SR-71

[FC]

https://youtu.be/dG6gnJc6XeU

[AzRednek]

I saw one of these or something very similar at an airplane museum several years ago. I do remember the Black Bird monicker but don't remember the SR-71. The tour guide said something about the outer shell being treated with a heat disapating graphite substance very similar to what's used on the Space Shuttle. He claimed if one rubs against it it's very difficult to remove from clothing and skin. Somebody in the tour group asked "is this the super fast jet that was developed for chasing UFO's". The guide responded by saying something about being asked that question often. He claimed he didn't know anything about it and the program was discontinued because of the high cost of maintenance. When pressed for an answer about UFO's he said it was just an urban legend and even if it were true the Air Force would never admit it. The guide a retired USAF pilot became irritated at UFO questions and moved us along to another plane. 

One thing I found strange. The guide said the Black Bird was never fit for any kind of weapon systems and was mainly used for photo reconnaissance and there was a likelihood of other classified use. The guide chuckled and said "I don't know anything about that". When somebody asked if it was an escape plane for the President. The tour quickly lost interest as the next stop was a B-17 Flying Fortress. I was really disappointed as we were not permitted to go inside and look. The tour was close enough to the Marine air base near Yuma. We saw several Warthogs flying over us. The tour guide mentioned the Warthogs were developed as tank busters saying something about them being useless in air to air combat. 

[Dr.Hess]

Yeah, the SR71 had no armaments.  Didn't need them.  It was shot at over 1000 times.  Just open it up and outrun anything coming your way.  I knew a guy that worked on the software or with the program somehow.  He was a software guy.  He said they would do something like Mach 5-6, but it was never admitted.  I also went to a talk given by a guy that was a test pilot.  One of the really really out there test pilots, like a X15 test pilot.  He said that when they retired the SR71, he was at a meeting and the guy in charge said "Who wants to take a blackbird for a joy ride?"  His hand went up and off he went. When he retired, he lived out near Edwards.  He said he didn't know anything about the Aurora program, but at night he sometimes heard a plane coming over into Edwards with an engine that made a sound unlike any aircraft engine he had ever heard.  He had heard about all of them.

[FC]

Aurora Program? The only thing I know is that we had a LOT of sonic booms in South Dakota when I was a kid.

[Dr.Hess]

The Aurora program is mostly rumor and "conspiracy theory," so to speak.  No one has ever seen or photographed one.  It is supposed to be very high and very fast flying.  Standing back and looking, I can't see the feds decommissioning a program like the SR71 without something else already in use to replace it.  And, a rocket scientist I used to know said he was talking with his rocket scientist friends and that "the rumor" was that there was an external combustion pulse jet engine on it and it left a vapor trail that looked like "cotton balls on a string."  That was in the mid 90's.  Some time after our conversation, I was watching one of those UFO shows on TV and they had what they said was proof of UFOs visiting earth.  Here's a picture of a con trail from a UFO.  It looked like cotton balls on a string.

[AzRednek]

16 hours ago, FC said:

Aurora Program? The only thing I know is that we had a LOT of sonic booms in South Dakota when I was a kid.

I remember the sonic booms late 50- early 60's being near Luke AFB. As a kid about 8 or 9. I was scared sh!tless the first time. My mother near panicked screaming something about a bomb. Mom put my younger brother and I into a shower stall while she tuned in a radio to the Civil Defense markings on the dial. Next day I don't recall whom. Mom got on the phone and chewed somebody's arse but good. The Phx Mayer and city council put pressure on Luke and the booms eventually went away. 

[AzRednek]

15 hours ago, Dr.Hess said:

 Here's a picture of a con trail from a UFO.  It looked like cotton balls on a string.

No picture Doc, try again got my curiosity awakened.

[Dr.Hess]

No, that's what the UFO program said, showing the picture.  Something like this:

[AzRednek]

On 4/15/2019 at 11:09 AM, Dr.Hess said:

 Here's a picture of a con trail from a UFO.  It looked like cotton balls on a string.

Doc I've seen that pattern before with binoculars about 20 years ago. From what I thought were rocket or missle launches from a base in California that can be seen from Phoenix. The contrail is way high and I can see the curvature of the planet or atmosphere. About 15 years ago something launched from California exploded in the air leaving an eerie looking cloud at dawn in Phoenix's eastern horizon. The talk radio station my alarm was set. Repeatedly announced what it was as a week or so prior. The station was hammered with UFO reports for what turned out to be a wayward ballon from US Aeronautical for measuring air currents used by passenger jets. 

[FC]

When I was a kid I saw a silver object go from one side of the horizon to the other in minutes. It was amazing! No smoke or vapor trail. I don’t think I could see a satellite, could I?

[Dr.Hess]

When I was home from sea, around 1981 or 1982-ish, staying at my parents house in Glendale up on the hill side with a picture window in the living room overlooking the entire San Fernando Valley, over Burbank (home of Lockheed Skunkworks, BTW), I saw a silver egg-ish shapped thing flying north sort of about the speed of a chopper, then it made a (literally) 90 degree turn and accelerated astronomically and was gone.  Amazing.  No human could survive the G forces involved in that.  Years later I mentioned it to my dad and he said he once saw a cigar shaped silver something (not a blimp) over there too.  I'm sure it was just swamp gas.

[AzRednek]

Karl I got or better said had good photos of the balloon. The photos are buried deep somewhere. The day prior I went to a girlie photo shoot for a modeling school. Had all my photo gear out and got great pictures using a tripod and a Ukraine 500 MM mirror lens. I used the Pentax A setting for auto shutter speed and it took about a second and a half.  I had the 4X6 photo blown up to an 8X10. The large photo clearly showed the two interior lights and guy ropes hanging from it. According to what I heard on KFYI. The lights provided the heat source for lift. The lights failed to respond to remote control and stayed on at the max setting. As the battery weakened the lights dimmed and it started to fall over Phx. Far as I know it was never found. I gave photos to the Az Republic but they published somebody else's that were better more clear than mine. The other photos were taken near New River. I'm near 23rd Ave & W Cactus Rd.

i have seen UFO's twice and maybe three times. The best I saw was the day before the so called Lights Over Phx. While I was stuffing mailboxes some scared shootless roofers flagged me down. Guess my govt uniform led them to belive I could do something. The roofers were afraid to go back on the roof. The neighbor next to the reroofed house came out with his remote phone. Telling us the police gave him the number for the weather bureau and they had him on hold. A couple blocks later a Postal patron said he called Luke and kept getting transferred a recording saying to leave a message.  

What I saw were like shiny orbs going from horizon to horizon in less than two seconds. Using the patrons binoculars I saw numerous orbs dead south almost like bouncing around, stopping on a dime then slowly fade out. A week or so later somebody got video of the orbs. A news report said he brought a copy of the video to Luke but they failed to respond. The Tv station brought the same video to Luke. Luke said they didn't know what it was and tried to pass the buck saying the VHS tape or equipment might be defective. A few days later Luke sent out a press release claiming the nighttime Lights Over Phx were flares. Like also denied sending fighters to investigate the lights. The claim was disputed by several commercial airline pilots and a few Airman on the ground at Luke claiming the jets were using their after burners which normally isn't allowed over populated areas. 

Unfortunately I was inside playing with my then new WebTv, missed the nighttime incident and by the time I heard about the lights were gone.  

[FC]

Interesting!