TR-3

Image via Hendrickson

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There is nothing more fascinating in the aviation world than the “black projects” – aircraft programs that are so secret that even those with the highest security clearance may have no idea they exist.  But occasionally the veil of secrecy is accidentally lifted – or projects are declassified – offering a fleeting glimpse into this shadowy world.  Here we take to the air with six different planes – some now released into the public domain, others still highly classified or even non-existent.

TR-3A Black Manta

Images by Adrian Mann

Allegedly active during the 1980s and ’90s, little is known of the TR-3A Black Manta beyond rumour and hearsay.  Popularly embraced as a subsonic stealth aircraft manufactured by Northrop Grumman (famed for its “flying wing” designs), the TR-3A was rumoured to have been used in the Gulf War in conjunction with F-117A stealth fighters, but little evidence exists to support this.  Another theory – again unsubstantiated – holds that the vehicle identified as the TR-3 was a prototype for the B-2 Spirit.

(Image: Area51ZONE.com)

Two 1977 designs from Teledyne Ryan, a firm specialising in unmanned aerial vehicles, have been linked to the TR-3A.  This stems in part from the fact that “TR” stands for Teledyne Ryan – a fanciful connection considering “TR” is well known to denote “tactical reconnaissance.  Teledyne Ryan was purchased by Northrop Grumman in 1999, adding fuel to the fire of conspiracy theory.  But aside from a patent (below) that is said to resemble the configuration of whatever aircraft has been identified with the TR-3A, there is little, if any, credible evidence linking it to Teledyne Ryan.

(Image: United States Patent 4019699)

The designation “TR-3″ likely came about due to confusion with another black project, Tier III, which led to the RQ-3 Darkstar.  Another theory holds that the aircraft dubbed the TR-3 may have grown out of the Tactical High Altitude Penetrator (THAP) studies, of which little exists in the public domain.  This article discusses THAP’s potential mission as a recon-strike platform, which could account for a plethora of sightings throughout the 1980s and ’90s.  However, there is significant debate over whether THAP progressed to the flight testing stage.  If THAP was not responsible for the “TR-3A” sightings, it’s possible another secret demonstrator associated with the A-12 Avenger programme (below) could have been…

Flying Triangle dubbed “TR-3B”

The online world is buzzing with information about the alleged “TR-3B“, from rumours of its fantastical capabilities to intriguing video footage.  Yet despite numerous sightings suggesting the existence of a large triangular aircraft that can fly slowly and quietly, little information exists about this rumoured black project. Like the TR-3A above, the designation “TR-3B” is almost certainly a misnomer.

The most dramatic claims frame the “TR-3B” as a nuclear powered tactical reconnaissance aircraft capable of disrupting gravity.  But a more likely – and in many ways more interesting – argument for these strange flying triangles, is that they’re lighter-than-air vehicles or some sort of stealthy troop transport aircraft.  Given the technologies proven by Have Blue and Tacit Blue in the 1970s and ’80s and the number of projects that have allegedly been tested at Groom Lake since that time, it’s not impossible to think that some of these flying triangle reports may have some substance to them, if not under the designation TR-3B.

A-12 Avenger II (and the Mysterious Jet that May Have Preceeded it)

Image via U.S. Navy

The A-12 Avenger II was envisioned by McDonnell Douglas and General Dynamics as an all-weather, carrier-based stealth bomber for the U.S. Navy and Marines.  Shrowded in secrecy at the time of development in 1983, the A-12 reportedly gained the nickname “Flying Dorito”.  Concept drawings and mock-ups show a flying wing design in the shape of an isosceles triangle, with the cockpit near the apex.

Image by Anynobody

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Development of the A-12 was hampered by problems.  The project was cancelled in January 1991 by then-Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney when the estimated price of each plane allegedly hit $165 million.  The cancellation was said to be a breach of contract, resulting in years of legal wrangling.  In 2009, a court finally ruled in favour of the government and ordered the contractors to pay more than a $2 billion in charges, but the battle ranges on to this day.

Images via U.S. Navy

After the cancellation of the A-12 Avenger II the Navy purchased the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet.  While there was never a full scale prototype, an earlier (1976 – 1984) classified General Dynamics technology demonstrator called Model 100 (funded under the Have Key program) may have paved the way for the cancelled A-12.  It has been suggested that this aircraft remains secret due to the ongoing legal issues.  The A-12 has also been linked to a secret plane called Sneaky Pete, which may or may not be the Model 100, or a development thereof.  We were able to locate one A-12 mock-up thanks to those savvy online explorers at Virtual Globetrotting.

X-44 Manta

Image via strange-mecha.com

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The X-44 Manta was a conceptual design by Lockheed Martin, based on the original F-22 Raptor (below).  The X-44 was essentially a tailless Raptor with large delta wing and advanced thrust vectoring nozzles replacing normal aerodynamic control surfaces.  Benefits would be a more stealthy, light airframe, with increased fuel volume and maneuverability.  The plan was to convert an early F-22 prototype but the program was allegedly terminated in 2000.  The X-44 render looks similar to the proposed FB-22, reportedly cancelled in 2006.

