Hi, I'm a new member and happened upon this thread after checking out some A-10 vids at the college library. I have followed the whole thread and hope that I can shed some light on various aspects of this debate. First of all, I would like to say that if (infact) this is a hoax that Snipe and Boomer shouldn’t be proud of themselves. Misinformation is dangerous in this world, especially when it comes to foreign affairs, things are kept secret for a reason. I only hope that you have maintained your sense of integrity. Humor me for a second, Snipe & boomer, are you former/current military? Anyway, here are some thoughts.
1. LANDING --There have been many questions posed as to how these pictures were obtained from more than one angle. This is a simple question to answer...asuming the pictures are authentic, the aircraft was obviously in a decent entering the landing pattern. Depending on speed and attitude the aircraft may have had to circle a couple times to land appropriately (I once attended an airshow where an F-117 had to circle 4 times to land because he mis-judged his approach angle and had to consider runway length).
2. LOCATION-- If this picture was infact taken near Whiteman AFB, it is widely known that Whiteman is home to slealth aircraft and it wouldn't surprise me if they decided to temprorily house an experimental (or operational) program there.
3. FLAPS -- Boomer theoritically could have taken the pictures before the aircraft lowered its flaps.
4. UCAV -- SataN gave you a URL to Popular Science where you have an article about the UCAV (Un-manned Combat Air Vehicle)... this is a project currently being tested by the military (it was on a number of Discovery Wings Channel documentaries)... the UCAV is actually smaller than any conventional fighter, about the size of a Predator and smaller than Global Hawk. The UCAV has no relation to reconnaisance as it is predominately a fighter aircraft. (Most of the regulars here probably already know that, thought I’d add it in anyway.)
5. CONTROL SURFACES -- Like the B-2 (based at Whiteman AFB) the "aircraft" may have small elevons (combination of elevators and ailerons) which are regulated by computers to keep the aircraft stable... given the attitude of the aircraft in the pictures (they were mostly in straight and level flight) it would be hard to see any control surfaces (as they would be at the rear of the aircraft).
6. POWER PLANT-- The Aurora is rumored to use an Ion-Pulse type engine which is vastly different than anything we have seen before. However testing an aircraft that can fly Mach 5+ would be very hazardous to flights crews and would cause multiple sonic booms... Maybe the government is using an alternate form of propulsion that we haven't seen before .. in a more likely case.. the aircraft uses Ramjet technology (which requires the aircraft to be at incredibly high speeds for the engines to ignite) and other forms of convential technology. Either way it would be naive to presume that the goverment isn't testing aircraft that are capable of high-altitude recon and trans-atmospheric navigation. A few examples are the X-37, X-40, and X-43. (check out
www.fas.org ->x-planes).
-No exhaust or any kind of light emissions are visible on the undercarriage photo of the aircraft...this is highly unusual but the aircraft may have essentially been idling his engine (or inputting it at a very low power setting).
7. For those of you criticizing boomer (if infact he is telling the truth), maintaining anonymity and confidentiality is paramount for him at this point...which is probably why his profile is basically non-existent, I can’t say I blame him.
Well, I have to say I’m on the fence on this one. Some of the photoshop evidence that I have seen seems pretty convincing...making me highly skeptical of the situation. But, as mentioned, scratching, distortion, or various contrails may be to blame. Either way, I've written most of this because I want to believe that these are authentic photos. If they're not, oh well!!! I think that acrimony and flooding don't belong in forums. It will be interesting to see what develops.
Hope the input was helpful.
-Buzz
"The cost of peace is eternal vigilance".
Edited by - buzz2182 on Jan 09 2003 7:53 PM
Edited by - buzz2182 on Jan 09 2003 7:57 PM