From: owner-skunk-works-digest@netwrx1.com (skunk-works-digest) To: skunk-works-digest@netwrx1.com Subject: skunk-works-digest V9 #86 Reply-To: skunk-works@netwrx1.com Sender: owner-skunk-works-digest@netwrx1.com Errors-To: owner-skunk-works-digest@netwrx1.com Precedence: bulk skunk-works-digest Wednesday, December 20 2000 Volume 09 : Number 086 Index of this digest by subject: *************************************************** Info: Second X35 Flies (X35c) Re: Aurora ADMINISTRATIVE NOTE: OFF TOPIC POSTS - PLEASE READ & FOLLOW display of aurora borealis seen as far south as Texas and Florida. Re: display of aurora borealis seen as far south as Texas and Florida. Re: D-21 question RE: display of aurora borealis seen as far south as Texas and Flo rida. Re: display of aurora borealis seen as far south as Texas and Florida. RE: display of aurora borealis seen as far south as Texas and Florida. Re: display of aurora borealis seen as far south as Texas and Florida. RE: display of aurora borealis seen as far south as Texas and Flo rida. RE: display of aurora borealis seen as far south as Texas and Flo rida. RE: display of aurora borealis seen as far south as Texas and Flo rida. P-59, gorilla. New Mil-Air Triangle Report On Line! *************************************************** ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 17 Dec 2000 18:46:05 EST From: SecretJet@aol.com Subject: Info: Second X35 Flies (X35c) Seasons Greetings! This news just in from Mil-Spotters list (UK) EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (December 16, 2000 8:32 p.m. EST http://www.nandotimes.com) - A Lockheed Martin test pilot took the first flight Saturday in the company's latest entry into the military's multibillion-dollar fighter jet competition. The defense giant is competing with Boeing to produce a Joint Strike Fighter, which would be used by the Air Force, Navy, Marines and Britain's Royal Air Force and Navy. The winner of the contract, expected to be worth $200 billion, is to be chosen next year. Lockheed Martin's X-35C, designed specifically for naval aircraft carrier operations, made a 27-minute flight from Palmdale, Calif., to Edwards Air Force Base, where it will undergo further flight testing, said Joe Sweeney, the test pilot. "It went very smoothly, very similar to the simulations," Sweeney said. But he said testing wasn't completed "because of some give-and-take between the airplane and the control room" as data from the flight was examined. The X-35C was the second Lockheed Martin Joint Strike Fighter demonstrator to fly. The company's X-35A began flying in October and completed its test program on Nov. 22. >> - ----------------------------------------- Regards, Bill Turner, 'Admin'. Black-Triangle E-Group HQ. Near London Heathrow, UK. AIM:Secretjet2 ICQ: 29271956 http://members.aol.com/Secretjet/index.html - ----------------------------------------------------------------- No Door is Closed - To an Open Mind! - ----------------------------------------------------------------- Black-Triangle NEW Homepage! Black-Triangle Links ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 17 Dec 2000 20:17:01 -0800 (PST) From: CFA3@webtv.net (C.F.A.3) Subject: Re: Aurora >Hello Skunk Works members, I was in the IRC >chatting with SecretJet in channel >#skunk-works and he suggested me that I >should let all you know of a weird >phenomenon >that I observed in my summer vacation. It was >the night of August 16th 2000 (I am 90% sure >this was the exact day) and I was in Las >Vegas, >Nevada. Me and a lot of people in Las Vegas >observed a strange weather phenomenon >above Area 51 (which is located a couple of >miles north of Las Vegas). The weather >phenomenon looks like aurora (the weather >phenomenon that usually is observed in North >and South Pole, not the secret aircraft) with >different red, green, yellow, and blue brilliant >colors. A lot of people in Las Vegas requested >he information in the radio about the >phenomenon but they only know that it is >happening above Area 51. I don't know >exactly >the duration of the phenomenon, but it was all >gone 10 minutes after my initial observation... >all dark after that. Any comments? Could be a >new radar system to detect stealth >aircraft/missiles? Thanks in