I saw an invisible airplane!

This happened earlier today, while I was sitting at a stoplight. And... it was huge!

While I was facing north, a HUGE (roughly) plane-shaped shadow came across the ground, from behind my car (That would mean it was headed S to N.)

This road was about 4 lanes across, with the median the size of a lane. So I'd say the shadow about 55 feet across. The edges of the "plane shadow" went from one end to the other.

I looked ahead to see the plane... but there was nothing, either ahead of me, or to the sides (I thought that the shadow might have been cast diagonally.)

Stranger still, I did not hear anything.

Let me say that I am used to seeing airplanes, large and small, fly close to the ground. Within 50 miles of me there are 3 major airports (DFW, Love Field, and Alliance) and 4 or 5 smaller ones. Every variaty of plane possible flies over my house and city on their takeoff and landing paths. So I know what planes look like
when they fly low, and how to get a rough idea of what size of shadow corresponds to what height. More importantly, I know what they sound like.

I don't think any plane would be able to fly low enough to cast that kind of a shadow, and still be safe. I've seen Cessnas and other small planes fly very low, but they cast a small shadow.

The shape and this shadow looked like it would correspond to a large passenger or cargo plane, but 1. No plane that big would fly that low over a city and 2. It would have been easy to see in the sky and 3. I would have heard it! Even over traffic, those things roar.... but there was nothing.

Also, this was not a "cloud shadow--" the only clouds around were small and whispy, and not moving nearly fast enough to create that kind of illusion.

Honestly, I think I saw an invisible airplane.

Has anyone else experienced something like this?

Edit to add: My theory is that it was covered with the fiber-optic stuff that makes an object seem invisible, I can't beleive I forgot to say that...


[edit on 25-8-2008 by asmeone2]

Once in the Gulf of Mexico Wonder Woman came swooping down silently and flew across my bow in her invisible jet, waiving and smiling. I had been at the helm for 3 days and I was hallucinating. I could see her whole costume. I have had shadows from planes fall on me and had a very hard time locating them as they went into clouds.

If the aircraft was invisible it could not have cast a shadow due to the physics of light.

If you saw a shadow, you could have seen the plane. If you didn't see it, then either the shadow was from something else, or you merely weren't looking in the right direction.

It is possible that if the aircraft existed, the second it flew over you it activated its cloaking mechanism, but why would such a valuable technology be used in plain sight?

I did see a shadow of a large plane once and could not locate the plane it was created by. However, I was driving and could not really look as carefully as I wanted to, and so presumed it must be somehow out of my line of vision.

Your post makes me wonder. My own experience was "odd" enough that I remembered it, but I justified it in my own mind by assuming it must be out of my line of sight.

Considering that science is hard at work on a "cloaking" technology, and we know it is possible, your story makes me consider the possibility that perhaps they are further along in the work than we know.

news.bbc.co.uk...

Researchers in the US and Britain have unveiled their blueprints for building a cloaking device.

www.cosmosmagazine.com...

PARIS: The age-old fantasy of rendering objects invisible took a sharp step toward reality Sunday when scientists said they had created a material that can bend visible light in three dimensions.

Or, another ATS-like possibility, there has been much speculation that 2008 will be "year zero" in terms of time travel. Because of the firing up of the supercollider. This is from my favorite science mag, but unfortunately they only open the entire article to subscribers. But you will get the point.

www.newscientist.com...

AS YOU may have heard, this will be the year. The Large Hadron Collider - the most powerful atom-smasher ever built - will be switched on, and particle physics will hit pay-dirt. Yet if a pair of Russian mathematicians are right, any advances in this area could be overshadowed by a truly extraordinary event. According to Irina Aref'eva and Igor Volovich, the LHC might just turn out to be the world's first time machine.

It is a highly speculative claim, that's for sure. But if Aref'eva and Volovich are correct, the LHC's debut at CERN, the European particle physics centre near Geneva in Switzerland, could provide a landmark in history. That's because travelling into the past is only possible - if it is possible at all - as far back as the creation of the first time machine, and that means 2008 could become Year Zero: a must-see for the ...

