All the Windows in Oklahoma City

Ever wonder why we don't have supersonic planes? Just ask Oklahoma City in 1964. The military and the FAA joined up for Operation Bongo II, subjecting the people of Oklahoma City to over 1,200 sonic booms for roughly six months. The result was a space age tragicomedy, full of broken windows, shrinking furniture, and exploding backyards. 

Transcript

Kennen 0:16

Hello, and welcome to the second episode of the nifty 50 show. We're back today and we're headed to Oklahoma city this time. We're going to leave Utah. Just as a preface. I think Oklahoma city is one of the most fascinating cities in the United States. There's a really great book. On it called the BoomTown by Sam Anderson. Which is actually where the inspiration for the story comes from. But I think it is one of those places that people. Tend to ignore. Without realizing how important it is. And this goes without saying for many things, but the bombing. And the tornadic weather it's always at the forefront. It seems to be the center of many catastrophes. Maybe it seems like a hard place to live. This story is in much more of a lighthearted tone. Maybe, I guess the decades. Have made it seem more lighthearted. But we're going to be talking about the Sonic boom tests of Oklahoma city. So before let's get geographically situated. Oklahoma city sits in the center of the state of Oklahoma of which it is the state Capitol. Oklahoma city just is, has so many intriguing little tidbits. It was founded on April 22nd. 1889. And the land rush. Which is very different from most cities that slowly just grow and. Become a city. Whereas Oklahoma city went from nothing. To a very large something in one day. Today it is the 20th largest city proper in the United States with just over 680,000 people and a metropolitan population of 1.4 million people. It is not a small city by any means. However, it is also a very large city by area. It's the eighth largest city by land area in the United States and the second largest state Capitol by Atlanta area after Juneau, Alaska. Hard to be anything in Alaska when it comes to size. Oklahoma city has grown because of the livestock oil and aviation industries. Aviation being very important for this story. And you can see the importance of the oil industry on the grounds of the state Capitol. Because the state Capitol has. Active oil rigs. It's the only one in the country. Which probably isn't that hard To be, but it's really cool. It's such a unique place. And as I mentioned earlier, it's very infamous for its. Severe weather, particularly in the spring. And then the tragic 1995 bombing of Alfred P Murrah, federal building. Lots of tragedy in Oklahoma city. But as I said, hopefully the story is more lighthearted. There are some really great quotes. That'll read. so let's get started with this. The year. 1960s. What a time to be alive. You've got a very clear divide between east and west communism and capitalism. You're really at the height of the space race, you're nearing the real involvement in Vietnam. And that you're coming off of a decade of extreme economic bounty. The United States is very clearly at the top of the charts by this time. One of those. Things was technology, obviously. By this time, air conditioners were now efficient enough for people to live in the Sunbelt. So you're seeing places in Arizona, Texas, Oklahoma. Population is booming. 1960s, Oklahoma city. It's still a fairly substantial city. With 340,000 people. At this time, as I mentioned, aviation was a big deal. As part of this, the federal aviation administration or the FAA. I decided to use Oklahoma city as the testing grounds for Sonic boom tolerance. We. Don't really experience Sonic booms as much as of a public. This Really declined with the end of the Concorde. There are renewed calls for it. And this story will factor into that greatly. Sonic booms. Our loud, obviously it's called a boom. Sonic booms are created because an object starts to travel faster than the speed of sound, which compresses the air around it. And as the air decompresses, it makes the characteristic. Boom. There's lots of interesting videos on YouTube. When. Air forces do demonstrations of it. It is very loud. Even on a computer, it does sound like a very loud Thunderclap sometimes. Which. Maybe that was a reason for Oklahoma city. They figured they were used to loud sudden noises. From the sky. Who knows. But when they started to talk about having these tests, They were only going to give the entire city one day off, which was Easter Sunday. Very thoughtful of them. Maybe thought it'd be festive for the 4th of July to have Sonic booms. But the people of Oklahoma city were not. Always very aware. Of what they were getting into. So much so that the first time. Really that this appears in print. And and a format that's advertising is February 2nd, 1964. Oklahoma city people woke up on Mount Sunday and read in their newspapers that Sonic booms were to start Monday. The next day. And that they were going to determine public tolerance. Most people probably thought okay. Hey, why