6 Top-Secret Aircraft that are Mistaken for UFOs

6 Top-Secret Aircraft that are Mistaken for UFOs

www.popularmechanics.com

Spy and stealth planes—some with bizarre, bat-shaped wings, others with triangular silhouettes that imply otherworldly designs—have long generated UFO sightings and lore. And official denials feed rumors that the government isn’t telling us about alien ships. The CIA estimates that over half of the UFOs reported from the ’50s through the ’60s were U-2 and SR-71 spy planes. At the time, the Air Force misled the public and the media to protect these Cold War programs; it’s possible the government’s responses to current sightings of classified craft—whether manned or remotely operated—are equally evasive. The result is an ongoing source of UFO reports and conspiracy theories. Here are the Earth-built craft that likely have lit up 911 switchboards over the years.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Its really a whos who of Black Projects

1. RQ-3 Darkstar
2. U-2
3. SR-71 Blackbird
4. P-791
5. F-117A Nighthawk
6. B-2 Spirit

I think they missed plenty though. Lord knows what is flying out of Creech AFB these days. Im sure its more than Reapers and Predator C's. There are persisten rumors of a ultra black recce UAV used in the second gulf war that is the Black followon to the Darkstar among others.

The USAF runs the programs under the umbrella of its Big Safari program.


www.popularmechanics.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Have the P-791 and Darkstar been used widely enough to really account for any UFO sightings? I know the Darkstar has supposedly been put into service in a larger form but even so I can’t imagine it being used around any significantly populated places; rather stuck into the back of a C-5, flown out to Diego Garcia or wherever and flown from there.

Edit for really bad typing.


[edit on 19-2-2009 by Mike_A]

[edit on 19-2-2009 by Mike_A]

Unless you're inside, it's silly to even take a guess at how many top-secret aircraft are currently flying. This list is, in all likelihood, just the tip of the iceberg. I tend to believe that most of the aircraft assigned the "outer space" tag are in fact of our own creation. Without knowing the precise variety of operable secret aircraft, every unusual craft first receives the "terrestrial" designation. Unless I see a little green man step out of it, or a maneuver that is entirely inexplicable or in opposition to the foundations of science, I can't comfortably assert an extraterrestrial birth. And therein lies the frustration of modern extraterrestrial ufology.

[edit on 19/2/09 by paperplanes]

Nice article except I don't see how anyone can confuse a U-2 with a UFO, shouldn't have been included.

Nice thread! I can see how the P-791 and Darkstar might be mistaken, especially the P-791 at night. However an SR-71's light pattern is pretty much a dead giveaway if you can spot one flying low enough to the ground, and the U-2? I don't see how you could mistake that unless you ignore the wings completely.

Funny how the shape of the F-117A approaches a triangle but doesn't quite get there.

[edit on 19-2-2009 by sos37]

Good point sos37. In this thread I've broken down just about every classified, secret craft that the US, Germans, Canadians, Russians, etc. have worked on and I think it's pretty conclusive that none of them mimic the triangle craft photographed during the '89 Belgium flap.

[edit on 1-4-2009 by Xtraeme]

reply to post by Leto


If you didn't know what one was, and you saw an aircraft flying so high it was barely a speck, then you could easily confuse it for a UFO. It was the first manned non-rocket plane capable of flying above 60,000 feet for sustained periods of time.

This article's source is not new.

The CIA's historian came out with this a while ago.

Frankly it reeks of disinformation. None of the aircraft listed come close to being adequate explanations for the numerous flying saucer shaped UFOs sighted by civilian and military pilots for the last 6 decades.

Hey FredT,

I remember seeing shots taken from a runway in Saudi Arabia during GW1 of an unrecognized aircraft taking off.
I think they were in pop sci, the article postulated it was the latest in tactical high speed recon.

Do you have a clue as to what it might have been.

Honestly the "top secret black project aircraft" mantra for ufo sightings is getting old.

There are so many sightings in so many places around the world that would have no reason for a top secret experimantal craft to flying around.


Why would the USAF risk incredably sophiticated technology falling into unwanted hands, should something happen, experimental aircraft to crash on occasion.

