Is this a top secret plane?

I took these pictures on a recent trip to area 51. I can't identify the aircraft in these photos, but it didn't look like anything I had seen before. Please comment!

Looks like a UAV of some sort. Couldn't tell you what kind right off hand though. I'll dig this up and maybe throw it to the aviation guys. You may want to ask the mods to move it to Aviation. Those guys can probably ID it pretty quickly.

Looks like a Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter to me.
Its been around for years.



[edit on 6-11-2008 by Erasurehead]

That's not even remotely an F-117. Look closer. It's sleeker and has upward canted wingtips.

I am no expert but I am pretty sure it was not a nighthawk. I have seen nighthawks before and this appeared to be slightly smaller(but it was hard to tell from the distance that I was at.) It could be some kind of UAV but I'm not sure.

It's definitely NOT an F-117. They've been retired, and they're all angled. The first picture looks ALMOST like one, but it's definitely not. The F-117 has vertical fins, this one doesn't. The F-117 fuselage is totally different.


F-117:





Even my girlfriend who is just now learning about planes could tell that it wasn't an F-117.

It's definitely a UAV of some sort. There's no cockpit showing, or anywhere that would appear to have room for a pilot. So it HAS to be a UAV of some sort.

*previous post deleted*

Edit: after finding the get all sizes button on flickr I have to say I have no idea what that thing is, but it looks hypersonic. Looks like a Valkyrie mated with a B2.

If real certainly interesting.

[edit on 6-11-2008 by Zepherian]

Sheesh I've been insulted by a plane expert, even his girlfriend could tell it wasn't an F-117

Tell me that first picture doesn't look like an F-117 flying toward the camara. I am guilty of not looking more closely at the second picture where there is obviously no tail fins. You are right NOT an F-117.

Lockheed Martin was planning to fly two Falcon hyersonic UAVs sometime this year. They're going to use a combined cycle engine. It's going to be a turbine type engine up to about Mach 4, and then the ramjet style engine takes over to push it up to hopefully Mach 10 speeds.

www.flightnest.com...

That's a picture of what Falcon is supposed to look like. It's possible that this is one of the two vehicles.

And you're right, the first pic DOES look like either an F-117 or B-2 coming at the camera. That was my first reaction, until I saw the second pic.

[edit on 11/6/2008 by Zaphod58]

Mine to until I clicked the "all sizes" button in the upper left hand corner and got a fullscreen view. Then I noticed the upward canted wingtips.... To the OP, don't you mean a visit to "near" Area 51?

Well..if it WAS its NOT anymore....

Nice going Einstein... dont worry...that knock at your door is NOT the NSA.



[edit on 6-11-2008 by Alter-Ego]

My 2 Cents...




Possibilities include:

The 2018 Bomber - suposedly a subscale flying demo is being built by Northrop Grumman, perhaps it's already flying...

The Blackswift - LockMart hypersonic airframe of about that size that could possibly have a subsonic flying demo

Blended Wing Bomber X-48 Subscale flying demo by Boeing - no idea why it would be in that neck of the woods though.

Some secret spinoff of the J-UCAS/N-UCAS Northrop X-47 UAV bomber...

or - dare I say it -

UFO - It definitely has a "black triangle" look about it, of particular interest are the 3 points of light underneath and easily visible in broad daylight.

Triangles are not that rare out there, take it from me.

Natalie~



[edit on 11-6-2008 by intelgurl]

This is probably the best picture of a UFO I have ever seen on ATS =). Great job. I hope you do not find any trouble over it hehe.

The light patterns on the bottom are very similar to many of the recent night time pictures you see all over the place. You may have captured the first day shot.

[edit on 6-11-2008 by Xeven]

Aurora plane it looks like. Not many pics of them. try google images. Some pics you get of them will be long and narrow, but some more like what you posted.

[edit on 6-11-2008 by opal13]

Know what is scary than seeing a UFO flying around? An A-10 inside city limits, low and slow.

Ya, UFOs are neat - watch out though, we might be running low on UFOs soon :
www.military.com...

it could possibly be an aurora; or since they are already talking about the "Blackswift" this might be one of the protos;

nice catch,op; did you manage to get any more shots of it? did it leave any particular or distinctive contrail, or distinctive sound as it flew?



seeker

Sorry, I did not get any more shots. I don't recall seeing any contrail but I do remember a sort of a dull roar.

I'm amazed that this thread hasn't got more attention

Because they are a couple of great shots!

Here's a zoom in of the second one:


It seems a bit more swept back and as mentioned there doesn't seem to be a cockpit.

Do you recall how big it is? Intelgurl mentions that it could be a scale model of a new airframe of some sort and I tend to agree. An idea of size would be handy.

nice photo's thanks for sharing with us

looks like a secret military craft and i am sure their not to happy with you right now for sharing it with the rest of the world









[edit on 6-11-2008 by easynow]