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Military Tests New Bomb in Florida

Aired March 11, 2003 - 14:31   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: We told you just a few moments ago that the Defense Department has successfully tested that MOAB bomb. One of the acronyms is the "mother of all bombs." It is the largest conventional weapon ever tested. It happened off the coast of Florida, the panhandle specifically.
Joining us for more on what people heard and saw there -- undoubtedly it was quite a sight -- is Randy -- Randy Wood. I apologize, Randy. Randy Wood is with our affiliate WKRG in Pensacola.

Randy, my apologies. What did you hear and see?

RANDY WOOD, WKRG: Well, this was an area of northwest Florida that is pretty accustomed to munitions being dropped. They have ranges, of course, out over the water and on the land here at Eglin Air Force Base. And the boom that everybody heard a little bit before 1:00 local time really lasted a mere 10 or 15 seconds.

As a layman, it sounding like a sonic boom to me, but I can tell you in going around and conversing with some of the locals who are accustomed to, again, hearing these frequently, they tell me that it had a much deeper tone.

One woman told me it actually sounded like a bomb to her. Also, they said that it had kind of a longer duration than a lot of the things that they hear.

Now, there were no road closings in or around the bases, and no warnings were issued other than those that were issued through local media. But the people in this community really took it all in stride and were really more interested in a local election going on than the sound of another boom.

O'BRIEN: Randy Wood with our affiliate WKRG in the Pensacola area. Thanks very much. We appreciate it.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired March 11, 2003 - 14:31   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: We told you just a few moments ago that the Defense Department has successfully tested that MOAB bomb. One of the acronyms is the "mother of all bombs." It is the largest conventional weapon ever tested. It happened off the coast of Florida, the panhandle specifically.
Joining us for more on what people heard and saw there -- undoubtedly it was quite a sight -- is Randy -- Randy Wood. I apologize, Randy. Randy Wood is with our affiliate WKRG in Pensacola.

Randy, my apologies. What did you hear and see?

RANDY WOOD, WKRG: Well, this was an area of northwest Florida that is pretty accustomed to munitions being dropped. They have ranges, of course, out over the water and on the land here at Eglin Air Force Base. And the boom that everybody heard a little bit before 1:00 local time really lasted a mere 10 or 15 seconds.

As a layman, it sounding like a sonic boom to me, but I can tell you in going around and conversing with some of the locals who are accustomed to, again, hearing these frequently, they tell me that it had a much deeper tone.

One woman told me it actually sounded like a bomb to her. Also, they said that it had kind of a longer duration than a lot of the things that they hear.

Now, there were no road closings in or around the bases, and no warnings were issued other than those that were issued through local media. But the people in this community really took it all in stride and were really more interested in a local election going on than the sound of another boom.

O'BRIEN: Randy Wood with our affiliate WKRG in the Pensacola area. Thanks very much. We appreciate it.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com