Dark Eagles: A History of the Top Secret U.S. Aircraft

by Curtis Peebles

  The aircraft was powered up to supersonic speeds by jet engines. The "external burning mechanism" then took over. The jet engines were shut down, and the inlet and exhaust ports were closed. Misted fuel was sprayed from ports at the midsection of the fuselage and ignited. The shape of the aft fuselage and the shock wave formed at the midpoint acted as a "nozzle."

  This external burning was used to propel it to Mach 6 to 8.

  In the fuselage's underside, the article said, were ports for 121 nuclear weapons. The ports were covered with heat-tile-covered caps. The weapons were cone-shaped, like an ICBM's warhead, and sat in the ports nose down.

  The airplane must slow to subsonic speeds to drop the weapons. The outer cap was discarded, the weapon was ejected, and then a second tile-covered cap moved into position. The aircraft was unmanned — it was preprogrammed, but could also be controlled via a satellite or ground station. Such Black aircraft were given as "the reason the Iron Curtain fell."

  All these articles were written against the background of Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, and the buildup of Allied forces. The Aviation Week and Space Technology article asked some pointed and angry questions:

  As Persian Gulf tensions continue into 1991, one must question whether the U.S. commander in chief and his defense secretary are fully aware of super-black weapon systems' potential…

  Hard as it may be to fathom, there is reason to wonder whether complete knowledge of the most exotic aircraft may reach "The Top," all for super-security.

  One would like to think America's staggering black-world expenditures have yielded weaponry that could neutralize Iraq President Saddam Hussein's most valued military and political assets quickly.

  Some say that capability is in hand and could be used… if the right people choose to do so. If they do not, why not?

  If so, why are almost 400,000 U.S. and allied troops dug into the sand in Saudi Arabia, prepared to slug it out in a bloody ground war?

  … the lives of those troops are worthy of wider consideration.[753]

  Following the flurry of reports in late 1990, there was a drop-off in articles during 1991. What was being published was little more than a rehash of the earlier articles. For its part, the air force denied that Aurora existed.

  Most statements were "no comment," but some were more direct. An air force public affairs officer stated, "We have no aircraft matching these descriptions."[754] A senior government official privately told the author that when the reports were published, they sparked a flap inside the U.S. government. An investigation was launched at a high level, which, despite diligent effort, could not discover such an aircraft. He officially stated that there was no such aircraft, as described in the articles.[755] Believers in Aurora were quick to point out the air force had also denied the existence of the F-19 stealth fighter.

  RUMBLES IN THE MORNING

  Early 1992 saw a flood of Aurora stories. These were sparked by four "brief rumbles" in the Los Angeles area over a ten-month period. All occurred between 6:30 and 7:30 A.M. on Thursdays. The specific dates were June 27, October 31, and November 21, 1991, and January 30, 1992. Believing they were earthquakes, radio station KFWB called Caltech's Seismo Lab for the location and magnitude of the quakes. Caltech seismologists looked at computer records from a network of sensors and determined no earthquakes had occurred.

  Jim Mori, a research seismologist at Caltech, concluded that the rumble was actually a sonic boom. The seismic record of a sonic boom is different than a small earthquake, even though they have the same magnitude. As Mori explained, "Sonic boom records look like a short pop; earthquakes have a longer decay period." At first, Mori thought it might be from a meteor, but the regular occurrence, always between 6:30 and 7:30 A.M. and always on a Thursday, ruled this out. That left an airplane. Since there are no commercial supersonic aircraft, KFWB called local air force and navy bases. They denied any of their aircraft were flying at the time. This seemed to point toward Aurora.

  In 1989, Mori had worked on a team studying seismograms recorded during space shuttle landings at Edwards Air Force Base. Based on this, some information about the mystery plane could be determined. It was possible to calculate how fast and how high the plane was flying, based on the pattern of the arrival times of the sonic boom across the seismic network.

