Winston
Lorenzo von Matterhorn
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They moved the alien saucer! Below: saucer shown leaving in image secretly smuggled out of Area 51.
Mysterious High-Altitude Flight Corridor Was Opened Up Between Area 51 And The Pacific
The restricted strip of airspace bridged the Nevada Test and Training Range with the Pacific Ocean during a few-hour window last Saturday evening.
MARCH 15, 2021
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zo...was-opened-up-between-area-51-and-the-pacific
Excerpts:
Late last week, a curious alert appeared in the Federal Aviation Administration's database of Notices to Airman, or NOTAMs, which, among other things, alerts aviators to chunks of airspace that are temporarily off-limits. The details strongly point to the comings or goings of a high-flying aircraft between either Area 51, also known as Groom Lake, or the Tonopah Test Range Airport, two of the U.S. military's most closely-guarded flight test facilities, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest of San Francisco, California.
The NOTAM, which was first pointed out by users of the Dreamlandresort.com message board, was issued on March 12, 2021, but was only active between 5:45 PM and 8:15 PM local time the following day. This is a very odd time when military aviation training and test activity is usually at a minimum. The notice outlined a path 20 nautical miles wide and 426 miles long at an altitude between Flight Level 450 and Flight Level 600, or 45,000 to 60,000 feet. The exact route, defined by a series of named waypoints, can be plotted using tools available on the website SkyVector.com, as seen below.
This restriction is called a stationary ALTRV, standing for Altitude Reservation Approval Request. In this case, it appears to have offered a sanitized bridge between the NTTR and the Pacific for a high-flying aircraft. This aircraft would not have to communicate or turn on its transponder during the flight through the ALTRV. A source familiar with standard air traffic control procedures tells The War Zone the following in regards to such a restriction:
"There’s plenty of ops that never talk on the radio or turn on a transponder, they just call on the phone to activate airspace, then call when they’re done, the airspace is protected. The aircraft doesn't need [to] talk or squawk while it is out there."
It's also important to note that an aircraft using the corridor in question does not have to be manned. In fact, such a route could exist because it is an unmanned clandestine asset that needs to transit out to sea as easily as possible. As to what aircraft this could be, the RQ-170 is a possibility. While a test variant has been flying in and out of Palmdale as of late, it does so with a chase aircraft that also communicates, at least in part, for the drone and also escorts it through normal airspace. We also know the RQ-170 has spent a lot of time over the Pacific ranges for testing. The even more shadowy and much larger 'RQ-180' is another possibility, but the truth is, it could be anything with a fairly high ceiling, and it certainly isn't new that secret aircraft use the ranges off the California Coast. In this case, they would be venturing there alone, without a tanker nearby, and even possibly during a time of day when it is still somewhat light out.
Plane spotters who religiously monitor radio chatter around the NTTR for hints about movements to or from sites such as Area 51 and TTR did not hear anything that appeared relevant to movement along that route at that time on air traffic control channels. It is possible the aircraft's mission was scrubbed, or this could very well be a feature of such a mission. In the past, when we saw similar postings, no word ever came of any odd radio traffic or tracking info from spotters.
In other words, the aircraft is probably very good at not being seen or heard.
Or maybe it was this:
Was The Secret RQ-180 Stealth Drone Really Photographed Over The Mojave Desert?
A very interesting image may provide our first glimpse of the shadowy RQ-180 or of a ghost from the past.
NOVEMBER 2, 2020
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zo...ne-really-photographed-over-the-mojave-desert
Upon initial examination of the photo, I said to myself "oh, the Polecat's back in the air!" What I am referring to is Lockheed Skunk Works' P-175 Polecat experimental flying-wing drone that was flown in 2005 as a technology demonstrator. It was housed adjacent to Yucca Dry Lake in the Department of Energy's section of the Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR) during its trials. The aircraft eventually malfunctioned and crashed and that was the end of the somewhat mysterious program, or at least that's what we were told.
Yet we know that other Polecat fuselages were built—one of the program's goals was pushing advanced composite structure manufacturing and design to the limits of technology at the time. In fact, one laid shrink-wrapped in the backlot of the Skunk Works sprawling complex at Plant 42 in Palmdale for years—that is until a few years ago.
In fact, the aircraft seen is in the image is a dead ringer for Polecat in every way, including its twin centrally-mounted engines, slender, clipped wings, and bulbous ventral shape. Polecat was also the exact same color and flying it in the middle of the day wouldn't be a huge issue as it is a declassified program.
Why would Lockheed revive Polecat? Well, for similar reasons that the RQ-180 exists, and more. In fact, we posited it was a near-perfect platform for the airborne laser trials that the Missile Defense Agency was planning just a couple of years ago. You can read all about this initiative and the P-175 Polecat in this past piece of ours. A revived and upgraded Polecat could work as a testbed for all types of stealthy flying-wing-related technologies, including some of the components being integrated into the B-21.
