It was similar to what I remember hearing as a child the day Texas City blew up and the windows in my school shook.
My cousins who live north of Dallas heard a very loud boom and their dogs went crazy.
Shuttle contact lost, NASA declares emergency
Shuttle seen over Texas before communication lost
Saturday, February 1, 2003 Posted: 9:56 AM EST (1456 GMT)
JOHNSON SPACE CENTER, Houston, Texas (CNN) -- Mission controllers lost contact Saturday with the space shuttle Columbia as it sliced through the atmosphere toward an planned landing at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Search-and-rescue teams from the Dallas-Fort Worth area were alerted and area residents were urged to stay away from any possible debris from the shuttle, which may be hazardous, said NASA public affairs officer James Hartfield.
The Bush administration was preparing to convene a "domestic event" conference among all domestic and military agencies that may be involved in the next step.
NASA officials said they last had contact with the shuttle at about 9 a.m. EST, and it had been expected to touch down at about 9:16 a.m. EST.
The shuttle was at 200,700 feet, traveling at 12,500 mph, when contact was lost.
Video of the shuttle tracking over Dallas showed multiple vapor trails, but NASA spokesman Kyle Herring said it was too early to determine the source.
Steve Petrovich, a police officer in Palestine, Texas, said he heard "a rumble and boom" at about 8 a.m. CDT (9 a.m. EST).
Jim Hubbs of New Boston, Texas, said he heard police discussing over a police scanner "a smoking object going southeast" that disappeared in the Bowie County area near the Arkansas state line.
Officials said no tracking data were available.
Israel's first astronaut was among the 7-person crew.
Columbia is the oldest of NASA's shuttle fleet, first launched in 1981. It was on its 28th mission.