  By looking at the entire network, it was possible to determine the flight path and direction. Using the experience of twelve shuttle landings and one SR-71 flight, Mori concluded:

  On three of the four days, the records showed two events, which means that there were two planes. They flew about one minute apart as they traveled across the seismic net from south to north. The planes traveled at about two to four times the speed of sound, at an altitude of 10,000 to 40,000 feet. From the frequency of the event on the seismogram, we think that the aircraft is smaller than the Shuttle. It appears that they did not land at Edwards Air Force Base, but kept going north to southern Nevada. The last time the planes flew, on January 30, they passed over the Los Angeles area about one-half hour before the Space Shuttle was due.[756]

  Because the top end of the speed range was above that of conventional aircraft and because its flight path would take it toward Groom Lake, many assumed the mystery plane was Aurora. A fifth "rumble" occurred on April 16, 1992, (again a Thursday) at about 7:00 A.M. A public affairs director for the Tournament of Roses described it as "kind of a rumble — very short." A restaurant manager said, "It rattled the glass door. And there was a roar, a slight roar." By November 1993, a total of eight such rumbles had been heard.[757]

  On April 20, 1992, the NBC Nightly News carried a feature on Aurora.

  This included details on the rumbles and on the aircrafts' flight path. There was a brief film clip taken from a site near Groom Lake of a light hovering in the night sky. This light was described as being an extremely maneuverable Black airplane.[758]

  As Mori noted, "If they were really trying to keep this secret they wouldn't fly it over downtown L.A., over and over again." The seeming public display of Aurora indicated to some that a disclosure was imminent. The believers detected a "subtle language shift" in the air force denials. One spokesman said, "I have nothing for you on that." Steven Aftergood, an analyst with the Federation of American Scientists — which had long opposed new U.S. weapons programs — said about the air force statement, "it's a non-denial denial. Coming from the air force, it amounts to a confirmation." Aftergood continued, "I would say the triggering of earthquake sensors is a leak from the air force. This is a form of signaling to the people who watch these things that (they've) arrived." Just when the "unveiling" of Aurora would come was unclear to observers. Some thought it would occur in the spring of 1992, recalling Lyndon Johnson's A-ll and SR-71 announcements during the 1964 presidential campaign. (1992 was also an election year.) Others thought it would be within a year. (The F-117A was unveiled shortly after the 1988 election.) Others thought it still might be several years away.[759]

  Another reason for the belief in an imminent disclosure was reports of an Aurora sighting in Scotland. It was claimed that in November 1991, a Royal Air Force air traffic controller had picked up a radar target leaving a NATO-RAF base at Machrihanish, Scotland. He tracked it at a speed of Mach 3.

  When he telephoned the base to ask what the plane was, he was told to for-get what he had seen. Another witness reported hearing an extremely loud roar at the same time as the radar sighting.[760]

  A number of English newspapers and magazines carried the story. It was claimed that Aurora took off from Groom Lake and headed west to a landing at Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific. It then continued west and overflew Iraq, using "high-powered cameras and infrared radar" before continuing on to Machrihanish. After taking off, Aurora was refueled with liquid methane by tankers based in England. It then flew back to the United States. To hide the landings, an F-lll flew in close formation to confuse civilian radar. As the reports spread, Defence Minister Archie Hamilton told Parliament that the existence and
operation of Aurora was a "matter for the American authorities." When the air force was asked, they did not confirm or deny its existence.[761]

  The story crossed the Atlantic and the Antelope Valley Press carried a story on March 6, 1992. It included an estimate that the development cost ran into the tens of billions, with each Aurora in a twenty-plane fleet costing $1 billion apiece.[762] An editorial published on March 12 expressed the hope that the Aurora would produce high-paying jobs in an area hard hit by defense cutbacks.[763] The May 25, 1992, issue of Time picked up the Machrihanish story and carried a brief report in its "Grapevine" column. (Another item was a poll on the question of which presidential candidate had the best haircut.) It said the code name for Aurora was "Senior Citizen."[764]

  Nor were sightings limited to the wilds of Scotland. On February 25, 26, and 27, 1992, there were nighttime sightings of an unknown aircraft with a "diamond-pattern" of lights at Beale Air Force Base (the former SR-71 base). On the first two nights, a KC-135Q took off at about 6:15 P.M., followed by the aircraft. It had a red light near the nose, two "whitish" lights at the wingtips, and an amber light at the tail. The aircraft had a distinctive engine noise, described as "a very, very low rumble, like air rushing through a big tube." The plane then joined the tankers in a close formation and extinguished its lights.