So, maybe they have the technology for full cloaking in the future, but they cant cloak the shadow, and so they made their sightseeing vehicles in the shape of a current passenger plane so they can tour us without scaring the hell out of us.

Just some speculation.

Originally posted by Darkpr0
If the aircraft was invisible it could not have cast a shadow due to the physics of light.

Hmmm. It appears you may be correct.

science.howstuffworks.com...

This is what metamaterials theoretically can do: They guide light around an object, rather than reflect or refract the light. So to the light waves -- and the human eye that perceives them -- the object might as well not even be there. If the light waves can be guided by the metamaterials around the object and back to its original course, the object wouldn't cast a shadow, either. This is another goal of using metamaterials to create cloaking devices.

Well, there goes that brilliant, but terribly flawed theory.

Although, I suppose it could be some crappy in between invisibility thing that did one but not the other. The phrasing of the article leaves it possible that that could happen.

[edit on 25-8-2008 by Illusionsaregrander]

This isnt new - I saw this on Future Weapons a year ago. They showed a man in uniform in full cloak and explained it just like the article on DC

dsc.discovery.com...

You could not see the guy unless you were looking for him. Like heat shimmering off pavement that is what you saw a shimmering reflection of everything behind or around him. It was kinda creepy.

If the general media is just releasing this I am sure the gov has had it for some time now.

reply to post by Illusionsaregrander


Actually I was thinking it might have been made of or covered with that fiber optic stuff that makes a picture of whatever's on the other side of it.

The tech is over a decade old, and was on tv last night as a coincidence. It is a thin film covering that senses what is behind every angle and then displays it. If you look up and its blue the film colors the bottom blue. If it passes a cloud it mimics the cloud very much like the lizards in many places in the world. Although they look invisible you can see heat waves from the engines and hear noise.

Originally posted by rezial666
This isnt new - I saw this on Future Weapons a year ago. They showed a man in uniform in full cloak and explained it just like the article on DC

dsc.discovery.com...

You could not see the guy unless you were looking for him. Like heat shimmering off pavement that is what you saw a shimmering reflection of everything behind or around him. It was kinda creepy.

If the general media is just releasing this I am sure the gov has had it for some time now.

I have heard of that beind put on tanks, it's no strech it might be on a plane, as well.

Originally posted by Illahee
The tech is over a decade old, and was on tv last night as a coincidence. It is a thin film covering that senses what is behind every angle and then displays it. If you look up and its blue the film colors the bottom blue. If it passes a cloud it mimics the cloud very much like the lizards in many places in the world. Although they look invisible you can see heat waves from the engines and hear noise.

It was about 100 degrees so I don't know if the heat waves would have been that apparent. Besides, I didn't know exactly where to look, so I could have overlooked that completely.

reply to post by asmeone2


I saw a short bit of info on the net that told about new things
in aviation and there is a device to be used on USAF aircraft
that electronically? or by computer allows the airplane to change
the color of the craft to mimic the sky's color so it appears to
be INVISIBLE. If this is a STEALTH airplane.......it's hard to see
on RADAR or by your eyes. Now all we need is alien/Ufo tech-
nology for the noiseless Saucer propulsion unit.

D.B. Landry

reply to post by asmeone2


Here's a hint. If it was invisible, it would not have created a shadow

Originally posted by jfj123
reply to post by asmeone2

 

Here's a hint. If it was invisible, it would not have created a shadow

Hi JFJ,

You may not have seen it but I edited the OP to say that I thought it might have used fiber-optic technology which makes it appear to be invisible by mimiking what is beyond it on the side you are looking at.

The plane is still physically there, so it would indeed have cast a shadow.

