By Leonard David
Senior space writer
Updated: 3:33 p.m. ET Sept. 2, 2004

They have become legendary in UFO circles. Huge, silent-running “Flying Triangles” have been seen by ground observers creeping through the sky low and slow near cities, and quietly cruising over highways.

The National Institute for Discovery Science, or NIDS, has cataloged the Triangle sightings, sifting through and combining databases to take a hard look at the mystery craft. Based in Las Vegas, NIDS is a privately funded science institute with a strong research focusing on aerial phenomena. The results of their study have just been released, and lead to some unnerving, puzzling conclusions.

The study points out: “The United States is currently experiencing a wave of Flying Triangle sightings that may have intensified in the 1990s, especially towards the latter part of the 1990s. The wave continues. The Flying Triangles are being openly deployed over and near population centers, including in the vicinity of major interstate highways.”

Covert operations?
A key NIDS conclusion is that the actions of these triangular craft do not conform to previous patterns of covert deployment of unacknowledged aircraft. Furthermore, “neither the agenda nor the origin of the Flying Triangles are currently known.”

The years 1990-2004 have seen an intense wave of Flying Triangle aircraft, the study observes. Sifting through reports by hundreds of eyewitnesses, the NIDS assessment states that the behavior of the vehicles “does not appear consistent with the covert deployment of an advanced DoD [U.S. Department of the Defense] aircraft.”

Rather, it is consistent with (a) the routine and open deployment of an unacknowledged advanced Defense Department aircraft or (b) the routine and open deployment of an aircraft owned and operated by personnel outside the Defense Department, suggests the NIDS study.

“The implications of the latter possibility are disturbing, especially during the post-9/11 era when the United States airspace is extremely heavily guarded and monitored,” the NIDS study explains. “In support of option (a), there is much greater need for surveillance in the United States in the post-9/11 era, and it is certainly conceivable that deployment of low-altitude surveillance platforms is routine and open.”

‘Open, even brazen’
According to Colm Kelleher, NIDS’ administrator, the newly completed quasi-“meta-analysis” of Flying Triangles melds three major databases, from NIDS, the Mutual UFO Network and  independent researcher Larry Hatch, the creator and owner of one of the world's largest and most comprehensive UFO databases.
 
Kelleher said the analysis indicates that deployment of Flying Triangles is open, not covert, and involves low-flying, brightly lit aircraft routinely deployed over populated areas including cities and interstate highways.

“However, I cannot say whether these are U.S. Air Force aircraft. We simply don't know,” Kelleher told Space.com. “But it does not appear to be consistent with the covert patterns of deployment we saw with the F-117 and B-2 prior to their acknowledgement. This is open, even brazen.”

For example, a perfunctory look at the how past military stealth aircraft programs were kept from the public eye — although they eventually came to light — is different from the patterns for the Flying Triangles.

Prior to acknowledgement of the F-117 and B-2 aircraft, only rare nighttime sightings occurred in the sparsely populated sections of Nevada, California and a few other states. Flying at low altitude over populated areas was rarely reported for the F-117 or B-2.

“In contrast, the Flying Triangle deployment, especially during the 1990s, appears more consistent with the open and public operation of these aircraft,” the study explains. The trend of open deployment of the Flying Triangles is not consistent with secret operation of an advanced military aircraft.

No attempt to hide
The database-driven study of the Flying Triangle shows the following patterns:  

Sightings take place near cities and on Interstate highways.
They are seen at low altitude in plain sight of eyewitnesses.
They fly at extremely low speed or hover in plain sight of eyewitnesses.
The vehicles sometime fly with easily noticeable bright lights — either blinding white lights, or “bright disco lights” that usually flash combinations of red, green or blue.
The NIDS study emphasizes that the flying of these vehicles may be more in harmony with an attempt to display or to be noticed. There appears to be little or no attempt to hide. That finding has led to a modification of an earlier NIDS hypothesis that the Triangles are covertly deployed Defense Department aircraft.

While it is too early to dismiss the previously published NIDS correlation between Triangle sightings and a subset of U.S. Air Force bases, the apparent association with centers of population may point away from a covert program. “Rather, it is consistent with routine and open deployment of an advanced aircraft,” the NIDS study concludes.

Clustered on both coasts
During the ensuing years (2000-2004), NIDS received hundreds of reports from people in the United States and Canada reporting large triangular aircraft, often silent and often flying at very low altitude and at low air speed. In many cases, the objects were brightly lit. NIDS files also include reports of Flying Triangles from remote areas.