advances. >=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0= =A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0= =A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0>=A0= >=A0=A0=A0=A0May the Force be with you >=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0= =A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0= =A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0>=A0= >=A0=A0=A0=A0Wei-Jen Su >=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0= =A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0= =A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0>=A0= >=A0=A0=A0=A0E-mail: wsu@its.caltech.edu I'm going to agree that what you likely saw was a missile launch. I'm even going to hazard a guess at what missile. I could do the research, and get a date, but your discription sounds exactly like the event I witnessed this past summer. Vandenburg launched the third test fire, of the anti-ballistic missile system. I vividly remember listening to the live coverage on KFWB radio, (9pm?) and looking to the general direction of Vandenburg, (myself at LAX.) The test missle rocket plume created a spectacular multi-colored, cloud of light, as the upper stages glowed in the upper atmosphere. The higher the rocket went, the bigger the display. This was all created by the rocket glowing down into the lower atmosphere from above, as opposed to the setting sun shining through a contrail. Cool event, to bad the missile test failed. C3 http://community.webtv.net/CFA3/GroomLakeAudubon ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2000 10:44:08 -0600 From: George R. Kasica Subject: ADMINISTRATIVE NOTE: OFF TOPIC POSTS - PLEASE READ & FOLLOW Must be the season again....I was hoping to stay out of this........BUT...since its continuing I'll put on my ListOwner hat....now where'd I put the blasted thing again....OK....got it.... LISTEN UP....ANY MORE *UFO* Posts or similar, you know what I'm talking about, we don't need endless bandwidth wasting debate on this, will result in the address getting removed from the list. Period. 'Nuff said, George ===[George R. Kasica]=== +1 262 513 8503 Skunk-Works ListOwner +1 206 374 6482 FAX http://www.netwrx1.com Waukesha, WI USA georgek@netwrx1.com ICQ #12862186 Digest Issues at: http://www.netwrx1.com/skunk-works S L O W E R T R A F F I C K E E P R I G H T tm / \ / \ _/ ___ \_ ________/ \_______/V!V\_______/ \_______ \__/ \___/ \__/ www.habu.org The OnLine Blackbird Museum ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2000 18:33:31 From: "wayne binkley" Subject: display of aurora borealis seen as far south as Texas and Florida. On 16 Dec 00, at 13:45, Wei-Jen Su wrote: >The weather phenomenon looks like aurora (the weather >phenomenon that usually is observed in North and South Pole, not the >secret aircraft) with different red, green, yellow, and blue >brilliant>colors for some info on this go to the URL at the bottom of this article to get the full story. wayne April 25, 2000 -- Two weeks ago stargazers around the world were outdoors in force. The moon, Jupiter, Saturn and Mars were clustered together in the evening sky on April 6 for a picturesque display just after sunset. With cameras poised to record the spectacle, observers were treated to a dazzling show -- but it wasn't the show they expected! The sky, instead of darkening as the sun sank below the western horizon, turned vivid red, then green and shimmering yellow. It was a rare and unexpected display of aurora borealis seen as far south as Texas and Florida. http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast25apr%5F1m.htm _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2000 20:53:34 -0500 From: John Szalay Subject: Re: display of aurora borealis seen as far south as Texas and Florida. At 06:33 PM 12/18/00, you wrote: > > >On 16 Dec 00, at 13:45, Wei-Jen Su wrote: >>The weather phenomenon looks like aurora (the weather >>phenomenon that usually is observed in North and South Pole, not the >>secret aircraft) with different red, green, yellow, and blue >>brilliant>colors > >for some info on this go to the URL at the bottom of this article to get the >full story. >wayne >April 25, 2000 -- Two weeks ago stargazers around the world were outdoors in >force. The moon, Jupiter, Saturn and Mars were clustered together in the >evening sky on April 6 for a picturesque display just after sunset. I checked the Aurora reports archives and the LAST warning/alert/report as far south as Vegas was June 7th and these warnings normaly are good for 3 days at the most. the only other was a warning for May 11. So we can pretty much rule out natural causes. http://www.spacew.com/www/lowlatwchrpt.html http://www.spacew.com/www/lowlatwrnrpt.html I have NOT checked the NOTAM's for that area yet, for that time period and those would be required to be sent out for a rocket launch.. But FWIW: I would put more faith in a rocket. with a Barium cloud load.. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2000 00:29:52 -0600 From: "Albert H. Dobyns" Subject: Re: D-21 question Erik Hoel wrote: > > Yesterday I was helping my kid put together an SR-71 model and found that it > contained a D-21 and a mating pylon (pretty cool freebee). In any event, I > was surprised by the amount of reverse (?) dihedral in the D-21. Can someone > explain why this is done in educated layman's terms. > > Another observation - I was also a little surprised by the vertical offset > that the centerline of the engines has with respect to the fuselage. I am > assuming that the engine centerline follows the path of travel; this then > would give the SR-71 a decidedly nose-high cruise attitude (2-4 degrees?). > Why is this done? It reminded me of some commercial airliners that seem to > cruise with the nose very slightly elevated. > > Erik Have you received any feedback on this yet? I haven't seen any posts related to it. I'm not sure about the way the D-21 wings are angled downward but I'm assuming it has something to do with increasing the stability of the D-21 after it is launched. The F-104 had wings with a few degrees of negative dihedral (may also be called anhedral I think). Since it worked for the F-104, I guess it useful for the D-21. (a little sarcasm in the last sentence). The Skunk Works engineers discovered that the pilots had to set the elevon trim to a value that although making the SR fly level it also caused an increase in drag. The solution was to modify the fuselage to have the part of the fuselage just ahead of wing's attachments to raise it by 2 degrees. This change made it unnecessary to trim the plane the way they did in the flight testing program. I've always thought it looked a little odd but considering Kelly Johnson's incredible expertise in designing airplanes, I sure wouldn't want to argue against him! :-) I believe some of the Blackbird books I have described it something like Kelly looked at it and told the assemblers to stick a wedge in there and make it tilt the front end up by 2 degrees. My memory has been known to play tricks on me and mix some info together that don't belong together, but I hope I'm close enough on this one. Al ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2000 08:44:16 -0800 From: Erik Hoel Subject: RE: display of aurora borealis seen as far south as Texas and Flo rida. John Szalay wrote in part: > I have NOT checked the NOTAM's for that area yet, for that time period > and those would be required to be sent out for a rocket launch.. > But FWIW: I would put more faith in a rocket. with a Barium > cloud load.. Two easy questions: 1. What are NOTAM's? 2. What is a Barium cloud load? Erik ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2000 17:35:37 From: "wayne binkley" Subject: Re: display of aurora borealis seen as far south as Texas and Florida. i wasn't trying to prove anything, just offering some info.i very seldom rule anything out and keep an open mind. wayne. - ----Original Message Follows---- From: John Szalay Reply-To: skunk-works@netwrx1.com To: skunk-works@netwrx1.com Subject: Re: display of aurora borealis seen as far south as Texas and Florida. Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2000 20:53:34 -0500 At 06:33 PM 12/18/00, you wrote: > > >On 16 Dec 00, at 13:45, Wei-Jen Su wrote: >>The weather phenomenon looks like aurora (the weather >>phenomenon that usually is observed in North and South Pole, not the >>secret aircraft) with different red, green, yellow, and blue >>brilliant>colors > >for some info on this go to the URL at the bottom of this article to get the >full story. >wayne >April 25, 2000 -- Two weeks ago stargazers around the world were outdoors in >force. The moon, Jupiter, Saturn and Mars were clustered together in the >evening sky on April 6 for a picturesque display just after sunset. I checked the Aurora reports archives and the LAST warning/alert/report as far south as Vegas was June 7th and these warnings normaly are good for 3 days at the most. the only other was a warning for May 11. So we can pretty much rule out natural causes. http://www.spacew.com/www/lowlatwchrpt.html http://www.spacew.com/www/lowlatwrnrpt.html I have NOT checked the NOTAM's for that area yet, for that time period and those would be required to be sent out for a rocket launch.. But FWIW: I would put more faith in a rocket. with a Barium cloud load.. _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2000 16:44:58 -0500 From: John Szalay Subject: RE: display of aurora borealis seen as far south as Texas and Florida. At 08:44 AM 12/19/00 -0800, you wrote: >John Szalay wrote in part: > >> I have NOT checked the NOTAM's for that area yet, for that time period >> and those would be required to be sent out for a rocket launch.. >> But FWIW: I would put more faith in a rocket. with a Barium >> cloud load.. > >Two easy questions: > >1. What are NOTAM's? >2. What is a Barium cloud load? > >Erik > > NOTAM = Notice To Airmen: Offical notices to flyers concerning special instructions or announcements of area closings or events that may or could effect the area they may want to fly in or through. Barium cloud are releases of Barium or special particals into the air by rocket at different altitudes for various measurments. can be done at any time, but normaly done at sunset OR at night to produce visible cloads of light. Rather nice to watch. IF you know when and where. Most take place at Wallops island or White Sands. but are not restricted to just those areas. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2000 16:51:51 -0500 From: John Szalay Subject: Re: display of aurora borealis seen as far south as Texas and Florida. At 05:35 PM 12/19/00, you wrote: >i wasn't trying to prove anything, just offering some info.i very seldom >rule anything out and keep an open mind. >wayne. > >--- Not picking nits either, When He first posted the question, I checked to see IF there was a possiblity of it being an aurora, since I'm on the alert list and thought I might have missed a notice at that time. its been years since I've seen a good show of the northern lights and with the peak of the solar cycle going on right now, there has been a lot of activity lately. and MANY reports but alas whenever there is an alert for our area, its either too cloudy or it does not quite reach us. and we've driven a lot of miles trying to see . its only every 11 years that the sun gets this active... ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2000 16:54:37 -0500 From: "Weigold, Greg" Subject: RE: display of aurora borealis seen as far south as Texas and Flo rida. This message is in MIME format. Since your mail reader does not understand this format, some or all of this message may not be legible. - ------_=_NextPart_001_01C06A06.E2CF003E Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" There's an alert list for aurora displays? - -----Original Message----- From: John Szalay [mailto:john.szalay@postoffice.worldnet.att.net] Sent: Tuesday, December 19, 2000 4:52 PM To: skunk-works@netwrx1.com Subject: Re: display of aurora borealis seen as far south as Texas and Florida. At 05:35 PM 12/19/00, you wrote: >i wasn't trying to prove anything, just offering some info.i very seldom >rule anything out and keep an open mind. >wayne. > >--- Not picking nits either, When He first posted the question, I checked to see IF there was a possiblity of it being an aurora, since I'm on the alert list and thought I might have missed a notice at that time. its been years since I've seen a good show of the northern lights and with the peak of the solar cycle going on right now, there has been a lot of activity lately. and MANY reports but alas whenever there is an alert for our area, its either too cloudy or it does not quite reach us. and we've driven a lot of miles trying to see . its only every 11 years that the sun gets this active... - ------_=_NextPart_001_01C06A06.E2CF003E Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable RE: display of aurora borealis seen as far south as Texas and = Florida.

