F-15's Attempt to Intercept Mystery Aircraft Over Oregon

[Airbubba]

Aviation journalist Tyler Rogoway just posted an article about a recent incident where airliners were asked to visually identify an unknown white aircraft estimated to be around FL370. At some point Portland Air Guard F-15C's were launched with no joy. No transponder or TCAS target, just visual and a primary radar return:

Airliners And F-15s Involved In Bizarre Encounter With Mystery Aircraft Over Oregon (http://amp.timeinc.net/thedrive/the-war-zone/16079/airliners-and-f-15s-involved-in-bizzare-encounter-with-mystery-aircraft-over-oregon)

Something quite out of the ordinary occurred in the skies over Oregon on October 25th, 2017. A mystery aircraft was flying in daylight hours among the steady stream of airliners that traverse from south to north, between locales in California and Nevada and cities like Portland and Seattle and beyond. The incident began, at least as best we can tell, around 4:30pm near the California-Oregon border and resulted in multiple pilot eyewitnesses, recorded air traffic control audio, and eventual confirmations from both the FAA and North American Aerospace Command (NORAD) that it did indeed occur.

Rogoway links to some LiveATC.net audio that has the controller ask Southwest 4712 OAK-PDX, United 612 SFO-PDX and SkyWest 3478 PDX-SMF for visual tracking information.

Here are slightly different links with both sides of the ATC conversation starting about 21 minutes into the first clip:

http://archive-server.liveatc.net/kmfr/ZSE-KMFR-14-15-Oct-25-2017-0030Z.mp3

http://archive-server.liveatc.net/kmfr/ZSE-KMFR-14-15-Oct-25-2017-0100Z.mp3

From Tyler's article:

After reading this account and listening to the audio it was clear that the incident was worth looking into on a much deeper level, and that's what we did, inquiring with the 142nd Fighter Wing based at Portland International Airport, North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), and the FAA about the odd ordeal.

NORAD's reply was quick and clear. An incident involving multiple airline crews, air traffic control, and F-15Cs from the 142nd Fighter Wing based out of Portland did occur. According to the limited information NORAD supplied, airliner pilots were asked by FAA air traffic controllers to help track and possibly identify a "white aircraft" traveling in the flightlevels nearby—roughly between 35,000 and 40,000 feet based on the radio recordings. NORAD also said that the incident did result in F-15s from Portland being scrambled to investigate, but by the time they got up and "looked around" the mystery aircraft couldn't be found.

A quick note on the fighter jet aspect of this story—the 142nd Fighter Wing operates F-15Cs upgraded with the most capable air-to-air radar set in the world (AN/APG-63V3) and Sniper advanced targeting pods for long-rang visual identification. Their pilots are some of the best in the world and are highly trained in the homeland air defense mission. The fact that they "didn't find anything" is surprising to say the least. Maybe this was due to the nature of the aircraft being searched for, or the possibility that they launched long after it was first sighted, or that we simply aren't being told the whole story.

Drug runner Lear 25 with the transponder off? Northbound? :confused:

[West Coast]

Russians...

[Davef68]

More likely Trump's New World Order buddies

[brakedwell]

Farrige on his way to meet Trump?

[MPN11]

Wee Fat Wun escaping to Iran?

[NutLoose]

Mugabe's newly owned state airline doing a practice escape run?

[short bus]

If you were really trying to get somewhere undetected, would flying FL370 near and through regular routes be what you would choose?

The area is fairly rural and mountainous, how hard would it be to stay off ATC radar flying low amongst the terrain?

[A_Van]

...

The area is fairly rural and mountainous, how hard would it be to stay off ATC radar flying low amongst the terrain?




Steve Fossett's plane disappeared in 2007 (though he was obviously not "hiding") and was only found a year later (in sept 2008). And not in the middle of the Pacific, but in Ca. ....

[unmanned_droid]

F-15C with Sniper pod?

[YellowTom]

They use it for long range/all weather visual ID.

[unmanned_droid]

They use it for long range/all weather visual ID.

OK, that's new info for me, thanks!

[F-16GUY]

They use it for long range/all weather visual ID.

Visual and all weather does not jive.

The Sniper pod is a TV and IR targeting pod with both air to ground and air to air modes. In air to air you will be able to make an "Eyeball" ID at about 5 to 10 nautical miles vs a fighter size target in good atmospheric conditions (no haze or clouds). Targets the size of airliners, you will probably be able to "Eyeball" at 20 to 25 nautical miles depending on the atmospheric conditions and their aspect.

