Mysterious delta jet over Texas, a fortnight ago
 

Came across the pic on a group in Fakebook......:E

Mystery Aircraft Over Texas

Any takers?

Cheers

If anyone in these hallowed halls does know, I suspect they wont tell you :cool:

Looks like a B2 to me, particularly in the colour photo.

Roland

Couldn't agree more...at first I thought a F117...

BFB

Really surprised that if a 'secret' ac, ie not a B2, would operate in a contrail environment. Suspect it is indeed a publicly known and acknowledged type

Compare to a B-2

http://www.globalsecurity.org/milita...2-contrail.jpg

US Navy drone X-47B perhaps?
(I disagree with the reasons why not, and the shape and contrail are correct)

http://cdn.slashgear.com/wp-content/...11-580x404.jpg

X-47B - looks a tad too small, judging from photo looks like something flying at 20,000 and unless someones used telephoto long lens, be difficult to get a fast jet sized shape in....

But are there not delegated areas especially for UAS ops in the states, agreed with the FAA, and anything else be around Edwards, Groom, Eglin, Pax ranges? I do not believe (please correct me if I am wrong) the state of Texas has any restricted airspace to fly UASs bar the bases?

Though thought it was a 1950s/60s photo initially ....

if you take away the forward canards, of this

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...2-0-112_P1.jpg


The wing shape would look similar?

Is it aurora?

Can i claim my five pounds?

I know the answer, but I'd have to shoot you first? :cool:

The shape looks more like the Boeing Phantom Ray

http://realitypod.com/wp-content/upl...5322e4a02d.jpg

But both this and the X-47B have a single engine. How does that form 2 parallel contrails?

Edit: I'm not saying 2 contrails from 1 engine is impossible (the B2 picture in this very thread seems to have 3 contrails from 2 engines) I'm just not sure how that happens.

I see it has hit the front pages of the Daily Mail :rolleyes:

But interesting / good blow up of the black and white photo.

UFO of secret fighter jet? The mysterious triple triangle craft pictured flying over Texas | Mail Online

The x-47B appears to have a divided exhaust nozzle

p.s. The DM's next Don't Miss article is "Was Kim Kardashian too fat for Harper's Bazaar?"

whereas that probably isn't the next article in FlightGlobal, 'Jane's..', etc

If you post DM links again 500N I'll put you on my 'Ignore' list - no excuses!!

Could a Neuron be out there?

Douglass claims that there was three of these aircraft in formation. Photographs and full details on Steve Douglass website. Apparently 509th confirmed to Bill Sweetman that no B-2s were in the area at that time.

Search on 'Deep Black Horizon'. First website on search as I am unable to post direct link to website.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=De...+Black+Horizon


B-2 contrail video for comparison.

Correct, Teej... the 509th denial will be in the upcoming AW&ST also.

So one thing it probably wasn't, was a B-2.

Aurora?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurora_(aircraft)

LowObservable wrote

Is it coming out on April 1st ;)

3 of them in formation? Really?

Is it just me or is Steve Douglass working up to an April Fools' stunt?

With Steve Douglass you have to take a few things that he comes out with a huge pinch of salt. He does have a history of BS, IMHO. Take into consideration that Steve Douglass was the guy who first came out with the "donuts on the rope" contrail photograph back in 1992. In 2010 he claimed that it was back.

The above snippet from his website complete with images. Again, anyone can post images of contrails with pendules and claim whatever they like. You tube and the web is full of them with people claiming they were produced by undisclosed aircraft.

Ever since then contrails with pendules have been associated with claims of pulse detonation wave engines. Contrails with pendules are nothing new.

https://www.metabunk.org/data/MetaMi...302_111801.jpg

Douglass also got caught up in the nonsense of NATO manned aircraft losses over Yugoslavia in 1999 claiming figures of around 22 shot down. I've heard that radio interview he did back in 1999 on NATO losses and it didn't do him any favours.

S99-145, KFOR "Peacefarce" 39 - Special TiM GW Bulletins (Sep. 3, 1999)

After what he has produced in the past then call me skeptical.

Thanks for that TEEEJ. I was unaware of the dubious provenance of the images.

X-47B usually flies with Chase aircraft from VX-23 and it says there were 3 aircraft in the formation, not 3 of these triangles.

My money's on X-47B, which is surprisingly small up close, although with a big wing.

Lockheed Polecat has 2 engines, but I thought that it had been shelved...

http://www.flightglobal.com/assets/g...x?ItemID=13837

Twin engine contrails so all the single engine drones are out.

No they aren't. Contrails are formed by wingtip vortices, not a function of number of engines.

My money is on an X47B

Condensation trails can be caused either by pressure reduction, for example in wing tip vortices or by engine exhausts.

If you ever saw a Buccaneer flying a blown overshoot on a damp day, you'd see a plethora of such pressure reduction trails.

Contrails formed by pressure drop are short lived. Trails formed by engine exhaust are usually longer lived, depending on atmospheric conditions. The ones in the photo are definitely exhaust generated.

Vapor trails that are formed by wingtip vortices never persist because the low pressure area disappears as the vortex quickly dies, whereas those formed by engines persist because of the water vapor added by the combustion process in the engines. Index finger to glasses, glasses adjust...

DITY, if we're talking about high level contrails, they are caused by the jet exhaust, specifically the water content, being mixed by wingtip vortices. Hempy, if you were to take another picture 30 secs later you'd see two contrails. Beagle, what you say about pressure drop is true but doesn't much help identify our mystery machine; we're talking tens of thousands of feet over Texas not Honington on a drizzly morning.

Shot- you would either have to have the jet under G or have lift devices deployed for what you are referring to and as has been mentioned are short lived and are not present at the altitudes this aircraft was flying. The photo shows engine contrails emitting from the aircraft. What the vortices do afterwards is irrelevant.

Doncha just love amateur hour

Read my post in the context of the question being answered, Bob. It's simply not possible to state how many engines this aircraft had just by looking at the contrail.

Jet engines eh?

So all those Flying Fortresses I saw during the war were running on jets after all.

So the USA invented the jet engine and flew it before Germany or GB?

Real education this thread.

I think they scrapped all the X/YB-35s...

So all this is telling me is high altitude stealth is a bit pointless if your in the contrail layer?

The only airframe(s);) I know of that has fewer contrails than engines is because 40% of the engines fitted where shut down for most of the flight.

Bloody hell. All that time watching the VC10's contrails and apparently the exhausts were mixing with the wing tip vortices!!

I don't know why it's all such a mystery?

Surely it was just one of these on test:

Sea Vixen?


I'll get my coat!!

Here's an interesting video

Yes they were, Roland. Are you postulating that contrails from aircraft with tail mounted engines behave fundamentally differently from others? I'd challenge you to tell those of, say, an MD80 and a 737 apart a minute after they'd passed.

That said, I feel the contrail debate is a red herring; my money is still on the (single engined)X47B for the much more basic reason that the planform looks like it. This isn't the 50's with dozens of exciting projects. Even if some new mega plane had somehow been funded and built in super-secrecy, would it reallly be cruising over Texas in broad daylight?

http://anandgreenwell.com/wp-content...40916_std1.jpg

This one is for Shot. If you're telling me that the vortices mix the contrails, fair enough. However, that is not what your post said "Contrails are formed by wingtip vortices". This is also why, in order to ID the number of engines, that you would look very close to the aircraft itself. However, given the video and the similar contrail pattern from the original picture may very well show a UAV.