Military jet flyover startles Atlantans

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's maybe a speck of dust on the lens of the iPhone? (Kelley Conway)

Intown Atlanta residents and office workers got quite a shock Tuesday as a military jet buzzed the city.

Twitter immediately lit up with people wondering why their office windows were shaking.

Several people reported seeing a military jet fly by, and one AJC Twitter follower, Kelley Conway, even managed to get a picture of the fast-moving jet, thought to be a Marine F-18.

“Too stunned to get a closer shot, but here’s [a picture] after it turned east,” wrote Kelley on Twitter.

The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed a flyover occurred at 11 a.m. to honor a deceased military veteran.

According to an obituary in the AJC, the funeral for Marine Col. William LeRoy Bates Jr., was held Tuesday at 11 a.m. at All Saints Episcopal Church on North Avenue.

Bates, 91, of Atlanta, died Feb. 22 from complications of an aneurysm.

During World War II, Bates served on the USS Lexington and received battle stars for combat in the Philippines, Iwo Jima, and attacks on the Japanese. He was awarded Silver and Bronze stars for his participation in the Korean War, where he was a company commander in the 1st Battalion, 1st Marines, and fought in the Inchon Landing, the capture of Seoul, the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea, and the fighting in central Korea in the spring of 1951.

Bates made Colonel in 1962 and retired in 1965, after more than 20 years in the Marines, said his daughter Catherine “Cat” Bates Coulmas of Acworth.

As a civilian he worked for a building supply company, in real estate, the construction industry and for the state of Georgia.

Another photo of the plane taken from Atlantic Station. (Vincent Fiano)