[Airbubba]

According to a mutual friend, former Blue Angel Larry Packer was forced to abandon his Navy callsign when he went to the PDX F-15 Air Guard unit years ago.

His former callsign was 'Fudge'.

[gums]

Salute!

TNX for the update, "Guy".

I was under the mistaken impression that the pod was mainly for A2G stuff, but I have not been close to the community except for folks like you.

I can remember when the Eagle guys taped rifle scopes to one side of the HUD to get a long range I.D. 'course, we had TISEO and such for some planes back then but not on the early Eagles.

Something about the whole episode stinks. My fellow guys from the 80's talk about being "de-briefed" after seeing an unusual plane north of Nellis in late 70's. Ditto for other folks I flew with an emergency and saw a long runway in the desert and chose not to bail but land/glide. At Red Flag we were always briefed that if we had a serious emergency that would not get us back to Nellis or Tonopah, and we saw this nice runway, then land there!!! Work out the details later.

Gums sends...

P.S. I do not believe this incident was a UFO or foreign government demo. I might be able to be convinced it was a test of some sort, hence the Guard unit shutdown of responses.

Gums opines...

[Airbubba]

My fellow guys from the 80's talk about being "de-briefed" after seeing an unusual plane north of Nellis in late 70's. Ditto for other folks I flew with an emergency and saw a long runway in the desert and chose not to bail but land/glide. At Red Flag we were always briefed that if we had a serious emergency that would not get us back to Nellis or Tonopah, and we saw this nice runway, then land there!!! Work out the details later.

Yep, that 'I wuz at Red Flag and went to a part of the range that I wasn't supposed to know about' story has many variants. In the late '80's I heard a version from an EC-130 driver, a few years later it was an RF-4 front seater that told the tale. And, over the years I've worked with a couple of folks that really did have business to conduct in Area 51, they don't talk about it as much. ;)

Anyway, we need to maintain COMSEC here, the media is already on the trail of the supersecret Dreamland connection to the incident:

DISAPPEARING ACT US Air Force scrambled to mystery ‘ghost plane’ circling skies near Area 51

On October 25, the aircraft was seen flying among the airliners along the US's heavily trafficked air corridor above Oregon.

By Jamie Seidel for news.com.au
16th November 2017, 4:47 pm Updated: 16th November 2017, 5:43 pm

Oregon is adjacent to Nevada, the well-known home of the United States Air Force’s secret aircraft testing facility at Groom Lake (otherwise dubbed Area 51).

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/4929857/us-air-force-scrambled-to-mystery-ghost-plane-circling-skies-near-area-51/

WAS IT ALIENS? Shock as US Air Force scrambled to mystery UFO in skies near Area 51

US Air Force jets were scrambled to investigate a strange UFO detected in the skies near a military base before the aircraft mysteriously vanished.

By Jon Austin
PUBLISHED: 14:27, Thu, Nov 16, 2017 | UPDATED: 17:46, Thu, Nov 16, 2017

https://www.express.co.uk/news/weird/880408/Aliens-UFO-Area-51-US-Air-Force-jets-scrambled-mystery-aircraft

[tartare]

Probably just that spooky secret 737 with the modified nose n' tail canoes, which contain an airborne radar signature testing range?
Probably blasting every microwave known to man at the B-21 prototype that was flying not far away...

[jolihokistix]

If it was an object, even a regular aircraft, and it was flying, and it was not identified, then what should we call it?


Perhaps we need a new category of UFA.

[F-16GUY]

Salute!

TNX for the update, "Guy".



Your welcome Gums. The Sniper advanced TGP is actually one of the best TGP's for A2A work with decent A2G performance as well. The Lightning G4 pod that we use on our Vipers is better for A2G but inferior to the Sniper in A2A.

Most of the TGP's nowadays are both A2A and A2G capable. Optics are getting better and software updates gives us more and more capabilities. The SWIR feature is one of the nicest recent features. It enables us to look into IR shadows by using the training laser as an illuminator. Great stuff that the geeks with the thick glasses are coming up with....

[Lonewolf_50]

If it was an object, even a regular aircraft, and it was flying, and it was not identified, then what should we call it?


Perhaps we need a new category of UFA.
I recommend that it be called TITS: Thing In The Sky :E


Speaking of abbreviations and Visual ID, I recall over 30 years ago a Navy Fighter Pilot with the call sign Streak briefing a room full of aviatiors on a thing he called T.I.T.S. -- the Tomcat Integrated Telescope System, which was quite similar to the rig gums referred to with hunting scopes mounted in the cockpit.

