What does a sonic boom sound like?

If what I just heard wasn't a sonic boom, then it was either a plane crash, a huge explosion, or a train derailment.

It was a very loud rumble/crash noise that lasted about ten seconds.

Evidently, no one's called it in.

The back side of my property borders the railroad. A train usually comes through between 3 and 4 AM. This wasn't an ordinary train noise, though.

No ground-shaking, so it probably isn't anything big. But it was a very loud, scary noise.

go back to sleep Maddy.

It's probably safe to say the sky isn't fallin'

They don't sound like explosions. More like... well, almost literally "BOOM!" I haven't heard one in years, but I remember the sound and it's almost unmistakable.

And stuff shakes, depending on how close you are.

And very percussive...you can feel it, as much as hear it.

I've been told that the nearest experience to being near a sonic boom's range is either the sound made by Karl Rove after he eats a #10 can of pinto beans or the feeling of me making the Earth move. Kind of a toss-up, really, as is which of these two possibilities makes a person want to toss up the most.

I must warn you that I am under the influence of Chinese cold medicine.

I'm worried that something has happened nearby, but there's been no reports of it on the scanner.

...one sonic boom clapping

A sonic boom is over quickly......a couple of seconds perhaps....

And if you're close enough to it, you could very well feel it......

It's like a "boom" inside your chest.....

No, this was a rumbling crash noise. But it evidently wasn't close-by, because I didn't feel any vibration or anything.

Now I'm hearing train whistles blowing on the tracks...I'm going to listen a second, and if the train goes through with no problem, I'll forget about it.

If you've ever heard a train coupling, that's what it sounded like, except a hundred times louder and longer.

I've heard trains coupling, and that is one loud awesome noise.....

And what you heard was louder and longer? Good grief!

It could have been a train stretching out or compressing. Freight cars have several inches of slack or slide designed into each coupler. When a train has been backing up, all that slack has been compressed. When the train starts to pull the slack stretches out and each coupler will extend to its limit with a bang. This repeated the entire length of a long train of cars will make a noise that can last for the length of time you describe.

Did the sound seem to travel away? Or go from left to right, so to speak? If so, thats what it probably was.

A train stretching out.

on edit to say i lived in Palmdale, CA., not far from Edwards AFB and the Dryden Research center. Heard sonic booms pretty regularly and they are as other posters describe, a low "BOOM" that last at most a couple seconds.

followed by a little rumble, but nothing lasting ten seconds. Haven't heard one in a few years though...

Here on the Gulf Coast, that's usually the first thought...

Doesn't sound like a sonic boom, though.

BOOM!