  On one of these nights, at 9:30 P.M., two T-38 trainers took off with an unknown aircraft between them. The third aircraft did not turn on its lights until it was about three miles from the runway. It also showed a diamond pattern.

  Finally, on February 27, a formation of a KC-135Q, two F-117As, and the unknown aircraft took off. The wing lights were described as about twice as far apart as those on the F-117s, and the length was about 50 percent longer than the F-117s.[765]

  What was thought by some to be a ground test of the Aurora's engine was also reported. Late on the night of February 26 (the second night of the sightings) a series of "booms" was heard coming from the base. These occurred every two to three seconds and continued for around thirty minutes.

  They were described as "like artillery fire," and "deep bass notes, not like sonic booms." It was thought these might be "light-off" tests of the engine.

  It was speculated the plane used a pulse detonation wave engine (PDWE).

  The noise and low frequency would, it was said, be consistent with a PDWE. The "light-off" was thought to be the most difficult phase to control, and the sound may have been from technicians "trimming" an engine.[766]

  CONTRAILS AND RADIO INTERCEPTS

  Three months later, photos were published of a "doughnut-on-a-rope" contrail seen over Amarillo, Texas. It had long been reported that Aurora left such contrails, but this was the first time it had been photographed. The sighting took place at 8:30 A.M. on March 23, 1992. The person who took the photographs stated that he had heard a "strange, loud, pulsating roar… unique… a deep pulsating rumble that vibrated the house and made the windows vibrate." He added that the sound was "similar to rocket engine noise, but deeper, with evenly timed pulses."[767] It has been reported that the pulse rate was three hertz.[768] The photographer later said he talked with an engineer at Convair Fort Worth, who said the contrails were formed only when the PWDE was operating outside its design parameters. Another theory was that they became visible only when the aircraft descended out of the thin air of high altitudes and into the thicker air of low altitudes.[769] This powerplant was also referred to as an "impulse motor."[770]

  There was also unusual radio traffic monitored on April 5 and 22, 1992, at about 6:00 A.M., between the Edwards Air Force Base radar-control facility (call sign "Joshua Control") and an unknown high-altitude aircraft with the call sign "Gaspipe." Two advisories were recorded—"You're at 67,000, eighty-one miles out," and "Seventy miles out, 36,000. Above glide slope."

  Fighter aircraft, such as F-15s and F-16s, do not fly above 50,000 feet, as they lack pressure suits. When Aviation Week and Space Technology contacted Edwards Air Force Base, they said Joshua Control had no record of an aircraft with the call sign Gaspipe on those dates. No U-2Rs or the NASA-operated SR-71s were in flight at the time.[771]

  A year later, another unusual contrail was observed. On April 15, 1993, weather satellite photos received at the University of Leicester in England showed a spiral-shaped contrail. When they were published, one letter writer was struck by the similarity with the "doughnuts-on-a-rope."[772]

  THE XB-70 AURORA

  The original 1990 Aviation Week and Space Technology articles were illustrated with artist conceptions of a rounded-delta design. This was followed by the flattened-diamond aircraft. After the Scottish reports, drawings were published of a pure-delta Aurora. In the summer of 1992, still another design was publicized. It was similar in shape to the XB-70 bomber flown during the 1960s.

  The first sightings were made in the late summer of 1990. On September 13 and October 3, 1990, sightings were made at Mojave (near Edwards) in the late evening. Another sighting was made north of Edwards in April 1991 at about 11:00 A.M. On May 10, 1992, a writer with CNN saw the plane flying near Atlanta, Georgia, at about 5:00 P.M. The final sighting occurred on July 12 at 11:45 P.M. at the Helendale Airfield, near Barstow, California.

  This field is located next to a Lockheed radar cross section test range.