There's an alert list for aurora displays?

-----Original Message-----
From: John Szalay [mailto:john.szal= ay@postoffice.worldnet.att.net]
Sent: Tuesday, December 19, 2000 4:52 PM
To: skunk-works@netwrx1.com
Subject: Re: display of aurora borealis seen as far = south as Texas and
Florida.


At 05:35 PM 12/19/00, you wrote:
>i wasn't trying to prove anything, just offering = some info.i very seldom
>rule anything out and keep an open mind.
>wayne.
>
>---

  Not picking nits either,  When He first = posted the question, I checked to
see
IF there was a possiblity of it being an aurora, = since I'm on the alert
list and
thought I might have missed a notice at that time. = its been years since
I've seen
a good show of the northern lights and with the peak = of the solar cycle going
on right now, there has been a lot of activity = lately. and MANY reports but
alas whenever there is an alert for our area, its = either too cloudy or it
does not
quite reach us. and we've driven a lot of miles = trying to see .
its only every 11 years that the sun gets this = active...


- ------_=_NextPart_001_01C06A06.E2CF003E-- ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 20 Dec 2000 16:40:34 From: "wayne binkley" Subject: RE: display of aurora borealis seen as far south as Texas and Flo rida. - ----Original Message Follows---- From: "Weigold, Greg" Reply-To: skunk-works@netwrx1.com To: "'skunk-works@netwrx1.com'" Subject: RE: display of aurora borealis seen as far south as Texas and Flo rida. Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2000 16:54:37 -0500 There's an alert list for aurora displays? xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx for info only, see below. wayne xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Space Weather News for Dec. 19, 2000http://www.spaceweather.com METEORS & AURORA: Sky watchers who venture outside to view the Ursid meteor shower Thursday night or Friday morning might also spot aurora borealis. A coronal mass ejection that left the Sun on Monday is likely to buffet Earth's magnetosphere later this week. Forecasters estimate a 20% chance of severe geomagnetic activity when the CME arrives. NEAR-EARTH ASTEROIDS: A newly-discovered near-Earth asteroid, 2000 YA, will pass just two lunar distances from Earth on Dec. 22nd. There's no danger of a collision, say scientists, but the small space rock will be near enough to see through large amateur telescopes or through small telescopes equipped with CCD cameras. For more information, images and animations, please visit http://www.spaceweather.com _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 20 Dec 2000 11:55:06 -0500 From: "Weigold, Greg" Subject: RE: display of aurora borealis seen as far south as Texas and Flo rida. This message is in MIME format. Since your mail reader does not understand this format, some or all of this message may not be legible. - ------_=_NextPart_001_01C06AA6.2EFDE822 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Thanks!!! Greg - -----Original Message----- From: wayne binkley [mailto:wbinkley@hotmail.com] Sent: Wednesday, December 20, 2000 11:41 AM To: skunk-works@netwrx1.com Subject: RE: display of aurora borealis seen as far south as Texas and Flo rida. - ----Original Message Follows---- From: "Weigold, Greg" Reply-To: skunk-works@netwrx1.com To: "'skunk-works@netwrx1.com'" Subject: RE: display of aurora borealis seen as far south as Texas and Flo rida. Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2000 16:54:37 -0500 There's an alert list for aurora displays? xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx for info only, see below. wayne xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Space Weather News for Dec. 19, 2000http://www.spaceweather.com METEORS & AURORA: Sky watchers who venture outside to view the Ursid meteor shower Thursday night or Friday morning might also spot aurora borealis. A coronal mass ejection that left the Sun on Monday is likely to buffet Earth's magnetosphere later this week. Forecasters estimate a 20% chance of severe geomagnetic activity when the CME arrives. NEAR-EARTH ASTEROIDS: A newly-discovered near-Earth asteroid, 2000 YA, will pass just two lunar distances from Earth on Dec. 22nd. There's no danger of a collision, say scientists, but the small space rock will be near enough to see through large amateur telescopes or through small telescopes equipped with CCD cameras. For more information, images and animations, please visit http://www.spaceweather.com _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com - ------_=_NextPart_001_01C06AA6.2EFDE822 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable RE: display of aurora borealis seen as far south as Texas and = Flo rida.

Thanks!!!

Greg

-----Original Message-----
From: wayne binkley [mailto:wbinkley@hotmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, December 20, 2000 11:41 AM
To: skunk-works@netwrx1.com
Subject: RE: display of aurora borealis seen as far = south as Texas and
Flo rida.





