A sonic boom from a jet would not cover that amount of space. Maybe we were testing a super sonic missile like the Russians? Pittsburgh AFB has been closed for many years now, no more F-111s to blame.
Why is it that the sonic boom only occurs at the moment the plane crosses Mach 1?
The answer is: It doesn't. Sonic boom first occurs when the plane crosses Mach 1 and the plane continues producing sonic boom as long as the speed stays above Mach 1.
Another part of your question is:
How come sonic booms only occur once?
And the answer is: because the plane flew over you once. If the plane were to turn around and fly over you a second time you'd hear two sonic booms.
When you hear a sonic boom it doesn't mean that that boom was generated at Mach 1. It only means that the boom was generated at speeds equal to or greater than Mach 1. For example, a plane travelling at Mach 3 would still produce a sonic boom but you'd still only hear it once because the “boom” would only reach your ear once.
To understand this you need to understand what a sonic boom is.
Various parts of the airplane generate sound. Form the roar of the jet engines to the whistle of the skin of the aircraft moving through the air.
When travelling at normal subsonic speed. These sounds travel normally through the air and what you hear is a continuous sound of an airplane flying.
When travelling at or faster than the speed of sound, all these sounds arrive at your ear simultaneously. That is to say, if normally you'd be able to hear a plane passing overhead over a period of 10 seconds (for example) then at supersonic speeds all those 10 seconds of sounds (engine roar, woosh of the wings etc.) arrive at your ear at the same moment.
Since all the sounds you'd ever hear from the airplane arrive at the same time, the result is a very loud boom (all the 10 seconds or more of sound added together).
That's why you only hear it once typically.
There are exceptions though. If the plane is long enough, and the nose and tail generate loud sounds, it is possible to experience a double sonic boom caused by the tail generating a second boom. But generally, even a very long plane like the 747 or A380 (or Concorde) would take only a very tiny fraction of a second to travel the length of their body at supersonic speeds. You'd probably need a plane a mile long to experience a proper double boom.
Indeed high altitude sonic booms can be heard over vast distances. IN recent years, Boeing has been testing a SS jet over the Ozarks of MO. I live in between St Louis ( spit, spit, hack) and Springfield, about 25 miles from Fort L Wood. As a combat engineer officer I have quite a bit of explosives experience and when we started hearing the booms that reverberated across central MO, from Mountain Home to Lake Ozark and from Rolla to Springfield indeed could not be demo from highway construction etc.
Turns out the Boeing published the dates of these test flights that were to go SS and sure enough, that boom was reported as described over nearly a 75 mile diameter of area.
Once, on the date and time of a test, I watched two jets at altitude flying probably a mile apart and a third came up the middle and as it came even, it disappeared in a vapor cloud and a boom followed a out 3o seconds later.
Plattsburg....
I thought Pittsburgh, er Plattsburg AFB had BUFFs. They are big and noisy but not supersonic.. ;-)
(I will check with a fellow high school friend who was stationed up there.. ;-)