Posted on 02/19/2009 7:02:08 AM PST by yankeedame
The CIA estimates that more than half of the UFOs reported in the 1950s and 1960s were really American spy planes. Here are six (no longer) secret aircraft that people have mistaken for extraterrestrial flying saucers.
By Phil Patton, with additional reporting by Davin Coburn, Erin McCarthy, Joe Pappalardo and Erik Sofge
Published in the March 2009 issue.
Spy and stealth planes—some with bizarre, bat-shaped wings, others with triangular silhouettes that imply otherworldly designs—have long generated UFO sightings and lore. And official denials feed rumors that the government isn’t telling us about alien ships. The CIA estimates that over half of the UFOs reported from the ’50s through the ’60s were U-2 and SR-71 spy planes. At the time, the Air Force misled the public and the media to protect these Cold War programs; it’s possible the government’s responses to current sightings of classified craft—whether manned or remotely operated—are equally evasive. The result is an ongoing source of UFO reports and conspiracy theories. Here are the Earth-built craft that likely have lit up 911 switchboards over the years.
1. RQ-3 Darkstar
Manufacturer: Lockheed Martin/Boeing
First Test Flight: 1996
Deployment: None (it was canceled in 1999)
Declassified: 1995
Size: 15 ft long; 69-ft wingspan
Performance: 288 mph (cruising speed); 45,000+ ft (max. alt.)
UFO Link: The official life span of this unmanned spy plane was brief and disappointing, with a crash and a program cancellation after just three years. But in 2003, Aviation Week reported that a similar stealth UAV was being used in Iraq—fueling speculation that the government scrapped the craft publicly only to secretly resurrect it for clandestine missions.
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2. U-2
Manufacturer: Lockheed Martin
First Test Flight: 1955
Deployment: 1957 to present
Declassified: 1960
Size: 49 ft long; 80-ft wingspan
Performance: 410 mph (max. speed); 85,000 ft (max. alt.)
UFO Link: Designed for high-altitude reconnaissance, the U-2’s long, gliderlike wings and silver color would have been notable to observers on the ground and in the sky. In the 1960s the airplane was painted black to avoid reflections. The U-2 is also famous for being among the first classified planes to be flown from the Air Force’s secret test facility at Groom Lake, Nev.—aka Area 51.
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3. SR-71 Blackbird
Manufacturer: Lockheed Martin
First Test Flight: 1964 Deployment: 1966 to 1990, 1995 to 1998
Declassified: 1964
Size: 107 ft long; 56-ft wingspan
Performance: 2432 mph (max. speed); 85,000 ft (max. alt.)
UFO Link: The tailless spy plane has an even more unusual cross section than the U-2. This Area 51 alum was briefly reactivated in the 1990s, and rumors of a followup—the now-legendary Aurora project—have supplied both UFO believers and skeptics with a possible source of unexplained sightings.
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4. P-791
Manufacturer: Lockheed Martin
First Test Flight: 2006
Deployment: Unknown
UFO Link: Plane spotters’ photos and videos blew the top-secret cover off a 5-minute inaugural flight in Palmdale, Calif. The hybrid airship—it uses gas and a wing shape for lift—fuels speculation that classified airships quietly roam the night skies.
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5. F-117A Nighthawk
Manufacturer: Lockheed Martin
First Test Flight: 1981
Deployment: 1983 to 2008
Declassified: 1988
Size: 107 ft long; 56-ft wingspan
UFO Link: This long-range stealth fighter, which could stay aloft indefinitely thanks to midair refueling, remained classified through much of the 1980s during test flights at Tonopah Test Field Range in Nevada, 80 miles from the legendary Area 51 Groom Lake facility. Along with the B-2 Spirit, the batlike F-117A was a perfect candidate for triangular UFO sightings.
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6. B-2 Spirit
Manufacturer: Northrop Grumman
First Test Flight: 1989
Deployment: 1997 to present
Declassified: 1988 Size: 69 ft long; 172-ft wingspan
UFO Link: Although the long-range bomber was never a true “black aircraft,” since it was displayed to the public approximately eight months before its first flight, an airborne B-2 is a UFO report waiting to happen. It looks like an alien craft from nearly any angle and specifically like a flying saucer when viewed head-on or in profile.
The Blackbird is still one of the greatest planes of all times.
ROFL.
Thanks. My first laugh of the morning.
P-791 was NOT and is NOT Top Secret. If it was so damn secret, why would it have first been flown in broad daylight alongside a major 4 lane highway in Palmdale CA?
What a bunch of buffoons. It’s a technology demonstrator.
SZ
That airplane is abducting that car! It’s an Aeroan Abduction!
And you can walk right up to one at the museum at Hill Air Force Base in Layton, UT. (Probably other museums, too).
As a youngster, I got to see the XB-70 Vakyrie while at Hill AFB.
It’s hard to imagine anyone mistaking the U-2 for a UFO “flying saucer.” I think this article is a stretch.
Yeah, but which one crashed into the windmill recently? Do do, do do.
Edwards AFB has one accessible as well. Palmdale Air Park has an F117, SR, U2 and a boatload of other aircraft and still growing.
SZ
The Blackbird was truly in a class by itself.
Yeah, it is. I saw an interview with an ex Soviet pilot who was involved in attempts to intercept the SR-71. “Spectacular Failure” pretty much sums up what the pilot had to say about their efforts.
You mean UFO’s aren’t really extraterrestrial craft? NO WAY!!!
bttt
Top Secret Aircraft? All so top secret everyone knows about them?
San Diego Air and space has one too
I won't make any Clinton jokes ...
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