Mysterious High-Altitude Flight Corridor Was Opened Up Between Area 51 And The Pacific
The restricted strip of airspace bridged the Nevada Test and Training Range with the Pacific Ocean during a few-hour window last Saturday evening.
MARCH 15, 2021
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zo...was-opened-up-between-area-51-and-the-pacific
Excerpts:
Late last week, a curious alert appeared in the Federal Aviation Administration's database of Notices to Airman, or NOTAMs, which, among other things, alerts aviators to chunks of airspace that are temporarily off-limits. The details strongly point to the comings or goings of a high-flying aircraft between either Area 51, also known as Groom Lake, or the Tonopah Test Range Airport, two of the U.S. military's most closely-guarded flight test facilities, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest of San Francisco, California.
The NOTAM, which was first pointed out by users of the Dreamlandresort.com message board, was issued on March 12, 2021, but was only active between 5:45 PM and 8:15 PM local time the following day. This is a very odd time when military aviation training and test activity is usually at a minimum. The notice outlined a path 20 nautical miles wide and 426 miles long at an altitude between Flight Level 450 and Flight Level 600, or 45,000 to 60,000 feet. The exact route, defined by a series of named waypoints, can be plotted using tools available on the website SkyVector.com, as seen below.
This restriction is called a stationary ALTRV, standing for Altitude Reservation Approval Request. In this case, it appears to have offered a sanitized bridge between the NTTR and the Pacific for a high-flying aircraft. This aircraft would not have to communicate or turn on its transponder during the flight through the ALTRV. A source familiar with standard air traffic control procedures tells The War Zone the following in regards to such a restriction:
"There’s plenty of ops that never talk on the radio or turn on a transponder, they just call on the phone to activate airspace, then call when they’re done, the airspace is protected. The aircraft doesn't need [to] talk or squawk while it is out there."
It's also important to note that an aircraft using the corridor in question does not have to be manned. In fact, such a route could exist because it is an unmanned clandestine asset that needs to transit out to sea as easily as possible. As to what aircraft this could be, the RQ-170 is a possibility. While a test variant has been flying in and out of Palmdale as of late, it does so with a chase aircraft that also communicates, at least in part, for the drone and also escorts it through normal airspace. We also know the RQ-170 has spent a lot of time over the Pacific ranges for testing. The even more shadowy and much larger 'RQ-180' is another possibility, but the truth is, it could be anything with a fairly high ceiling, and it certainly isn't new that secret aircraft use the ranges off the California Coast. In this case, they would be venturing there alone, without a tanker nearby, and even possibly during a time of day when it is still somewhat light out.
Plane spotters who religiously monitor radio chatter around the NTTR for hints about movements to or from sites such as Area 51 and TTR did not hear anything that appeared relevant to movement along that route at that time on air traffic control channels. It is possible the aircraft's mission was scrubbed, or this could very well be a feature of such a mission. In the past, when we saw similar postings, no word ever came of any odd radio traffic or tracking info from spotters.
In other words, the aircraft is probably very good at not being seen or heard.
Or maybe it was this:
Was The Secret RQ-180 Stealth Drone Really Photographed Over The Mojave Desert?
A very interesting image may provide our first glimpse of the shadowy RQ-180 or of a ghost from the past.
NOVEMBER 2, 2020
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zo...ne-really-photographed-over-the-mojave-desert
Upon initial examination of the photo, I said to myself "oh, the Polecat's back in the air!" What I am referring to is Lockheed Skunk Works' P-175 Polecat experimental flying-wing drone that was flown in 2005 as a technology demonstrator. It was housed adjacent to Yucca Dry Lake in the Department of Energy's section of the Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR) during its trials. The aircraft eventually malfunctioned and crashed and that was the end of the somewhat mysterious program, or at least that's what we were told.
Yet we know that other Polecat fuselages were built—one of the program's goals was pushing advanced composite structure manufacturing and design to the limits of technology at the time. In fact, one laid shrink-wrapped in the backlot of the Skunk Works sprawling complex at Plant 42 in Palmdale for years—that is until a few years ago.
In fact, the aircraft seen is in the image is a dead ringer for Polecat in every way, including its twin centrally-mounted engines, slender, clipped wings, and bulbous ventral shape. Polecat was also the exact same color and flying it in the middle of the day wouldn't be a huge issue as it is a declassified program.
Why would Lockheed revive Polecat? Well, for similar reasons that the RQ-180 exists, and more. In fact, we posited it was a near-perfect platform for the airborne laser trials that the Missile Defense Agency was planning just a couple of years ago. You can read all about this initiative and the P-175 Polecat in this past piece of ours. A revived and upgraded Polecat could work as a testbed for all types of stealthy flying-wing-related technologies, including some of the components being integrated into the B-21.
