Free Republic

========================================================================== A photograph appears to show a plane flying over Edwards Air Force base that's unlike any aircraft publicly acknowledged by the U.S. Air Force. The aircraft appears similar to the RQ-180, a high-altitude spy drone. The RQ-180’s existence has never been confirmed by the U.S. Air Force. ======================================================================== The image (above) depicts a flying wing-shaped aircraft leaving a contrail in its wake. An observer reportedly took the photo while the aircraft was over the Military Operating Area at Edwards Air Force Base in California. According to Aviation Week & Space Technology, the aircraft “was flying in a racetrack pattern...

A retired Marine with nearly two decades of aviation experience has stepped forward with a compelling theory about a mysterious plane that was spotted flying over Texas last month. On March 10, photographers Steve Douglass and Dean Muskett took pictures of three puzzling aircraft flying over Amarillo, and posted them online in hopes of identifying the planes. Retired-Marine James Vineyard has submitted one of the more interesting explanations, telling the Houston Chronicle he believes they are SR-72 Blackbirds - a spy plane that can cross the U.S. in less than an hour, unmanned.

On the list of Pentagon weapons programs gone awry, the Navy's A-12 Avenger attack jet stands out. The radar-evading, carrier-based McDonnell Douglas plane was 18 months behind schedule and about $1.4 billion over cost when then-Defense Secretary Dick Cheney canceled the $57 billion program back in 1991. The case over the triangular-shaped A-12 Avenger, which was dubbed the "Flying Dorito," has been in legal limbo ever since, going all the way to the Supreme Court in 2011 before being referred back to a lower court. Now, after 22 years, a settlement is on the horizon. Senator Susan Collins told the...