[vannrox]

Cool. GO Bush.

[battlegearboat]

This means everybody better just cool it!

[demosthenes the elder]

I would dismiss this and all speculation about the aurora over the last 12 years as either tinfoil-hattery or misidentification of stealth aircraft... except that back in the '80's I eould have dismissed all speculation about stealth aircraft in the same manner. hrmn...
I dunno, but it'd sure be a nifty gadget to have.

[johnny7]

Sounds like the author of the article got ahold of some bad vodka.

No offense, but I wouldn't believe anything in Pravda.

[Norman Arbuthnot]

I wonder if it looks anything like this?

[nina0113]

How are they going to dominate the Earth if they're a secret?

[The Shootist]

Well, let's see.

The Aurora rumor has been around since the 70's. See Jane's Defense Weekly.

According to Jerry Pournelle all the "X" projects have been cancelled. The X-37 may be restarted but it is a pilotless and powerless test bed that is only dropped from B-52s.

The Gipper wanted the US to develop a "space plane" but all the funding was cancelled during the Bush I administration to help further un-balance the budget.

The Russian press is interesting but often wrong. I would bet that they have continued this tradition.

[The Wizard]

this stuff has been on the Learning Channel

[1Old Pro]

Not a surprise. It would be a surprise if we wer not working on such a plane.

[Space Wrangler]

One of its peculiar features is the fact that the plane takes off from an aircraft-carrier, which is also a plane, not a vessel.

Did anyone catch this little tidbit?? An airborne aircraft carrier? If true, this would be WAY bigger than some little ol' space plane. Notice how it was just casually dropped into the story and nothing else was ever mentioned about it? Wierd.

[PresidentFelon]

Wait till the Ruskies get a load of the US Government's
TR3-B. This particular legend sounds unbelievable, but if you've read as many credible reports of sightings of a huge triangular shaped craft as I have you might not be so skeptical. Anybody remember what several hundred people saw
over Pheonix a couple years ago?

The TR3-B is reported to be triangular shaped and as big as
600 feet per side. The enormous dimensions were necessary to
house the gravity-distortion technology. The crew compartment and reactor of the TR3-B are surrounded by a Magnetic Flux Field Disrupter (MFD). The MFD generates a magnetic vortex field that disrupts or neutralizes the effects of gravity 89% on the central portion of the triangular craft, (containing crew compartment, nuclear reactor, etc.), which is where most of its weight would be. As a result the craft can travel Mach 9 or faster vertically or horizontally, propelled by the nuclear thermal rocket engine. It will reportedly operate in atmosphere or out.

The Magnetic Field Disrupter is contained in a circular
accelerator ring, two feet wide, containing a mercury-based
super-conductive plasma doped with barium, calcium and
gold. The mercury-based plasma is pressurized at 250,000
atmospheres at a temperature of 150 degrees Kelvin, and
accelerated to 50,000 rpm to create superconductive plasma
with the resulting gravity disruption.

The power to run the plasma ring is derived from a small nuclear reactor housed directly under the crew compartment at the top of the aircraft. The crew compartment rotates
360 degrees as the plane can be flown in any direction
in regards to aspect. The nuclear reactor also fires the
multi-node rocket thrusters that are housed in each corner of the triangular craft.

The TR3-B is a reconnaissance platform with an indefinite loiter time. Below altitudes of 100,000 feet it goes slightly less than Mach 9. Above 100,000 feel altitude its speed is much faster.

I have seen one grainy picture alleged to be this craft. I
might be crazy but I wouldn't be surprised if it exists.


For Your Enjoyment,

PresidentFelon

[Liberal Classic]

Here is FAS.org's page on the Aurora

Doesn't suprise me all that much, since we've been working on lifting bodies for decades now, as well as ramjet engines. Also needed has been a replacement for the SR-71 Blackbird.

[xJones]

In other words, America is working on the first ever space army, which would provide the United States with complete domination in near-Earth orbit. It will not be possible for any anti-missile defense complexes to hit such planes, as they will be completely out of reach. The American space army will be able to hit any target on planet Earth at any moment.

This author needs to lay off Star Wars movies. If we were all so powerful, how did 9-11 happen? The Russians have always had an inferiority complex and give us too much credit.

[PAR35]

Whether or not Aurora exists, the "refueling photo" is apparently a fake (but don't tell the Russians).

From one analysis of Aurora (the photo in question is about 3/4 of the way down the page):
http://www.fas.org/irp/mystery/aurora.htm

"It was recently reported than on 27 September 1995 David Morris of Walsall, Cornwall UK took a picture of a triangular shaped plane being refueled by a KC-135, and flanked by a pair of F-111s. The unknown aircraft appeared to be about three-quarters the size of the KC-135. This picture has been widely distributed. However, the "refuelling" picture is a hoax -- it was montaged by Bill Rose for the October 1995 issue of Astronomy Now (UK) magazine. There, it is captioned "A simulation of the refuelling of the top secret 'Aurora'. Photo composition by Bill Rose"

[Centurion2000]

The Russians are just pissed that we've got stuff better than that old FireFox plane :)

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

This "spaceplane" idea has been around for quite some time. All of the info in this "exposé" can be seen on The Learning Channnel on any weekend.

It is the next generation of airliner for commuting quickly to the other side of the planet.
Granted, there are military applications, but I'm sure the major airlines would be anxious to get these things flying on the Pacific Rim routes.

[Joe Hadenuf]

And how is this going to stop some camel faced, religious zombie from infecting one of his goons with the pox and putting him on an American bound airliner?

[Billthedrill]

OK, who's the wise guy who allowed Popular Mechanics to start selling magazines in Russia?

[Charles Henrickson]

"Planet Earth about to be recycled."

[Pookie Me]

Soviet engineers tried to challenge the Americans and designed a unique aircraft called the Buran. Unfortunately, the aircraft proved to be unsuccessful, and competition with the USA failed.

Ya gotta love the Ruskies. Buran was their midget space shuttle, same dimensions as ours, just a tad smaller.

Pookie & ME

[The Great Satan]

Secret American Space Planes to Dominate Planet Earth

Excellent news. We gotta stay one step of those Nazi UFOnauts under the North Pole.