Supersonic Jets Shatter Brazilian Court Building


If you’re tuned into Brazilian national politics, maybe there’s some sort of metaphor here. But for the rest of us, awesome video of sonic boom resulting in massive destruction! — these fighters just ruined Brazil’s Supreme Court.

The Aviationist reports the two Mirage 2000 fighters in the video above were taking part in yesterday’s “ceremony of exchange of the national flag”, which is apparently a big enough deal in Brazil to warrant low-altitude supersonic flyovers. Such things are usually a lot of fun to watch, but in this case, the sonic booms and resultant spike in air pressure managed to shatter almost every window in the Supreme Court building — watch the right side of the video for the first few seconds. Nothing says bombastic display of national pride like two symbols of national pride breaking all the windows in another symbol of national pride. [The Aviationist]

Update: Architizer points out that the building is the work of famed Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer and that several other buildings in the public square (also designed by Niemeyer) were damaged by the booms.