from their airspace because of its sonic booms.

NASA captures unprecedented images of supersonic shockwaves

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