Image via Rob Shenk

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It’s hard to know what to make of many alleged black projects.  Could some of these exotic aircraft be one and the same?  How much disinformation is out there?  The X-44 was essentially a flying wing design with a name similar to the TR-3A “Black Manta”, although in the X-44′s case, MANTA apparently denoted Multi-Axis No-Tail Aircraft.  Could this be a case of one black project’s name being mistakenly attributed to another, like TR-3 and Tier III?  In 2005, GlobalSecurity.org reported that the X-44 designation may be reserved for a possible NASA full-scale manned tailless flight control demonstrator.

HALO (High Altitude Low Observability) / BAE Replica

(Image: Stridus, public domain)

Like other black projects, Britain’s effort to create a stealth demonstrator remains shadowy, despite cancellation in the 1990s.  The Replica program was a BAE Systems design study tied in with the RAF’s now defunct Future Offensive Air System (FOAS).  It is known to have run from 1994 to 1999, with a full-sized mock-up subjected to rigorous testing to determine its radar cross section (above).

Image via Planeman

(Image courtesy of AboveTopSecret.com (CC-Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5)

FOAS set out to replace the RAF’s Tornado GR4 jets with a range of manned and unmanned platforms by 2017.  The program was cancelled in June 2005 after the UK joined the U.S. Joint-Unmanned Combat Air System (J-UCAS) program, which was itself cancelled the next year but later revived as the Navy-only UCAS-D program.  After the termination of FOAS, knowledge gained from Replica was poured into the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF).

Images via United States Air Force

Initial arguments over Britain’s access to the JSF source code prompted Britain to consider a potential alternative.  While likely referring to an adapted Eurofighter Typhoon, Replica remains in the shadows, despite public acknowledgement of the program and photos of the full scale mock-up stored at BAE Warton.  This could be due to the ongoing use of Replica’s technology in forthcoming projects, such as the JSF, but also Taranis, a BAE unmanned demonstrator.  Again publicly acknowledged, Taranis is set to fly next year although sightings suggest it – or perhaps something else – flew in 2009, which the British government vehemently denies.

Aurora – Hypersonic Spyplane

Image via Hendrickson and Foxbat

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The Aurora spyplane is the world’s most famous top secret aircraft, and a reliable photograph would be one of the most coveted finds in the history of classified aviation.  Historically presented as a hypersonic replacement for the ageing SR-71 Blackbird spyplane (below), there’s considerable evidence available in the public domain to suggest no specific aircraft called “Aurora” ever existed.

SR-71 Blackbird (image via U.S. Air Force)

The name “Aurora” reportedly slipped out in the 1985 US budget alongside an allocation of $455 million for “black aircraft production”.  Excited journalists, writing in the March 1990 edition of Aviation Week & Space Technology, linked “Aurora” to the reported black aircraft, and later to a family of exotic aviation projects, claiming that by 1987 funding had reached $2.3 billion.  Ben Rich, former director of the Lockheed Skunk Works (which built the F-117, below), said there never was a hypersonic Blackbird follow-on and claimed Aurora was the name given to the B-2 Stealth Bomber competition funding.

F-117 Nighthawk (image by U.S. Air Force)

Helping to fuel the Aurora legend was a disjointed catalogue of sightings and mysterious sonic booms.  The most compelling sighting came in August 1989, when Chris Gibson, an engineer aboard the Galveston Key rig in the North Sea, observed a strange isosceles triangle-shaped aircraft refuelling from a KC-135 Stratotanker, escorted by two F-111 bombers.  Gibson, a member of the Royal Observer Corps and trained aircraft recognition expert, could not identify the mysterious plane.

Image via Google Earth

In the early 1990s, the disclosed “Aurora” designation and the “North Sea sighting” were linked to several other reports that helped perpetuate the story of a top secret SR-71 follow-on.  One was a report of an aircraft over Amarillo, Texas, with an engine described as emitting a “strange, loud pulsating roar”.  Caught on film was an alleged “donuts-on-a-rope” contrail that has become synonymous with the Aurora myth.  While some attribute this to a potential pulse wave detonation engine, others have argued the contrails could have been made by ordinary jet aircraft.

Images via Google Earth

Finally, a series of bizarre sonic booms heard over California up until 1993 were attributed to Aurora after seismologists concluded they did not characterise earthquakes, but indictated “something at 90,000 feet, Mach 4 to Mach 5.2″.  Intriguingly, each unexplained sonic boom came on a Thursday morning between 6 and 7am.  In addition, Groom Lake (Area 51) has a six mile long runway, now closed, that some say would be a requirement for testing a high speed, mach 5 plus, aircraft.

It’s telling that, more than 20 years after Aurora debuted in aviation and popular science publications, no solid evidence has been found to support its existence, despite the hype and hordes of investigators digging for information.  At this point it seems likely that the top secret aircraft known as Aurora stems from sightings of various aircraft (some potentially black projects) and not necessarily a single airframe.  That said, Chris Gibson’s sighting and the strange skyquakes remain a mystery to this day.