In mid-2004, NIDS reviewed its database that contains the locations of the Triangle sightings in the United States. The sightings of Triangles appear primarily adjacent to population centers and along interstate highways, with sightings clustered on both coasts.

NIDS has amassed almost 400 separate sightings of triangular/boomerang/wedge-shaped objects. Many of these craft are brightly lit, low-flying, and traveling at unexpectedly low air speeds.

In earlier reports, NIDS outlined a tentative correlation between reported sightings of Triangles and the locations of Air Mobility Command and Air Force Materiel Command bases in the United States.

Like a ‘Star Trek’ uncloaking
According to ground observers, the features of a Black Triangle are indeed impressive.

For example, the NIDS study includes the observation of a person in Port Washington, Wis., who encountered a large object that flew over her home at an estimated altitude of 500 feet (150 meters) in October 1998. Her eyeing of the clear starry night was interrupted as the craft came into her field of view.

“Suddenly this monstrosity came out of the ‘blue,’ just like a Star Trek 'uncloaking', no kidding ... so quiet I couldn’t believe it and so huge ... no more than 500 feet or so up, and big enough to take up my field of sky vision,” she reported.

Crude mathematics, the witness recounted, would make the vessel about 200 feet wide and 250 feet long (60 by 75 meters).

In wrapping up its look at the burgeoning number of Flying Triangle sightings in the United States, NIDS also took into account the work of writers and researchers delving into the topic both in the United States and abroad.

Those analyses fall into two camps: One says the Triangles are human-made, while the other says they are not.

“In 2004 it is extremely difficult to distinguish between these two possibilities, since the former option overlaps heavily with legitimate national security concerns, while in the absence of much more physical evidence, the latter option is not testable,” the NIDS assessment concludes.

msnbc.msn.com/id/5897539/

This is real news.
MSNBC.

I guess saucers are old technology now!

the Asgard will help us.

I just seen one fly by!  


Oh wait..  nevermind...

it was only my neighbors Tiki Hut.  

I've been seeing more shaved triangles lately...

Were they flying?

Quoted: I've been seeing more shaved triangles lately...

I've been seeing more shaved shaving more triangles lately

fixed it for ya

They could very well be legit.

A rigid airship (using carbon fiber structural elements) with a "big wing planform" would be far less susceptible to the elements than one of the traditional cylindrical design.  

If large enough it could be used as a stealthy heavy airlifter.
With the use of powerplants (gas turbine?) buried in the structure providing electric generation for electric motor ducted fans it would be extremely maneuverable not to mention slow.

Materians used in the structure and envelope of such a vehcile could provide a measure of radar low observability, but the greatest means of stealth would be provided by its low noise signature (see electric ducted fans) and extremely low speed.  Fly slow enough (<90mph) and a radar system's own filters will render the craft invisible.

My guess is that these are airlifters.  The correlation between Air Mobility Command bases and such sightings may lend support to the "big lifter" hypothesis.  Another practical correlation regarding AMC may have nothing to do with such an aircraft's role (heck they may be part of a bistatic radar system and/or a means of providing greater battlefield bandwith), but instead with hangar space.  AMC has plenty of large facilities to house the likes of C-5A/Bs that may very well be the ideal size to house & hide such an aircraft.

Then again, I could be totally wrong and this is the Mothership that has come to enslave us all.  If they are listening, I'm willing to do their bidding in support of our new masters.  

All the more reason to buy a .50 BMG and some incindery rounds and make it your truck gun.

Skunkworks product.  Lighter then air seems most plausible for observation and surveillance.

Hold my beer while i fly this!

Quoted: What's with you today, is it April 1st?

Actually KA3B is on the nail with this one……

Anyone had a B2 fly over them?… it's an amazingly quite plane, first time I had one fly over  me I was stunned, but not half as stunned as the Rapier Anti Aircraft Missile Battery operator when his launcher just sat there and did not 'see' it.

There have been numerous sightings of these 'triangles' this side of the Pond and NATO jets regulary chase them without success…  as for the 'Cloaking' …look up 'Plasma' stealth, the Russians came up with a plasma generator that cloaks the plane in a plasma field. The plane appears to shimmer and glow and has almost no radar signature.

www.aeronautics.ru/plasmamain.htm

ANdy

It has begun

"Silent" or very quiet also brings to mind the possibility that anti-gravity propulsion has come of age.  I forget the scientist's name, but he worked at Area 51 years ago and decided to break his silence about anti-gravity research based on captured or crashed alien craft.

The government seemed to have either erased his employment records or disputed his claims and made him look foolish, until the complex phone book was dug up, which showed his office number plain as day.  It's always those little details that blow people out of the water.