not who knows? Planes flying overhead. They were already used to that with tinker air force base. However, these planes would fly at Mach 1.5, between 22,500 feet. And 36,000 feet. So not terribly low, but. Low enough that you would hear them. And the tests. We're given an 11 hour timeframe starting at 7:00 AM and ending at 6:00 PM. Sounds like a very long day already. February 3rd, 1964. The evening edition of the Oklahoma city times. Ran a headline that read quote, boom, just a boom lit and quote. Summed it up real easy. They didn't think. Much of it as it didn't seem to impact much of the day-to-day working of the city and the day-to-day lives of. Of its citizens. And they claimed that it didn't really cause a great uproar. In fact, only one person called the police about it. And they had said, quote, It sounded like my backyard exploded and quote. Now it feels somewhat anti-climatic. after the first day of the tests. Yet This. Description about a backyard exploding with seem to. Be an omen for the coming months. The article interviewed the pilot major RM Loeffler. And he had left tinker air force base at 10 0 5. Reaching the speed of sound. 16 minutes later at 10 21. And then flew over Oklahoma city at 10 25. And he said it was quote no louder than a good thunderstorm and quote. Now this must've been. Somewhat normal for a city with severe weather. A thunderstorm is fairly normal there. However. Thunderstorms don't occur. For months on end every day in, day out, 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM. February 25th, 1964, the Washington post ran a story with the headline that the Davey Sonic booms are testing the fiber of Oklahoma city. And the very first sentence started strong. They said, quote, an Oklahoma city woman's as her furniture shrinking and quote. Who knows? I've never experienced a Sonic boom, but I'm 99.999%. Sure. It would not cause your furniture to shrink. Unless you have some. Very intriguing new space, age furniture. You're starting to see. That it is driving people crazy. Imagine you're having several Sonic booms a day. Go over your house. They're very loud. They're very unexpected. I'd probably say my furniture was shrinking too. Others, however, compared it just to a slamming the front door. Shake the house a little bit. Cause a little bit of noise, but nothing too. Agregious. One woman in Oklahoma city though, was very happy about it because she said that it improved her television reception. Don't know what to say about that. But. So you can see that there's a full range of emotions. People. Are losing their minds. Other people are glad about it, and people may not feel. Anything about it really just. Part of their day. However, there was a strong undercurrent of. Disenchantment so much so that in early March, the city council went to war. And became very divided on if they should vote to cancel the tests. Or if they should let the tests run out there course. And their indecision ended with a. Continuation of the tests. So imagine march continues into April. And then may You got one break because of Easter Sunday, but every other day, 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM. Boom boom boom, day in day out. Here a boom, there a boom. June 6th, 1964. The. Magazine the Saturday review. I printed an article of the era of supersonic morality. Now we have to remember that this comes at a crossroads from the really great. Economic the push forward of the 1950s after world war II. Society is starting to question. How to make these advancements moral. You've got Jane Jacobs in New York city fighting. The highways. The Cuyahoga river would start on fire. In this decade. Environmental. Groups would start to be more active. now you're beginning to question. Is supersonic travel really worth it. Of course they explained that the test was important and what Sonic booms really were that they weren't terribly dangerous. And why the FAA was doing it. They were quick to point out that in Oklahoma city, one in four jobs. Was related to aviation. 25%. That is a very big number. So of course. These tests were important. They framed Oklahoma city is a very important part of the aviation industry in the United States. And. Things. Should've been rosy, but they were not. At the end of the first week in February, the FAA had indicated that tranquilizers might be the answer. Now. They don't really elaborate on what that would've meant. But. Imagine doling out tranquilizers. So you can put up with Sonic booms day in, day out, day in, day out. That just doesn't seem feasible. Or smart. And of course the article reported on the war that the city council had with itself. But also that the chamber of commerce had ben a very big part of that war. The chamber of commerce had persuaded the city council by telling them that canceling the tests would cost Oklahoma city it's future. Seems a bit drastic. You have to wonder who was getting. Money out of this. To really say. Canceling this point. Blank will just ruin Oklahoma city forever and always. A council man. Also told the Saturday review that one reason that