Originally posted by D.B.Landry
reply to post by asmeone2

 

I saw a short bit of info on the net that told about new things
in aviation and there is a device to be used on USAF aircraft
that electronically? or by computer allows the airplane to change
the color of the craft to mimic the sky's color so it appears to
be INVISIBLE. If this is a STEALTH airplane.......it's hard to see
on RADAR or by your eyes. Now all we need is alien/Ufo tech-
nology for the noiseless Saucer propulsion unit.

D.B. Landry

I wondered if it was a test of some kind to see how it would be noticed over populated areas.

Originally posted by asmeone2

Originally posted by jfj123
reply to post by asmeone2

 

Here's a hint. If it was invisible, it would not have created a shadow

Hi JFJ,

You may not have seen it but I edited the OP to say that I thought it might have used fiber-optic technology which makes it appear to be invisible by mimiking what is beyond it on the side you are looking at.

The plane is still physically there, so it would indeed have cast a shadow.

Very possible then. I know there are several companies experimenting with applying electrical current to metal paints to create memetic responses

Here's a quick example I found
blog.wired.com...

[edit on 25-8-2008 by jfj123]

Very possible then. I know there are several companies experimenting with applying electrical current to metal paints to create memetic responses

Here's a quick example I found
blog.wired.com...

[edit on 25-8-2008 by jfj123]

That is exactly the kind of thing that I was thinking about, so thanks for posting the link. If that's what's in the private sector, then imagine what isn't!

Originally posted by asmeone2

Very possible then. I know there are several companies experimenting with applying electrical current to metal paints to create memetic responses

Here's a quick example I found
blog.wired.com...

[edit on 25-8-2008 by jfj123]

That is exactly the kind of thing that I was thinking about, so thanks for posting the link. If that's what's in the private sector, then imagine what isn't!

I read an article, which I will try to find, that discussed some of the possible 2nd gen addons to the F22 Raptor. One of the addons was a skin that had sensors and would change colors depending on the environment it was flying over, under, through, etc..
I believe the source article was from DARPA if that helps.

Interesting read here thanks.
I have just recently started reading about the supposedly "new" invisibility tech that we have. But as I think we all know, when we are finally told of a new technology, it has actually been around for many years, and they only give us hints of it and make it sound brand new. I would not be suprised at all if there is a way to make an entire airplane invisible. I will do a little research on this subject and see what if anything I can find. Thanks again for the OP.

Originally posted by stealthsurfer
Interesting read here thanks.
I have just recently started reading about the supposedly "new" invisibility tech that we have. But as I think we all know, when we are finally told of a new technology, it has actually been around for many years, and they only give us hints of it and make it sound brand new. I would not be suprised at all if there is a way to make an entire airplane invisible. I will do a little research on this subject and see what if anything I can find. Thanks again for the OP.

You're welcome.

I have no doubts that such technology is workable, in some way, and I am very curious if anyone else could have had an experience like mine.

Originally posted by jfj123

Originally posted by asmeone2

Very possible then. I know there are several companies experimenting with applying electrical current to metal paints to create memetic responses

Here's a quick example I found
blog.wired.com...

[edit on 25-8-2008 by jfj123]

That is exactly the kind of thing that I was thinking about, so thanks for posting the link. If that's what's in the private sector, then imagine what isn't!

I read an article, which I will try to find, that discussed some of the possible 2nd gen addons to the F22 Raptor. One of the addons was a skin that had sensors and would change colors depending on the environment it was flying over, under, through, etc..
I believe the source article was from DARPA if that helps.

I think this plane was bigger than an F22 though. If it was a fighter or private sized plane, it would have been low enough that I'd have seen it. SO I'm leaning towards a big (even a huge) plane, flying very low.

What interestes me more is the lack of sound, though.

A big plane simply could not fly that low without making a monsterous sound.

To give some perspective, when I see planes fly over my backyard, and appear to be 4-5 inches in the sky, they sometimes cast a shadow about 1 foot long if the light is right. The sound of it is deafening, and can be heard about 15 seconds before it appears and disappears.

This shadow as I said was about 50 feet wide.... maybe 30 at the smallest... and not a sound.




[edit on 25-8-2008 by asmeone2]