Sure if you see something wierd in the american deserts, or around cities in ca, it could be a experimantal plane, I saw the a prototype for the f117 making a pass over my city(150 miles from nellis) in the mid 80's. And Ive seen a B2 and B1's in the desert and have seen an sr71 in flight in the late 70's, one had to do an emergency landing at the local ANG base.
Not one of those did i ever consider a ufo even when i was a kid.
And the one bonafide UFO ive seen, there was no way it was built on earth, the thing was massive (1000-1500' across).

I have seen a brilliant pulsing light, rise from behind the the sierra nevada mtns and go from the SE to the NW on several occasions, just after dusk. I have seen it on a return path on one occasion.

I think this is the newest in strategic recon vehicles

reply to post by punkinworks09


I don't know if it was flying in Gulf War I, but in OIF there were reports from U-2 pilots of an unknown UAV flying at their altitude. It was reportedly a bigger version of the Dark Star Tier III Minus.

The USAF has been known to fly black projects in combat zones, especially UAVs, since they can always blow them up if something goes wrong.

Do you have any copies of the picture with that aircraft in it?

Originally posted by punkinworks09


Honestly the "top secret black project aircraft" mantra for ufo sightings is getting old.

There are so many sightings in so many places around the world that would have no reason for a top secret experimantal craft to flying around.

Black projects replace the swamp gas and weather balloon "explanations" of times past. The disinformation groups are having it both ways: cover for their black projects and plausible deniability of real U.F.O.s being in our skies.

Ive seen this list before, but I have to say it's gotta be outdated. Anyone who is even a slight UFOlogist has seen all of these planes before, and would have a tough time mistaking them for anything else.

Newer aircraft, maybe. But these are all older models.

reply to post by FredT


At the time these aircraft were spotted, they were UFOs. Hence the term "Unidentified Flying Object".

Of course, these top secret airplanes were probably in flight from the 70s and on. How would you explain UFO sightings in the 30s thru 60s?

reply to post by guppy


The U-2 and SR-71 first flew in the 1950s. There were also MANY X projects in the 1940s and 1950s, as well as aircraft that were developed for WWII, and the start of the jet age.

Originally posted by Zaphod58
reply to post by punkinworks09

 

I don't know if it was flying in Gulf War I, but in OIF there were reports from U-2 pilots of an unknown UAV flying at their altitude. It was reportedly a bigger version of the Dark Star Tier III Minus.

The USAF has been known to fly black projects in combat zones, especially UAVs, since they can always blow them up if something goes wrong.

Do you have any copies of the picture with that aircraft in it?

Wow, there not much outthere regularly flying at U2 altitudes.

I wish saved the mag, what was shown in a series of three shots taken from outside the fence at one of the saudi bases, was definately a manned craft it was somewhat deltaish shaped with twin inward canted rudders and twin engined.
The pictures were taken at dusk just as the aircraft was taxiing for take off.



I had a longtime friend that was a U2 pilot, I wish he was still alive, he piloted the U2 that crashed in Orroville Ca in 96-97?. He could have ejected but stayed with the aircraft and managed to put it nose down into a small parking lot and kept it from crashing into a nieghborhood.

In the early 80's I was in the navy stationed at Moffett Field California which sets right between Lockheed and Nasa...I dont see how any of the craft mentioned would be seen as a ufo.... but there are a lot of uninformed folks out there....a ufo will difinitly have a non-human trait about it no matter what type you see. you'll know.

Originally posted by Grayelf2009
In the early 80's I was in the navy stationed at Moffett Field California which sets right between Lockheed and Nasa...I dont see how any of the craft mentioned would be seen as a ufo.... but there are a lot of uninformed folks out there....a ufo will difinitly have a non-human trait about it no matter what type you see. you'll know.

False. A UFO is an object that is flying that cannot be identified. Unidentified Flying Object. You are confusing the term "UFO" with "Extra-terrestrial"

reply to post by cautiouslypessimistic


ok you got me you know what I mean ,,,,well thats what I meant ....I am far from a good writer.

When I got this particular magazine in the mail last month I read it, and was thoroughly disappointed at the lack of actual investigation put forth by PM. They usually do a pretty good job of covering at least 80% of the bases, this time they dropped the ball. The explanations they attempted to put forth, while could explain some of the sightings, stretched credibility almost to the " light refelcting through swamp gas" extreme. I agree that U.S. Black Projects (current) can be assumed for 40-60% of sightings. However to try and just dumb it all down to flares and outdated recon aircraft is wholly irresponsible for a journalist, or group thereof.

[edit on 1-4-2009 by djvexd]