To my knowledge, sonic booms don't cause flashes and cause reactions to skin and eyes. When I spoke with the decontamination leader from our camp later on, he advised me that his test kit detected mustard gas and lewisite. Lewisite vapors cause stinging and burning and irritation to the eyes and upper respiratory tract. Its smell could be confused with ammonia. The injurious effect of mustard gas is associated with its ability to inhibit many enzyme systems of the body.
Death is associated mainly with necrosis of the tissue of the central nervous system.
The FOX accurately detects 60 known chemical agents simultaneously using a highly sophisticated, laboratory-quality mass spectrometer. On the evening of the first day of ground attack, we detected Lewisite blister vapors in the vicinity of N28 50' E47 50'. I reported the findings to Division Headquarters and requested directions in regards to the chemical agent print-out. I was told to forward the tape up the chain of command. A report came back that our equipment was only activated by oil smoke.