they allowed them to continue was quote, we saw that it was not really within our competence to pass on scientific questions and to quote. Squirrely answers from politicians, not really a new thing. But now imagine Oklahoma city seems to be. At wit's end. Some people are in support of it because. they have jobs related to it. Other people are worried that if they don't, they won't have a job after an Oklahoma city will pass into the history books. But then also some people just cop out and say I can't have an opinion because I'm not terribly smart about how it's all working. If you're living under it. You have the right to. Complain and or support it, whichever one you choose. The Saturday review article ended with an entire paragraph of complaints. The paragraph is insane. And for that reason, I am going to read the entire thing just so you get an idea. Of what. People in Oklahoma city thought. And it says, quote, Even if it were assumed that all the complaints were valid. That the seeing eye dog of a sightless vendor at the Capitol was too frightened performance customary guiding function. That human victims of heart disease and muscular spasm were detrimentally stimulated. Older people had suffered falls and other accidents. The school room ceiling lamp had dropped and knocked a boy out of class for an hour. That fire alarms had been set clinging in unison. That plate glass show windows and stores had been shattered. That plaster from bedroom ceiling had cut a three inch gash. And a sleeping woman's head. That mirrors had been cracked that walls and floors and brick facings of houses had been shaken loose. That wild birds have been driven from feeding stations and backyard gardens. That flocks of chickens, had it been crazed into erratic flight with considerable loss of a guilt and some loss of life. Judge Chandler said the only redress was to wait for processing of damage claims. Only 132 of which have been paid to date. A total reimbursement of$7,239. Compared to a single claim of$15,000. Entered by a chicken grower and to quote. To put this in perspective,$7,239 in 1964. Is equal to at$71,018 in 2023. After hearing about those complaints or what. What happened to some people. It's amazing that there were not more complaints, but then of course, The government, the federal aviation administration tried to pass it off as not that big of a deal. A chicken grower of course would file a large claim. If all of his chickens were to mysteriously die. Or if they stopped producing eggs, like they used to. And yet they were not exactly keen on following up on these complaints because it may have meant that there were some problems with the Sonic booms. Over a populated area. But just imagine some of this. A seeing eye dog. Becomes distracted. People who have heart disease or muscular spasm. R. Frightened or have further issues because of this older people are suffering falls. Children at school. Maybe they wanted to get out of class, but being knocked out by sealing lamps seems to be a terrible way to get out of class. Or you never know if you're sleeping and you wake up with a three-inch gash in your head. You might come home from work one day and see that there's now a giant crack zigzagging around all the bricks. It must have been. A slow creep of insanity across the city. And yet there was no real form of redress. The judge obviously said that you just had to go through the official way while the official way didn't work. Did it. At least that's probably what the citizens of Oklahoma city thought. Why complain if nothing's going to happen however, a couple of weeks later, the FAA made a very. Very shocking. In some way, inflammatory claim. And they said that quote, it's obvious that there must be substandard dwellings everywhere. Maybe all the windows in Oklahoma city. Don't exactly meet building codes. End quote. Yes. All of the problems with buildings, the cracks window shattering. It's all because of substandard construction practices. How an entire city got away with it. No one was short, but the FAA was the one who found it. So yay for the Sonic boom tests, or maybe it's just an extremely. Weak excuse for the actual damage and problems that the Sonic boom tests were causing. And they didn't want to admit it. But. Let's tasks kept on rolling people. Just. Kept going on with their daily lives. On July 10th, the New York time chimed in with one. An article. And they said that quote, many residents are in no hurry for the Dawn of the supersonic era and commerce and travel and quote. Reading that paragraph from the Saturday review. shows that it Seems to be a high price for supersonic planes flying overhead. At all hours of the day. And criss crossing the country. They did note, however that the trial was near its end, which must have. Been a very bright Ray of hope for many people. Oklahoma city was selected because of its air force base and FAA facilities. But also because the city. Had I high chance of giving them the response they want it. They do not elaborate on. Those expectations from the FAA of what exactly they expected. I