the green flame

Probably not for skinning as drag is an issue with aerodynamics but for underlying structures or fairings as a replacement for honeycomb it would be ideal..

originally posted by: framedragged
a reply to: Forensick

We're just speculating about what you could potentially do if you could generate a plasma which could produce ultrasonic waves in the atmosphere.

Plasmas are just what you get when you put so much energy into a gas that its electrons jump ship and go their own way. The e/m interaction between the positive and negative ions in plasmas give them lots of unique properties. One is that plasmas vibrate. This means you can do the same thing you do with a speaker diaphragm and vibrate the plasma just right right to produce sound waves. 'Ultrasonic' sound waves are just sound waves above the range of our hearing. It's just sound waves that are too high pitched for us to hear.

Based on some scientific papers and a forum mystery from last year there has been some speculation that you can move air out of an airplane's way using a plasma generated ultrasound bubble, which could result in a plane experiencing much less fricitonal drag as it flew/moved through the atmosphere.

Definitely a lot of rabbit holes to explore if you feel like losing some time to the potentially mundane or the possibly fantastic hehe.

I visualize it like this: The air molecules are excited by the ultrasonic array and using the extra energy imparted move out of the way of the focused fields, creating a corridor of extremely low pressure. The pressure from every other direction pushes you through the corridor, as the higher pressure will always tend to equalize itself by moving into the lower pressure zone.

If you're sitting at the bottom of the swimming pool and you blow out some air bubbles, they float up to the top, right? The air has so much less density it floats to the surface just like that, seeking equilibrium. What if you could make the top of the pool (the lower pressure zone)on the wall next to you instead of at the top of the water? Then your air bubble would flow over there instead of to the top...

As I was thinking up this post it occurred to me that the plasma could possibly simply be a side effect of the excitation of the molecules. Perhaps some of them get so excited in the process that they go plasma for an instant. Just a thought.

a reply to: engineercutout

Sure, sounds quite a bit like blowing bubbles in front of a fast-moving torpedo, reducing drag. Russians have one. (Probably not that great compared to regular torpedos as they're super noisy and short range and prevents sensitive sonar seeking.)

I think reducing drag and the disspation from a supersonic shockwave would be the primary benefit. You have to 'get more' than you pay, as you'd have to expend substantial energy powering whatever emitters are trying to make low pressure in front of you.

Suppose you can increase the speed of sound in the air in front of you? Over the ground velocity which used to be supersonic is now subsonic.

Problem is airframes change their aerodynamic properties in different attitudes and speeds.Modelling and wind tunnel tests will find "hotspots" where shockwaves form and boundary layers will separate though.

I think I finally caught this bugger. Problem is it certainly was anything but quiet.

Around 1:am or so on the north facing side massive gutteral after burner sounds shook everything. This isn't uncommon coming from the base but for the life of me I couldn't see anything.

Then at 2 I went to get beer and a burrito. Now facing the open valley I hear this beast of a sound coming my way and can't see anything. Then a beautiful emerald streak shoots across the sky heading east. It resembled a meteorite but was much richer and fuller looking. People in vegas MUST of heard this thing, the sound spanned the valley.

a reply to: Arpad

How high was this streak you think? Your description of it sounds right. How fast do you think you saw it go?

a reply to: BASSPLYR

Hard to say how high, but once the streak appeared it must of been going pretty damn fast. It made noise but no boom, so maybe it was fairly high.

Groningen, Netherland

May 2015

A photographer has taken a photo of a ‘jellyfish UFO’.
If you hadn’t heard of that type of flying saucer before you’re not alone because we had no idea it ‘existed’ either.
But it’s apparently a thing and Harry Perton has taken a photo of the unusual object in Groningen, in the Netherlands.

The photographer only noticed the UFO, which is named after a jellyfish because of its appearance, when he got home after taking pictures in the storm.

‘I was taking photos and suddenly something flashed,’ he said.

‘I decided it must have been a strike of lightning – but back at home I saw something strange in one of the photos that I took – what looked like a UFO.’

The image, which shows an object floating in the night sky and emitting an eerie flash of green light, sparked a flurry of online debate about what it could be.

But the photographer, who posts images on his blog, admitted he thought it was probably something meteorological and not aliens.

a reply to: drwire

To me, the fact that it is pointed at the setting sun says that it is most likely a solar optical phenomenon. Either from ice crystals in the atmosphere or from the camera's optics. Very cool looking though.

a reply to: drwire

That be looking like lense flare to me. Wrong color green too. And wrong shape also to be the green light.

a reply to: drwire

That looks like some kind of hyperspace portal opening up

I have NO idea what that is, very cool looking if it's some kind of natural optical illusion!

a reply to: MystikMushroom

sun dog of some kind?


or ice crystals ...yeah i said ice crystals. if this was the ufo forum oh boy i would be in some hot water.

That's obviously swamp gas that got sucked up in a thermal updraft and reflected the light of the sun.

That or a weather balloon.

MAYBE A PLASMA BLOOM in front of a aircraft opening up a frictionless portal in front of it?

I think it was cleaned up on UFO thread as lenses flare with examples of said flare from others.

I really want to see the real flame but I doubt it will fly down to South Australia just for a fly past!

originally posted by: Arpad
I think I finally caught this bugger. Problem is it certainly was anything but quiet.

Around 1:am or so on the north facing side massive gutteral after burner sounds shook everything. This isn't uncommon coming from the base but for the life of me I couldn't see anything.

Then at 2 I went to get beer and a burrito. Now facing the open valley I hear this beast of a sound coming my way and can't see anything. Then a beautiful emerald streak shoots across the sky heading east. It resembled a meteorite but was much richer and fuller looking. People in vegas MUST of heard this thing, the sound spanned the valley.

I have heard the B1 from Summerlin in Las Vegas....for those who dont know Vegas, Summerlin is about as far from Nellis as you can get. The sound of that plane travels very far and when they leave out of Nellis with a full load they stay on burner for 3 minutes or more minimum. Especially when the air in the valley is hot. You heard the Bone most likely. The streak could be separate from the noise.

a reply to: BigTrain

I've watched a sr71 takeoff from Edwards and its so loud you can hear it for Miles and it vibrates your guts.

B1 is the same way.

But it also means that he could have heard the green machines engines too if she were low and taking off.

But you bring up a interesting point.

I say if you saw the green streak (his description of the streak sounds right) it was probably already at altitude. It shouldn't be that loud at that hight though. Maybe they ran another jet like a b1 to draw attention away from the green streak?


Maybe therecwasca party going on in Nevada that night and the green streak along with a few others were there and he heard two different aircraft both not publicly disclosed. Or it could have been the former. Ordinary jet covering and causing a hopeful distraction while the green lady slips away to do her job.

What size for the green flame theorical lady ?? Fighter size or B-1 size ?? If realy IT exist there is surely no need for something like the SR-72 project.

a reply to: darksidius

Plenty of reasons for the "sr-72" project.

a reply to: darksidius

Theoretically, I think the green lady is somewhere between a fighter and a B-1. Closer in size to the SR-71. It's size will most likely be dictated by the amount of fuel it has to carry and how large the engines can't be so large it takes too much energy to get it to and keep it at ludicrous speed for when it counts.

Theoretically, the SR-72 project and the green lady may not be that far apart.