Anyway, he claimed years ago that the government has been working on the technology.

Oh yeah ...

Top Secret USAF Photo...

I find it strange that if they are hovering over highways during the day time no one has snapped a picture of one.  

We have some local jokers with Ultralight aircraft who fly around in formation at night with lights flashing in hopes of exciting the sheeple.  If you didn't know what you were looking at you could mistake them for a much larger aircraft.  Methinks there may be others with the same idea.

Quoted: Quoted: What's with you today, is it April 1st? Actually KA3B is on the nail with this one…… Anyone had a B2 fly over them?… it's an amazingly quite plane, first time I had one fly over  me I was stunned, but not half as stunned as the Rapier Anti Aircraft Missile Battery operator when his launcher just sat there and did not 'see' it. There have been numerous sightings of these 'triangles' this side of the Pond and NATO jets regulary chase them without success…  as for the 'Cloaking' …look up 'Plasma' stealth, the Russians came up with a plasma generator that cloaks the plane in a plasma field. The plane appears to shimmer and glow and has almost no radar signature. www.aeronautics.ru/plasmamain.htm ANdy

I agree but I believe it is technology being used that has actually been around for some time, but the government has refined it and has been keeping it "under wraps".

This "technology" (Field Effect Propulsion) is being demonstrated and explored though what has been coined "Lifters".

Lifters are prototype field-effect propulsion devices powered by high-voltage supplies. They're made of aluminum and other lightweight materials, and take off vertically when power is applied. They provide continuous thrust with no moving parts, and don't require fuel like conventional aerospace technologies.

Field Effect Propulsion Types

Ion-Wind -This type of propulsion obeys the current laws of physics in that ions that are accelerated by the electric-field between the wire and the foil create a movement of air producing thrust. This would create thrust in a manner similar to the way that an aircraft creates lift by displacing air, except that the Lifter requires no moving parts to accomplish this.

Biefeld-Brown -This type of propulsion requires no moving parts, and is believed to be created solely on the basis of an interaction between the high-voltage components of the Lifter and the surrounding vacuum-properties of the environment.

In other words, the Biefeld-Brown effect would create thrust by pushing against the fabric of space itself, and as a result would require no propellant to function -- making it a highly-interesting potential method of creating thrust.

Mixed-Effect -This type of propulsion would consist of the Biefeld-Brown effect acting as an enhancer on existing ion-wind effects to create a more efficient method of displacing air by changing the dynamics of the ion-wind interaction. This field of study is currently very tentative, but may offer an approach to enhancing the efficiency of conventional aircraft in the future.


Before you tell me to tighten my tinfoil hat ....go out and actually buy tinfoil (or disassemble your existing hat ), balsa wood, small gauge wire, and a power source and try some of these experiments Lifter Experimentation

Check out some of the video links on the page, especially the “drop down” navigation box on the left hand side of the page.

This is some pretty amazing stuff that is being done in garages and back yards. Can you imagine what they could whip up with several billion dollars of "black project" funding and total secrecy?

If you are still have doubts, you can even buy at kit at Lifter Kit. Click on the picture of the "foil triangle" to see a short video of one in action.

Now put those hats to some good use and start experimenting!

KA3B - I am in the process of building one of these right now. I am in the Mt. Vernon area. If I get it to work (and dont fry myself to death) I will let you know. Maybe you would like to take a look at it in operation? This gives me a good idea for an AR15 "contest" - new thread to follow

Quoted: Quoted: I find it strange that if they are hovering over highways during the day time no one has snapped a picture of one.   AHA!  You only THINK Nobody has snapped a pic of one!   I HAVE ONE! See!: www.mountaintop.org/ar/ufo1.jpg

Careful ----------  I see an abduction and an ANAL probing in someones future ...

This has been in the news for at least 5 years now.
There are dozens of photos, which have appeared in newspapers and on TV.
The 2 most famous sightings were over Phoenix, and over St. Louis. There were entire formations of these craft observed by many people including law enforcement personnel, reported , photographed, and still unexplained.

My guess is that they are another top secret experimental aircraft that they don't want us regular folks to know about yet. Skunkworks or something like that.

Of course, some people will still think it is only "tinfoil hat" stuff.

Tell that to the St. Louis Sheriff's Deputy who watched them with his own eyes, and reported their movements on the official radio to the dispatcher.

I don't think that there are any aliens. I think all these "sightings" are either secret aircraft, hoaxes, or imagination.

In these cases, which were observed by thousands of people, it has to be something real, and most likely a futuristic secret aircraft.

