[John H K]

The only really legitimately decent job of keeping anything of significance secret recently was the Stealth Fighter; it was around and operational for a while even before the Aviation Leak & Space Technology stuff started, and even after the rumors made it out and there were plastic model airplane kits of the supposed "F-19" they got the appearance and the designation of the stealth fighter TOTALLY wrong (remember, it was supposed to be smooth and curved?).

[Sloth]

and there were plastic model airplane kits of the supposed "F-19" they got the appearance and the designation of the stealth fighter TOTALLY wrong (remember, it was supposed to be smooth and curved?).

I bought one of those kits. It looked sort of like a manta ray stretched lengthwise. To their credit, the box the model came in did stipulate something about the design being supposition.

[Oztrich Boy]

The only really legitimately decent job of keeping anything of significance secret recently was the Stealth Fighter; it was around and operational for a while even before the Aviation Leak & Space Technology stuff started,

That was a brilliant piece of misdirection. Sometimes I wonder if Tom Clancy knew, becuse everthing he wrote about the Stealth in Red Storm Rising is completely wrong (except the manufacturer's name).

But even in this case, the most accurate early speculation on the shape was published in a Soviet publication circa 1980.