Detroit has close encounter with jet

Thrills at the recent speedboat races along the Detroit river on Sunday were not limited to the water.

An F-18 Navy jet zooming past an apartment in Detroit, the United States, on Sunday, July 12, 2009. [Photo: news.sohu.com]

A photograph taken of an F-18 jet during a military fly-by is gaining nationwide attention. The picture shows the plane turned on its side flying seemingly very close to an apartment building.

"It felt like the sky was falling," said tenant Carol Stover, who saw the jet. "I looked up and saw the jet and I was praying we weren't under attack."

The picture has been published on several media outlets including the Detroit News, the New York Post and on Monday's "Today" show. It was taken by Detroit News photographer Steve Perez.

"As I was going back to edit I saw it and it just kind of jumped out," said Perez. "It's one of those things that's just timing and luck."

Tenant Inez Brown watched the fly-over from her balcony on the 28th floor. "I didn't get the perspective that they were that close. I was like a kid in the candy store. I got a chance to see some professional fighter pilots in action and that's something you don't see everyday. They did some phenomenal maneuvers."

Authorities say the jet was actually about 200 to 300 feet away from the shoreline and that no one was ever at any risk.