the sonic boom is a sound linked with the shock wave that is produced by an aircraft or other object flying faster than the speed of sound the sonic boom produces enormous amounts of sound energy and sounds like an explosion or thunderclap to the human ear when an aircraft travels through air it produces a series of pressure waves at the front and back of the aircraft these waves pass at the speed of sound and as the speed of the object rises the waves are forced together or compressed because they cannot get out of each others path quickly subsequently they merge into a single shock wave which moves at the speed of sound a critical speed known as mach 1 and is about 1235 kmh 767 mph at sea level and 20 c 68 faccording to encyclopdia britannica when an aircraft travels at subsonic speed the pressure disturbances or sounds that it generates extend in all directions because this disturbance is transmitted earthward continuously to every point along the path there are no sharp disturbances or changes of pressure at supersonic speeds however the pressure field is confined to a region extending mostly to the rear and extending from the craft in a restricted widening cone called a mach cone as the aircraft proceeds the trailing parabolic edge of that cone of disturbance intercepts the earth producing on earth a sound of a sharp bang or boom when such an aircraft flies at a low altitude the shock wave may be of sufficient intensity to cause glass breakage and other damage the intensity of the sonic boom is determined not only by the distance between the craft and the ground but also by the size and shape of the aircraft the types of maneuvers that it makes and the atmospheric pressure temperature and winds if the aircraft is especially long double sonic booms might be detected one emanating from the leading edge of the plane and one from the trailing edge