Number Ten.
The V1-73
If I was outside and
saw this aircraft I'm pretty sure I
would have thought it was a UFO. The V1-73, or the flying pancake, was an
experimental World War II test aircraft,
built by the United States as part of a
Navy fighter aircraft program. It had an
almost circular all-wing design. The
project was initiated in 1939 and tested
by the chief flight test pilot on
November 23rd, 1942. Evaluation of the V1-73 carried out throughout 1942 and 1943.
A total of 190 flights were taken, prompting numerous UFO
reports from worried Connecticut
residents. The final test flight took
place in 1947. Overall the project
contributed greatly to understanding of
aerodynamics and the possibility of near
vertical takeoffs.
Number Nine
The F-117A Nighthawk
This is
probably one of the most iconic, thought
to be unidentified flying objects, of the
eighties. I mean just look at her. Who
wouldn't think the strange-looking
triangular aircraft was anything other
than that? This long-range stealth
fighter, which could stay aloft
indefinitely thanks to amid air
refueling, remain classified through much
of the 1980s, during test flights just
outside of the legendary area 51 Groom
Lake facility. Along with the B-2 Spirit
the bat-like F-117A was a perfect
candidate for triangular UFO sightings.
Number Eight
The Horten HO 229 Flying Wing
We can't have this video without one
of the first single-wing aircraft ever.
This aircraft
I'm sure confused even the most skilled
pilots of its time. Unfortunately there
aren't many images available. During the
height of World War II, German Forces
wanted to design and build a fighter
bomber capable of carrying over 2,000
pounds of explosives to target 600 miles
away from their bases, at a speed of over
600 miles per hour.
The HO 229 was the only plane that came
close to the specifications set by the
German military. Powered by two jumo
double zero four C engines and with a
flying wing configuration it was
effectively the first stealth aircraft
to be invented. The plane never made it
into full combat before the Allies
forced Germany to surrender after the
fall of Berlin. The designs however were
smuggled back to America as part of
Operation Paperclip.
Number Seven
The X-47B
Of course, without
the Ho 229 the United States wouldn't
have created anything like this aircraft.
This plane that looks distinctly like a
UFO is an unmanned combat aerial vehicle,
or a UCAV,
designed for the US Navy's aircraft
carriers.
It is a jet-powered aircraft capable of
semi-autonomous ops in aerial refueling.
The body is based on a blended wing
design and is completely without a
vertical control tail. It will be
developed into battle-ready aircraft for
the U-Class or the Unmanned Carrier
Launched Airborne Surveillance and
Strike System. It is expected to be fully
combat operational by 2022. As a
full-size aircraft it is almost
certainly going to spark a frenzy of UFO
sightings, once it starts to appear in
the skies around the world.
Number Six
The SR-71 Blackbird
This aircraft is
featured on many lists, but I will say I
believe, this is list most appropriate of
them all. The tailless spy plane has an
even more unusual cross-section than the
U-2. This area 51 alone was briefly
reactivated in the 1990s, and rumors of a
follow-up, the now legendary Aurora
project, have supplied both UFO believers
and skeptics with a possible source of
unexplained sightings.
Number Five
The Bird of Prey
This black
project. was named after the Klingon
bird-of-prey from the popular Star Trek
film, and the TV series. It's one of a few
aircraft that was actually meant to look
like a UFO. It should come as no surprise
that it was developed by Boeing's
Fantomworks,
located, of course, area 51. It was never
intended as a finished aircraft but
rather as a test for stealth related
technologies, much of which would later
be used on the X45 Combat UAV. It
represented a significant advance in
aircraft camouflage technology and was
eventually transferred to the National
Museum of the United States Air Force at
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, in Ohio.
Number Four
The X-45 A
The Boeing X-45 A
was an unmanned aerial combat vehicle
manufactured by Boeing. It was created as
a concept demonstrator for the next
generation of wholly autonomous military
aircraft, as with Boeing's bird-of-prey
on which it was based.
It was developed at the Fantomworks area
within area 51. The X-45 A made its first
flight in May 2002, and continued until
2006, when the project was suspended by
development for the United States Navy.
In 2008 Boeing lost the completion and
the Navy continued the project with the
Northrop Grumman and X 47. A variation of
the X 45 project remains partially
active as a non-commissioned development
known as the Phantom Ray.
Number Three
The U2
The U2 is not
just a band, but an ultra high-altitude
reconnaissance aircraft, created by
Lockheed Martin, and operated by the
United States Air Force. Nicknamed the
Dragon Lady, the U2 was one of the first
classified planes flown from the Air
Force's secret test facility at area 51.
Onlookers would have undoubtedly been
alarmed by the U2's long wings and
silver coloring prone to reflection. The
U2 was capable of day and night
all-weather intelligence-gathering,
as well as four electronic sensor
research, satellite calibration, and
communication. Very early prototypes were
used during the Cold War and flown over
the Soviet Union, Vietnam, China, and Cuba.
Today the U2 is still in service. One of
the only aircraft besides the B-52 which
can boast a record of service of over 50
years.
Number Two
The RQ 3 Dark Star
The RQ 3
Dark Star by Lockheed Martin and Boeing
seems to have been short-lived. With its
program canceling in just three years.
after a crash, some speculation has
indicated that the plug was only
publicly pulled on the RQ 3. With a
similar spy plane spotted in Iraq in
2003. Designed to be a high-altitude
endurance unmanned aerial vehicle the
Darkstar could take off, arrive at its
target, operate fully to gather and
transmit information, and return without
the need of a pilot, all while remaining
undetected. Today the RQ 3 which stands
for Reconnaissance Unmanned Third of its
series can be seen at the National
Museum of the United States Air Force, at
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in
Dayton, Ohio. The great gallery of the
Museum of Flight in Seattle and the
Smithsonian National Air and Space
Museum.
Number One
The B-2 Spirit
If you have
never seen our number one, the B-2 Spirit
stealth bomber by Northrop Grumman, you
might have mistaken it to be something
extraterrestrial. But, it is its unique
design of the B-2 Spirit Bomber that
allows it to fly so stealth-like. The B-2
was designed with a technique called
continuous curvature, which allows the
curved surfaces to deflect radar.
Released in 1989, two years before the
Persian Gulf War, the B-2 Spirit has been
used in several combat scenarios.
Including operations Allied forces in
Kosovo, Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan,
Operation Iraqi Freedom, and operation
Odyssey Dawn in Libya. The B-2s range
falls at 6,000 miles and is capable of
flying for six straight hours without
refuel. In fact, the bomber comes stocked
with amenities such as a bed, toilet, a
hot plate for food preparation, to allow
a crew member to rest up, on a long
mission. The B-2 relies on split brake
rotors and differential thrust to
maneuver. Keeping radar cross-sections
low, the bomber's engines, located inside
the wing reduces the engine's heat
signature from tracking systems, by
hiding the fan's blades.
Hey guys. This is
Amber and Alex from Minds Eye Design. I
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