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Darren Perks
UFO Investigative Researcher and Media Contributor

UFO: Flying Triangles

Posted: 29/09/2012

There are thousands of UFO sightings around the world every year, but a high percentage of them relate to one very common UFO and shape....

Strange flying black triangle UFOs





I myself witnessed one on 30 March 1993, which was part of the famous UK Cosford UFO incident, and I became one of thousands of people who have witnessed these strange craft in our skies.

Read more about the Cosford UFO incident here: Cosford UFO

But what are they?

They are large, triangular-shaped UFOs, often black in colour, with rounded corners and making a low, humming noise. They disappear to the horizon at unbelievable speed. They are ususally big craft and show up from nowhere in the blink of an eye.

The first sighting of these mystery triangles was recorded and reported in 1965. Some say they were first sighted in 1950s. For some time people have said they are secret military projects - the next generation stealth aircrafts. But why are they flying the same way since sixties. How come the technology never changed in more than 50 years?

According to many ufologists like myself, these UFOs are the outcome of direct transfer of technologies from extraterrestrials to human civilization in different parts of the world. They are believed to be reverse engineered from crashed UFOs, and have been developed behind closed doors at top secret military facilities and bases around the world. One such facility is Groom Lake aka Area 51 in Nevada USA: AREA 51

The triangle shaped UFOs are said to use anti-gravity propulsion. They also use superconductors to create the electromagnetic flux as well as anti-gravity propulsion. That is why the humming noise comes out which was heard by myself and many others. What I witnessed on 30th March 1993 was very real indeed and is still unexplained along with other flying triangle incidnets. But we have to consider the possibility that it may not just be Extra-Terrestrail UFOs, but craft developed by us from their technology...

Some laugh at this theory and just asume people who see these triangles are seeing illusions. But when have you heard and invetsigated people seeing exactly the same thing or 'illusion' (from a sceptics point of view) in places tens of thousands of miles apart, it cannot be and illusion or something just made up in the mind.

Read more: http://theedgeofreality.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=ufos&action=display&thread=2819#ixzz2BSwx6C9z

Pennsylvania Lights

GAP -- Last night, July 29th, 2012. I was traveling eastbound on US Route 30. I was driving when I saw 6-7 large "fireballs" traveling towards me. I knew pretty quickly these were not airplanes, due to how they were grouped together and I have been in this area for 12 years and I am accustomed to the airplanes that travel in this area. They were a bright burning red color that was constant that did not dim or flash.

I pulled over on the side of the road and began filming with my IPhone 4GS. The first four were traveling in two pairs and the others were traveling in singles behind. The objects started to align in a triangle, then a straight line before disappearing. Thanks to MUFON CMS

Texas Triangle

SHAMROCK -- I put Travis County and Austin in the location fields of the form at the request of the field investigator (Robert Powell). A friend who attended college picked me up on November 20, 2000. It was at dusk near I-40 when I noticed the object moving northeast. As we got within two miles it was crossing the highway ahead of us, and we could tell that it was moving very slowly.

We saw it was not a conventional aircraft, and had blue lights at each point of the triangle. The lights were steadily glowing as it flew by at 35 mph, at 1,000 feet in altitude. We had never seen anything like it before. It was probably 400 yards across at least. Other people in cars were standing outside watching. We eventually lost sight of it. I found this picture that is similar but the object we saw was much larger. Thanks to MUFON CMS

Utah Cylinder

SALT LAKE CITY – Mothership videotaped over city on July 13, 2012. A cylinder shaped object was seen over the city once again.

Every few years one is observed.
http://www.facebook.com/grops/projmexo/permalink/389003324494269/

WITNESS BUZZED BY A BLACK TRIANGLE IN VERMONT

Posted on January 18, 2012 by PFEIFER

WITNESS BUZZED BY A BLACK TRIANGE IN VERMONT

1-5-12 NORWICH VERMONT

While traveling South in the slow lane, on Interstate 91, at 4:50 am, I looked in my drivers side mirror and noticed a Black Triangular object with large yellow lights approximately 50ft. above and directly over the roof of a car, in the fast lane. After about 5 seconds I refocused my driving to the road in front of me as I was headed towards the breakdown lane.  I maneuvered my vehicle back into the slow lane and once again looked into the drivers side mirror and the object was gone. The vehicle behind me in the fast lane was still proceeding south behind me. The entire event lasted about 10 seconds. As I proceeded South, still looking through my drivers side window and passenger side window into the sky looking for the object, it didnt reappear! After I proceeded approximately a mile South on the interstate I saw what looked like a red shooting star with a streak in the sky directly in front of me lasting about 2 seconds. NOTE: The above image is a rendering.

Thanks to MUFON CMS system.

KEN PFEIFER WORLD UFO PHOTOS

WWW.WORLDUFOPHOTOS.ORG

WWW.WORLDUFOPHOTOSANDNEWS.ORG

WWW.MUFONNJNEWS.COM

Posted 14th