----Original Message Follows----
From: "Weigold, Greg"
Reply-To: skunk-works@netwrx1.com
To: "'skunk-works@netwrx1.com'"
Subject: RE: display of aurora borealis seen as far = south as Texas and Flo
rida.
Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2000 16:54:37 -0500

There's an alert list for aurora displays?
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx= xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
for info only, see below.
wayne
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx= xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Space Weather News for Dec. 19, 2000http://www.spaceweather.com
METEORS & AURORA: Sky watchers who venture = outside to view the Ursid
meteor shower Thursday night or Friday morning might = also spot aurora
borealis.  A coronal mass ejection that left = the Sun on Monday is likely
to buffet Earth's magnetosphere later this = week.  Forecasters estimate a
20% chance of severe geomagnetic activity when the = CME arrives.
NEAR-EARTH ASTEROIDS: A newly-discovered near-Earth = asteroid, 2000 YA,
will pass just two lunar distances from Earth on = Dec. 22nd.  There's no
danger of a collision, say scientists, but the small = space rock will be
near enough to see through large amateur telescopes = or through small
telescopes equipped with CCD cameras.
For more information, images and animations, please = visit
http://www.spaceweather.com
_______________________________________________________________= __
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com


- ------_=_NextPart_001_01C06AA6.2EFDE822-- ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 20 Dec 2000 16:19:08 -0600 From: "Allen Thomson" Subject: P-59, gorilla. Just found this on AvWeek's www.aviationnow.com page: Bell P-59 Secret Jet Program During the Bell P-59 jet aircraft test program [early-mid 1940s, http://www.afa.org/magazine/gallery/p-59.html], a formation of P-38 Lightnings on a training mission over the Mojave Desert was overtaken by an Airacomet. The P-38 pilots were puzzled when they saw the plane with no propeller. Stranger still, the Bell P-59 Airacomet pilot was wearing a gorilla mask and derby hat and had a cigar in his mouth. After a few seconds, the jet pilot tipped his hat politely and pulled away from the formation. This was the first time that Air Force personnel, except for a select few at the test base, had ever seen a jet-propelled airplane. The sight of the gorilla wearing a derby and smoking a cigar helped keep the jet a secret. This has "apocryphal" written all over it, but does anyone here happen to know where the story comes from? Even if, by wild chance, it's true? ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 20 Dec 2000 17:34:40 EST From: SecretJet@aol.com Subject: New Mil-Air Triangle Report On Line! Seasons Greetings! Please check out our latest Sighting Report, this from a former soldier who saw an unusual aircraft over Belize in the mid-90's! http://members.aol.com/BlackTriangles/BelizeTriangleReport2.html BelizeTriangleReport Happy Holidays! - ------------------------ Regards, Bill Turner, 'Admin'. Black-Triangle E-Group HQ. Near London Heathrow, UK. AIM:Secretjet2 ICQ: 29271956 http://members.aol.com/Secretjet/index.html - ----------------------------------------------------------------- No Door is Closed - To an Open Mind! - ----------------------------------------------------------------- Black-Triangle NEW Homepage! Black-Triangle Links ------------------------------ End of skunk-works-digest V9 #86 ******************************** To subscribe to skunk-works-digest, send the command: subscribe in the body of a message to "majordomo@netwrx1.com". If you want to subscribe something other than the account the mail is coming from, such as a local redistribution list, then append that address to the "subscribe" command; for example, to subscribe "local-skunk-works": subscribe local-skunk-works@your.domain.net To unsubscribe, send mail to the same address, with the command: unsubscribe in the body. Administrative requests, problems, and other non-list mail can be sent to georgek@netwrx1.com. A non-digest (direct mail) version of this list is also available; to subscribe to that instead, replace all instances of "skunk-works-digest" in the commands above with "skunk-works". Back issues are available for viewing by a www interface located at: http://www.netwrx1.com/skunk-works/ If you have any questions or problems please contact me at: georgek@netwrx1.com Thanks, George R. Kasica Listowner