[NutLoose]

If you were really trying to get somewhere undetected, would flying FL370 near and through regular routes be what you would choose?

The area is fairly rural and mountainous, how hard would it be to stay off ATC radar flying low amongst the terrain?


Do Martians recieve NOTAMS etc?


Didn't Bush when flying across the UK to Iraq declare as a Gulfstream and was nearly rumbled when someone on the radios asked was that Airfarce One he had just seen.

Found it

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/28/world/region-inflamed-president-secret-iraq-trip-bush-pays-holiday-visit-gi-s.html

[chopper2004]

[QUOTE=Airbubba;9959425]Yep, that 'I wuz at Red Flag and went to a part of the range that I wasn't supposed to know about' story has many variants. In the late '80's I heard a version from an EC-130 driver, a few years later it was an RF-4 front seater that told the tale. And, over the years I've worked with a couple of folks that really did have business to conduct in Area 51, they don't talk about it as much. ;)

Anyway, we need to maintain COMSEC here, the media is already on the trail of the supersecret Dreamland connection to the incident:



https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/4929857/us-air-force-scrambled-to-mystery-ghost-plane-circling-skies-near-area-51/


That’s a laugh from the above article -the transportation of the X-47B caption is of transporting a UFO 👽😎

Cheers

[chevvron]

Oregon adjoins the state of Washington, right?
Where were the first 'flying saucers' (UFOs) reported back in 1947?
Mount Rainier,Washington State!
There have been many cases since then of fighters all over the continental USA being scrambled to 'chase' objects which couldn't be found by the fighters.

[rock34]

Was it a giant flying phallus!? :)

[Lord Riot]

UFO, obviously.

[gr4techie]

Salute!

I can remember when the Eagle guys taped rifle scopes to one side of the HUD to get a long range I.D. 'course, we had TISEO and such for some planes back then but not on the early Eagles.


It's way before my time, but I believe Royal Air Force F4 Phantoms had a periscope from retired Chieftain tanks fitted onto the left hand side of the cockpit, for the Nav to identify aircraft when on a QRA scramble .

I'm surprised that the F-15 still don't have a Infra Red Search and Track camera built into their nose like Typhoon, Rafael, SU-27, MiG-29, Gripen.

http://www.leonardocompany.com/documents/63265270/65493314/squared_medium_squared_original_IRST_s_01.jpg

[RAFEngO74to09]

RAF Phantom FGR2 and F-4J(UK) had the Telescope Optical Sighting System (TESS) fitted to the LHS of the navigator's cockpit late in service life. It had a 6-degree field of view and 10 x magnification allowing the navigator to visually identify targets before reaching minimum launch range for Skyflash.
http://forum.largescaleplanes.com/uploads/monthly_08_2010/post-78-1281514870.jpg


USAF F-4E had Target ID System Electro-Optical (TISEO) fitted on the LH wing leading edge.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/4/3058/3011594357_4c8c5492d2_b.jpg

[gums]

Salute!

Yeah, TISEO, that's the sytem I was thinking of for the Double Ugly, and I think the F-14 had something similar.

As far as Dreamland goes, it's good to hear someone use that term versus Area 51. All of us back to the 60's knew about Groom Lake.Nobody called it Area 51 until some novels and movies named it in late 80's or so. We also called it "The Box", and were briefed to avoid it during our Red Flag exercises or face the debriefs. There was more going on there than neat jets, and one day as I passed the north valley leading into the base I got pinged by a foreign radar, not Pact but from a European country. This was in early years of Have Blue, so they were likely evaluating the RCS of the prototypes.

I personally know two ex-commanders of the place, and one flew the Shamu, aka Tacit Blue. He also flew other things but you could not pin him down about details. 'course, I know many folks from the initial F-117 crowd, as they mostly came from the Sluf and Viper units I was in.

I still feel the episode has some "fishy" smell to it. Oh well, "nothing to be seen here, move on".

Gums sends...

[chopper2004]

Salute!

Yeah, TISEO, that's the sytem I was thinking of for the Double Ugly, and I think the F-14 had something similar.

As far as Dreamland goes, it's good to hear someone use that term versus Area 51. All of us back to the 60's knew about Groom Lake.Nobody called it Area 51 until some novels and movies named it in late 80's or so. We also called it "The Box", and were briefed to avoid it during our Red Flag exercises or face the debriefs. There was more going on there than neat jets, and one day as I passed the north valley leading into the base I got pinged by a foreign radar, not Pact but from a European country. This was in early years of Have Blue, so they were likely evaluating the RCS of the prototypes.