  Lockheed aircraft land at the field to bring in workers to the test range. The witness said the aircraft turned on its landing lights while quite high, then descended quickly in an S-pattern. There was bright moonlight, which allowed the witness a good look at the plane as it landed. Although the weather was clear at Helendale, there were severe thunderstorms in Las Vegas and the Groom Lake area. The implication was that the sighting was an emergency divert. On January 6, 1992, there had also been a sighting of a shape being loaded on a C-5 cargo plane at the Skunk Works facility in Burbank. It was described as looking like the forward part of an SR-71 fuselage, except the chines were rounded. It was about 65 to 75 feet long and 10 feet high. The C-5 was cleared to Boeing Field in Seattle.

  The aircraft was described as having a large delta wing and a long forward fuselage. The wingtips were upturned to form fins. The edges of the wing and fins had a black tile covering, while the rest of the fuselage was white. The rear fuselage had a raised area with a black line extending down it. Some witnesses reported seeing a long-span canard near the nose. Because some did not recall seeing the canard, it was thought to be retractable.

  (A large delta wing, long-forward fuselage, and canards were prominent features on the XB-70.) It was described as being about 200 feet long; witnesses said it "dwarfed" an F-16 chase plane. There were two rectangular engine exhausts, and it produced a "very loud, low-pitched roar" with a rhythmic beat to it.[773]

  It was speculated that the XB-70-like aircraft was the first stage of a two-stage satellite launcher developed following the loss of space shuttle Challenger in 1986. The aircraft would reach a speed of Mach 6 to 8, then the second stage, attached to the raised section of the rear fuselage, would fire to put a small satellite into orbit. Such a procedure would be ideal for a quick-response launch of a reconnaissance satellite in a crisis.[774]

  It was noted that the Groom Lake facility had recently undergone an expansion, which believers pointed to as support facilities for the Aurora.

  The old housing area, built for the A-12 personnel, was demolished and replaced by 180 new units. An indoor recreation facility and a new commis-sary were also built. Four water tanks were built on the hillside behind the base for fire-fighting purposes. There was also an extensive runway upgrade program, which included the addition of a second runway. Another improvment was construction of a new fuel tank farm at the south end of the base.

  This was believed to store the liquid methane that fueled Aurora.[775] About midway down the Groom Lake flight line, a large hangar was built. It had a high roof. Believers thought this was the hangar used to load Aurora's upper stage.[776]

  In a separate incident, a United Airlines 7
47 crew reported a near miss with an unknown aircraft. It occurred at 1:45 P.M. on August 5, 1992, as the airliner was headed east out of Los Angeles International Airport. The crew reported the plane was headed directly toward them and passed five hundred to a thousand feet below them. The crew thought the plane was supersonic as the closure rate was two to three times normal. They described the plane as having a lifting-body configuration, much like the forward fuselage of an SR-71 with some type of tail, and was the size of an F-16. It was speculated the plane was a drone that had "escaped." The sighting took place near the Edwards test range. The FAA and Edwards radar records were examined, but no target was recorded when the crew said the near miss occurred.[777]

  DENIALS MADE AND DENIALS REJECTED

  The flood of reports on Aurora generated a number of denials by Air Force Secretary Donald Rice. In a letter to the Washington Post, he said,

  Let me reiterate what I have said publicly for months. The Air Force has no such program either known as "Aurora" or by any other name. And if such a program existed elsewhere, I'd know about it— and I don't. Furthermore, the Air Force has neither created nor released cover stories to protect any program like "Aurora." I can't be more unambiguous than that. When the latest spate of "Aurora" stories appeared, I once again had my staff look into each alleged "sighting" to see what could be fueling the fire. Some reported "sightings" will probably never be explained simply because there isn't enough information to investigate. Other accounts, such as of sonic booms over California, the near collision with a commercial airliner and strange shapes loaded into Air Force aircraft are easily explained and we have done so numerous times on the record. I have never hedged a denial over any issue related to the so-called "Aurora." The Air Force has no aircraft or aircraft program remotely similar to the capabilities being attributed to the "Aurora." While I know this letter will not stop the speculation, I feel that I must set the record straight.[778]