guess maybe Oklahoma city citizens would go outside of their houses and cheer every day and say, yes, this is great. We're so glad to be the first people to. Live under Sonic booms. And they would tell the whole country. We can't wait for you to live like us. I think. If you were a subscriber to the Washington post. Or the New York times or the Saturday review, you probably thought you were dang lucky to not live in Oklahoma city. This article from the New York times also noted that many people were ready to complain and how the long list of complaints. But. No one could really prove that the Sonic booms actually did anything. And therefore they would not complain to the official. Complaint line that the FAA had set up for the test. It's very interesting. You all of a sudden have Sonic booms. A bunch of masonry defects appear across the city. But no one knows why Just very curious. A couple of weeks later on July 31st. It was reported that the boom tests are over and that some people were static and some people were sad about it. Most people did not use fancy or descriptive language. However, And they would say phrases. Like I hate them. Or to hell with them. And the article noted that the. Director of the FAA had been heckled. The few times he had visited Oklahoma city. And that people had questioned him and he was very evasive. Which makes sense that then they would use such plain simple language to say. It was terrible. You would not want to live under a Sonic boom. For. Any period of time. A couple of days later, the New York times published the preliminary report. Saying that 10 to 20% did not like the booms, but only 4% felt strongly to complain to the FAA. Which was noted earlier. People were more than willing to complain to each other and to the newspapers and to probably anybody who had listened. However, they did not want to complain officially, which the Saturday review article had said. That FAA was extremely slow in processing these complaints and was very likely to. Disbelief or disprove. Or do something of the sort to not have to pay out for the damage. That was done. And they counted a total of 1,253 Sonic booms had passed over the city. It's a lot. Not as a lot of disruptions. think about it as 1,253 thunderclaps. I don't know how many I've heard in my life, but. 1,253. Thunderclaps. In that short of a time would be. Extremely unlikely, unless you lived somewhere where you had a thunderstorm. Basically every day, all day. But that was what it was like to live under the Sonic boom tests. So the federal government contracted out with I think it was a university in Chicago to go through the data and present the findings. And you can still find the official report. It's really intriguing to look at the graphs. It's really intriguing to read their findings. And so here are a few of the statistics that they provided. They said that. 94% of respondents. I felt rattles and vibrations. You have a pretty, pretty high incidents that people knew the Sonic booms were happening. 82% of respondents knew the schedule that the Sonic booms would occur. That's also pretty good. To get the information out to an entire city that, that large. 82% is pretty good. 38% of the respondents said they felt startled first when the Sonic booms occurred. 18% said they had interrupted sleep. Could you imagine being a night shift worker? It must've been a living nightmare. 17% said they had disturbed rest. They do not indicate what rest means. They've already talked about sleep, but is this relaxation rest? But 70% said they were disturbed. 14% of respondents said that. Some point. The Sonic booms had ruined conversations. They weren't having. And 9% report that they couldn't enjoy the radio or the TV. And the report also noted that there was a low general complaint, potential. With 24% feeling like they wanted to complain not actually making the complaint, but just feeling like they want to complain. That's crazy. For what we have heard about from. These little anecdotes of what it was like to live under that. Obviously the people ended up winning. An ascendance because supersonic travel. Overland. Is generally frowned upon. The Concorde and the late eighties and into the two thousands always flew supersonically over oceans. And they were required to slow down Overland. Which then made them. Only work for. Transatlantic journeys. This test, the 1964 operation Bango to. How's how far reaching consequences that you can still see it quoted in articles talking about the rise of supersonic travel again. There are several companies. That are trying to design aircraft to do this. But we always come back to Oklahoma city and what it's like to live under them. Maybe something will be different. Who knows. But I'm sure glad that I was not in Oklahoma city in 1964. You'd have some crazy stories, at least. That's it for today, Oklahoma city Sonic boom tests. It's one of the most underrated stories from the 1960s. I think I heard about. The race through the skies and to space. But we are grateful for the sacrifice because we don't have to live under supersonic booms.