Mystery aircraft photographed over Texas

J.A.W. said:
Bill Gunston wrote that the B-2 incorporated a powerful electromagnetic system,
- could that be causing the 'mirage'-like shimmering/distortion effect captured by the camera?
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Probably just that most powerful electomagnetic system in the solar system: the sun.

PS Nice to see this turning out to be just another B-2 not using the anti contrail system. Though the claims as to what it must have been were no where near as out-there as the contrails of the airliners flying into LAX over the far horizon a few years ago. That was priceless.
 
Stargazer said:
Raptor_101 said:
picture quality is low, so I can't pin the shape down
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flateric said:
this time it's apparently B-2
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Allow me to differ. Maybe it's got to do with my computer screen's brightness settings, but I can clearly see a triangular shape that is almost exactly the same as that of the cancelled A-12.
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Leading edge sweep looks too sharp to be a Spirit, too.
 
Jeb said:
Stargazer said:
Raptor_101 said:
picture quality is low, so I can't pin the shape down
Click to expand...

flateric said:
this time it's apparently B-2
Click to expand...

Allow me to differ. Maybe it's got to do with my computer screen's brightness settings, but I can clearly see a triangular shape that is almost exactly the same as that of the cancelled A-12.
Click to expand...


Leading edge sweep looks too sharp to be a Spirit, too.
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Looking at the bottom from an angle other than perpendicular will change the apparent angle of sweep.
 
So what? It could be shot not directly from below
 
flateric said:
So what? It could be shot not directly from below
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That's what I mean--it probably looks sharper than a B-2 because the photograph isn't taken at a perfect right angle to the bottom of the plane.
 
Vs B-2:

http://deepbluehorizon.blogspot.nl/2014/04/texas-mystery-aircraft-also.html
 
Here's my try. :) "Normalize" makes it out quite well in xnview.

Attached Mystery plane (I've named it A-12 as that's the closest resemblance from that angle) and B2.
I think it might be just a B-2 at a funny angle.
 

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Can you "normalize" the attached photo?


I don't know which photo postprocessor you are using...
 

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Dunno, sweep is still not right, proportions are not right, and there are no zig zaggy parts in the middle in sight.
 
Stargazer said:
Here is a set of three versions of that photo after applying various filters.
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The middle photo looks a lot like a B2, I'd be surprised if it isn't.
 
Abraham Gubler said:
J.A.W. said:
Bill Gunston wrote that the B-2 incorporated a powerful electromagnetic system,
- could that be causing the 'mirage'-like shimmering/distortion effect captured by the camera?
Click to expand...

Probably just that most powerful electomagnetic system in the solar system: the sun.

PS Nice to see this turning out to be just another B-2 not using the anti contrail system. Though the claims as to what it must have been were no where near as out-there as the contrails of the airliners flying into LAX over the far horizon a few years ago. That was priceless.
Click to expand...






plasma stealth? leading edge appears brighter, visual distortions?
 
kcran567 said:
Abraham Gubler said:
J.A.W. said:
Bill Gunston wrote that the B-2 incorporated a powerful electromagnetic system,
- could that be causing the 'mirage'-like shimmering/distortion effect captured by the camera?
Click to expand...

Probably just that most powerful electomagnetic system in the solar system: the sun.

PS Nice to see this turning out to be just another B-2 not using the anti contrail system. Though the claims as to what it must have been were no where near as out-there as the contrails of the airliners flying into LAX over the far horizon a few years ago. That was priceless.
Click to expand...






plasma stealth? leading edge appears brighter, visual distortions?
Click to expand...

I highly doubt that if this was a 'new' secret aircraft they would 1) Fly it around like they did and 2) Say "let's turn on the super duper secret plasma stealth generator."

Having read AVWeek since 1981 I WANT, desperately even, for a 'reveal' of a new black aircraft preferable a hypersonic bomber carrying weaponized X-51's :eek:, I don't think this is it despite my dreams.
 
Well then, could it be technology a couple of decades old - but being 'revealed' - finally.. or a tease?

Could there be a hypersonic 'Aurora' or similar flying formation - but 30,00ft higher- or dropping in/down on?

& if the photo subject is indeed flying at an angle/turning then surely all I.D. bets are moot?
 
oh, my. don't start this Aurora bullshit regarding that photo.
 
B-2 contour was taken from accurate in-house Northrop drawings and slimmed along wingspan
 

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flateric said:
oh, my. don't start this Aurora bullshit regarding that photo.
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To be fair, when I 1st saw the pix,& posted in this thread
- suggesting it resembled a crescent winged H.P. Victor, I was asked if I was USAF connected, per Aurora..

But - I really figured - it is a B-2..
 
flateric said:
B-2 contour was taken from accurate in-house Northrop drawings and slimmed along wingspan
Click to expand...

To actually emphasis your pictures, here is a quick PSD I did, while playing with the contrasts, we can actually "see" the distinctive shape of a B-2 which is inclined...
For the rest, I believe our brain "wants" to close the triangle :-\.