I personally know two ex-commanders of the place, and one flew the Shamu, aka Tacit Blue. He also flew other things but you could not pin him down about details. 'course, I know many folks from the initial F-117 crowd, as they mostly came from the Sluf and Viper units I was in.

I still feel the episode has some "fishy" smell to it. Oh well, "nothing to be seen here, move on".

Gums sends...

Hey Gums,

Was it not called 51 because of the DoE classifying various of the nuclear test ranges numerically?

Anyhow it’s now been given an ICAO code KXTA and known as Homey Airport now

https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2008/january/10/dont-ask-dont-tell-area-51-gets-airport-identifier

I guess with the fatal crash the other month of ‘Doc’ up in the TTR -there is a lot of 2+2=117/119 etc
For those of us who attended Dubai in the week....plenty of chances to see Sukhoi SU-30 (Russian Knights )Si- 35 up close and personal and even PLAAF August 1st J-10 so here are my photos below

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4533/24639166498_d55e82e769_k.jpg

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4566/26735655109_9bdc221741_k.jpg

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4584/37624500695_d97fde4cda_k.jpg

Cheers

[Airbubba]

As far as Dreamland goes, it's good to hear someone use that term versus Area 51.

A 2012 ATC Letter of Agreement for Dreamland Control is here:

http://inplanesight.org/faa_nellis/drm_nellis_loa.pdf

I personally know two ex-commanders of the place, and one flew the Shamu, aka Tacit Blue. He also flew other things but you could not pin him down about details.

Col. Tarlton signed the LOA above and lists his time with Det. 3 on his LinkedIn profile:

Commander, Operations Group
United States Air Force
June 2010 – June 2012 (2 years 1 month)

Led 600+ military/contractor/government team comprised of 11 diverse squadrons conducting developmental and operational testing at a national test facility. Directed operations and maintenance for 25 aircraft types, and execute an $84M annual budget utilizing $4B in national assets.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-tarlton-227a1998

A former colleague of mine was closely involved with a cruise missile derivative of the Tacit Blue project designated the Tri-Service Standoff Attack Missile. The TSSAM had a Tasmanian Devil mascot and I presume a Tacit codeword. It was cancelled in 1994.


Was it not called 51 because of the DoE classifying various of the nuclear test ranges numerically?

Anyhow it’s now been given an ICAO code KXTA and known as Homey Airport now

A well placed source who has reported reliably in the past tells me that airport code XTA stands for Xtra Terrestial Airport. ;)

Whether Area 51 was a real Atomic Energy Commission map designation or a ruse to make it appear part of the adjacent Nevada Test Site is unclear (to me at least). Recent maps don't seem to have Area numbers above 30 or so.

Jeffrey Richelson famously posted this map (the AEC was abolished in 1975, I presume it is older from the Test Site label) in 2013 in the George Washington University National Security Archive:

https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB443/Area-51-map.jpg

[Airbubba]

Tyler Rogoway publishes a follow-up article with some additional ATC video and audio from the incident.

You Need To Hear These FAA Tapes From That Oregon UFO Incident That Sent F-15s Scrambling

New evidence offers great detail of the bizarre event and provides unprecedented insight into how such a unique incident is dealt with in real time.

By Tyler Rogoway February 15, 2018

Last November, The War Zone posted an exclusive story detailing a bizarre incident involving an unidentified aircraft that transited the skies of the Pacific Northwest in the early evening of October 25th, 2017. What started as a radar target moving at very high speed over Northern California turned into a series of eyewitness accounts made by nearby airline pilots traveling northward over Oregon. Even F-15 fighters were launched to intercept the mysterious intruder that quickly became invisible to radar.

Now, through the Freedom of Information Act, we present what could be one of the most insightful instances of official documentation surrounding such an encounter that had already been confirmed to have occurred by both the FAA and the USAF. These materials include fascinating audio recordings of radio transmissions and phone calls made as the incident was unfolding, as well as pilot interviews, and conversations between FAA officials made in the aftermath of the highly peculiar incident.

More here: You Need To Hear These FAA Tapes From That Oregon UFO Incident That Sent F-15s Scrambling - The Drive (http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/18473/faa-recordings-deepen-mystery-surrounding-ufo-over-oregon-that-sent-f-15s-scrambling)