Through the viewfinder of his camera,
Ensign John Gay could see the fighter plane drop from the sky heading
toward the port side of the aircraft carrier Constellation. At 1,000 feet,
the pilot drops the F/A-18C Hornet to increase his speed to 750 mph,vapor
flickering off the curved surfaces of the plane. In the precise moment a
cloud in the shape of a farm-fresh egg forms around the Hornet 200 yards
from the carrier, its engines rippling the Pacific Ocean just 75 feet
below,
Gay hears an explosion and snaps his camera shutter once. "I clicked the
same time I heard the boom, and I knew I had it"

What he had was a technically meticulous depiction of the sound barrier
being broken July 7, 1999, somewhere on the Pacific between Hawaii and
Japan.

Right place, Right time.

Yes, very special stuff :)

I love farm fresh eggs ~ especially ones that come with novelty fighter jets in 'em!! ;-)> Great Shot, thanks for sharing it with us.

...holy, speaking about THE right moment... drool ...hoooooornets. Thanks for sharing. .n

This is REAL!!!!! Wow. I'm speachless. Bsteph

Wow - the pic is great!!! erm - but, just curious about his explaination that you repeat regarding the taking of the picture......(not disagreeing with WHAT it is, just HOW it is....erm not clear...read on) As I understand the speed of sound is around 750mph....may be slightly out, but think it's ballpark.....anyways, if the plane was flying THAT fast and he clicked WHEN HE HEARD the sonic boom (given a) the fact that light travels faster than sound and b) his reaction time to the bang), then surely in the time it took for the sound to reach him the plane MUST have travelled more than the approx 15 foot that the 'boom cloud' has travelled down the plane? Does that make sense? And do I seem right or talking out of my buttock cheeks? He musta clicked BEFORE the boom. Musta....lol (",)