Cheers.
 

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regarding Amarillo sighting (while I'm still thinking it was B-2 as well)...a rude guess - look at this patch from Trevor Paglen blog and its stars alignment...
 

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flateric said:
regarding Amarillo sighting (while I'm still thinking it was B-2 as well)...a rude guess - look at this patch from Trevor Paglen blog and its stars alignment...
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Anyone on this forum like to have a go at translating the Latin into English that is on the patch.
 
I think it's bad Latin, but I'm no expert. I've seen it translated as "Making something better than just good enough".
 
TomS said:
I think it's bad Latin, but I'm no expert. I've seen it translated as "Making something better than just good enough".
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More simply translated: "Better, rather than good enough".
 
flateric said:
regarding Amarillo sighting (while I'm still thinking it was B-2 as well)...a rude guess - look at this patch from Trevor Paglen blog and its stars alignment...
Click to expand...


Stars appear to be capricorn.
Indigo Delta Kilo = I Don't Know
INDIGO being overhead RADINT.
 
Regarding photo angles affecting angles in photos, don't forget the original photo of the F-117 released in November, 1988. It made the aircraft look wider than it was long, and a couple of model manufacturers that jumped on releasing a kit made it just that way. I think it was only the early 1990s that we knew its true (more or less) shape.
 
kriseric said:
They are planning to declassify a black airframe. Wait for the coming week and see.
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It has been almost three weeks since you wrote that.
 
flateric said:
regarding Amarillo sighting (while I'm still thinking it was B-2 as well)...a rude guess - look at this patch from Trevor Paglen blog and its stars alignment...
Click to expand...

I apologise for this interruption - but was this patch not about the Cobra Brass IR early warning system and the constellation of 'Capricorn' the operational name for the launch (s) involved? I remember a long time back seeing this in a avid enthusiasts collection - it was all space based, not aircraft though.
 
flateric said:
regarding Amarillo sighting (while I'm still thinking it was B-2 as well)...a rude guess - look at this patch from Trevor Paglen blog and its stars alignment...
Click to expand...


You are giving too much credit, where it isn't due. It's not Indigo Delta Kilo.
 
Wichita's mystery aircraft:




<iframe scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen src="http://up.anv.bz/latest/anvload.html?key=eyJtIjoiTElOIiwicCI6ImRlZmF1bHQiLCJ2IjoiMjU4MDAwIn0=" width ="640" height="360"></iframe>


What appears to be identical aircraft. Not reported to be a B-2 in the story.


* Next gen. bomber prototype?? eyewitness states unusually silent and performing 180 degree turns at altitude.

* Blended wing concept for airliner/cargo??


*Farfetched, but hopefully not a new Russian or Chinese bomber penetrating US airspace at will.
(Not making any claims just exploring the possibilities.) :eek:
 
Well, at least we know the Wichita sighting isn't a B-2. I'm shocked at the planform if it's the RQ-180, as it isn't the design one would choose for endurance. Then again, not knowing the actual design requirements for the RQ-180, I can't say if the air vehicle in the image is a good candidate for that role or not.
 
I'm saying this judging by seeing the RQ-180 illustrations, isnt the RQ-180 suppose to be single engine, whereas the aircraft being spotted has got 2 engines ?! or am i wrong ?

EDIT: RQ-180 appears to have 2 engines. sorry. :-\
 
AWST RQ-180 illustrations depicts one of several (and apparently not final) NG SensorCraft iterations having cranked kite ptanform, and it's a single-engined one.
 
You are very correct flateric... however as you said, the illustration not being a final one but i guess it is the only source that we or at least me can take into consideration. My main point is i can not really digest , people saying that it can be RQ-180. I actually judged it quickly by seeing 2 separate outlets, either if that is actually there the contrails which will be produced by that engine from the 2 outlets will be much closer to each other comparing to those that will be left by the flying B-2.
 
UK Daily Mail speculates

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2607840/Is-THIS-SR-72-spy-plane-Mystery-aircraft-spotted-flying-Kansas-just-weeks-seen-Texas.html
 
Well, that's pretty stupid, as expected from the Daily Mail. Whatever that shape is (I'm leaning toward B-2 and odd lighting) it's clearly not a Mach 6 aircraft.
 
A member of ATS(Above Top Secret) by the name of Zaphod58 claims that the aircraft will be revealed in "over two months but less than a year". He's doing a lot of hinting on certain things but never outright confirming anything. He has 30,000 posts and is a mod of the Secret Aircraft Projects part of the board so I'm kind of conflicted here.
http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread1008530/pg1
http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread1008344/pg1

Of course there was the other guy who was a refueler on a tanker(his credentials checked out) who claimed that he refueled a couple of "black" triangler aircraft over Iraq during the 2003 invasion. He claims that they were a stealth ECM/Jamming platform that flew over watch for F-117s.
 
not the same boom operator guy who has posted some pic of refueling over Groom Lake and was forced to remove them afterwards?
 

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