88 lines
4.3 KiB
Plaintext
88 lines
4.3 KiB
Plaintext
SUBJECT: MACH 8 AIRCRAFT FILE: UFO54
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PART 2
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"I nearly spat my coffee out all over the floor," says
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the 30-year-old Mr. Gibson of his reaction to finally seeing a
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design that seemed to explain what he'd seen three years
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earlier. In a telephone interview from Houston, where he is
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attending an engineering training program, Mr. Gibson says that
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while he couldn't make out much detail of the mystery plane's
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underside, he easily eliminated all other aircraft shapes that
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might explain planes of the same size, including F-111s with
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wings in a swept-back position.
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According to the Jane's report, the "perfect 75-degree
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swept triangle" described by Mr. Gibson corresponded "almost
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exactly" to designs of Mach 5, or hypersonic, aircraft designed
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but not built over the past 25 years. Mr. Sweetman took his
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collected data about the size and shape of the plane and
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descriptions of unidentified aircraft noise reported from such
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places as Edwards and Beale Air Force bases in California, where
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secret planes are often held, and presented them to Paul Czysz,
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an aerospace-engineering professor at St. Louis University for
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an opinion. Prof. Czysz is quoted as speculating that such a
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plane could be powered by liquid methane, which could take it to
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a maximum cruise speed of Mach 8.
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As for selecting Lockheed and Rockwell as the likely
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makers, the Jane's article notes that "Lockheed's financial
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figures have indicated a continuing, large flow of income for
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'classified' and 'special mission' aircraft." The engine
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responsible for the strange noises that have been heard in
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California "is closer to a rocket than to a turbojet," the
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article says. Lockheed and Rockwell worked together on a losing
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bid to build the bomber that eventually became Northrop Corp.'s
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B-2, the Jane's article says. And while it isn't noted there,
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one industry official earlier this year confirmed that the two
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companies had been involved in a classified project for years.
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Figuring that the aircraft would likely be in very low
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production - only 50 SR-71s or predecessor aircraft were made,
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beginning in the early 1960s - the article says that "each
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reconnaissance aircraft could easily cost as much as $1
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billion." Lockheed reported sales of aeronautical systems
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totaling $2.2 billion in 1991, an amount that has steadily
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fallen from the $4.2 billion recorded in 1987.
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Lockheed Aeronautical Systems spokesman Richard Stadler,
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a veteran of having to decline comment on past classified
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programs, says the company won't discuss revenues of any
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classified programs, but adds that at the Skunk Works,
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"supporting the F-117 is the largest program we've got now as
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far as active programs go."
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A spokesman for the Rockwell Rocketdyne division says
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the company doesn't build engines for any reconnaissance
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aircraft, although he adds that Rocketdyne does have some
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classified programs that it can't discuss.
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The speculation about hypersonic aircraft flying over
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California has special interest for that state's residents, many
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of whom have felt what they thought were small rumbling
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earthquakes for nearly a year and a half - only to be told by
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representatives of the U.S. Geological Survey that some peculiar
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unreported aircraft were probably responsible. Scientists have
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referred to the phenomena as "airquakes" and even described the
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speed and size of the aircraft that might cause them. The Jane's
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article suggests that the speed and size correspond to those of
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the mystery spy plane.
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As an author, Mr. Sweetman has had considerable
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experience studying secret aircraft, having written extensively
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on the Stealth fighter before the Air Force disclosed the
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existence of that program. He has since written a book on the
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program. His magazine article engages in heavy speculation of
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course, calling its findings "a tentative analysis."
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When asked about the sightings, a public affairs officer
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at the Air Force, which for years denied the existence of the
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plane now known as the F-117 says, "As far as the Air Force is
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concerned, there is no such program," and satellites are doing
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all reconnaissance work.
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**********************************************
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* THE U.F.O. BBS - http://www.ufobbs.com/ufo *
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