Quoted: I just seen one fly by!   Oh wait..  nevermind... it was only my neighbors Tiki Hut.

Sadly funny.

How you making out?

Guys, don't eat the brown acid..

Its a trap!

Quoted: Its a trap! img28.exs.cx/img28/4176/ackbar-trap1.jpg

Maybe our good Admiral started his training on one of these Lifter

Quoted: www.uform.org/images/Glasgow01.jpg

IT'S PIZZA THE HUT!!

Huh I didnt realize Ascender was operational

http://www.jpaerospace.com/

Most likely just cover for the NRO, but who really knows - well I have an idea but they wont tell me

Luck
Alac

"The Times, London, Friday 2 February 1996.

         UFO 'buzzed' airliner at Manchester Airport

             by Harvey Elliott Air Correpondent

A British Airways passenger jet had a close encounter with an unidentified
flying object while landing at Manchester Airport, an official report
disclosed last night.

The Boeing 737, with 60 people on board, was overtaken at high speed by a
wedge-shaped craft as the plane descended through 4,000ft on the final
stages of a journey from Milan. Captain Roger Wills reported that the UFO,
which was emblazoned with small while lights and possibly a black stripe
down one side, flashed silently down the side of the jet so close that his
co-pilot, First Officer Mark Stuart, involuntarily ducked as it went by.

There was no sound and no wake but both pilots were so concerned that they
filed a formal "airmiss" report. The Civil Aviation Authority launched an
invetigation, the fourth such incident since 1987, and after a year-long
inquiry concluded yesterday that they could find no likely explanation. The
three previous sightings also baffled the CAA expert."


ANdy

Well, at the risk of being labeled a lunatic.. I've seen one.

I think it's the Aurora project, but I wouldn't bet on it.. this thing was spooky.

www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/mystery.htm
go there look at "Mothership" "Blimp" and "Aurora"

Quoted: "Silent" or very quiet also brings to mind the possibility that anti-gravity propulsion has come of age.  I forget the scientist's name, but he worked at Area 51 years ago and decided to break his silence about anti-gravity research based on captured or crashed alien craft. The government seemed to have either erased his employment records or disputed his claims and made him look foolish, until the complex phone book was dug up, which showed his office number plain as day.  It's always those little details that blow people out of the water. Anyway, he claimed years ago that the government has been working on the technology. Oh yeah ...

Without evidence to back up your claim, I can only say:

Believe or disbelieve, as you wish.

The Neutral Observer has seen one of these, close up.  During an air defense exercise involving (publically) F-16s and B-1s a few (6-7) years ago, The Neutral Observer saw one of these fly almost directly over His head at about 500 ft.  It was around midnight, and it was equipped with standard lighting (all aircraft were flying with lights on for safety purposes), but moved overhead very slowly, at an estimated 100-200 mph.  It was about 200 yds away, 500 ft up, and moving directly towards The Neutral Observer, making absolutely no sound.  It was enormous; 200 feet plus of wingspan at the least.  The Neutral Observer decided (stupidly) to take a picture of it, brought up his camera, and popped off the flash (dumb idea at night and at that distance; no way the picture would come out).  The instant the flash went off, the aircraft turned (spun, almost) 180 degrees (in less than the space of a football field), climbed and increased speed, and was over the horizon in less than 4 seconds.  All the while making no sound.  The Neutral Observer is certain of the distances, speeds, and times.  It wasn't that dark of a night, but He could see shadows caused by it's lighting.  He walked it off and measured it numerous times later, trying to confirm what He saw.

The Neutral Observer stayed out the rest of the night hoping to see it again, but only saw F-16s blundering around the sky looking for it fruitlessly.  The Neutral Observer has no clue what He saw; nothing The Neutral Observer knows of can move like that.

The Neutral Observer also got bitched out by three air force personnel in the next couple of days.  A Lt. Kelly L-something (female; she was attractive), a Col (name forgotten) male, and a TechSgt (name forgotten) male.

So was it real?  A B-2 with distance and speed distorted by the dark?  A figment of The Neutral Observer's imagination? Who knows?  The Neutral Observer still doesn't know what He saw.

Quoted: Believe or disbelieve, as you wish. The Neutral Observer has seen one of these, close up.  During an air defense exercise involving (publically) F-16s and B-1s a few (6-7) years ago, The Neutral Observer saw one of these fly almost directly over His head at about 500 ft.  It was around midnight, and it was equipped with standard lighting (all aircraft were flying with lights on for safety purposes), but moved overhead very slowly, at an estimated 100-200 mph.  It was about 200 yds away, 500 ft up, and moving directly towards The Neutral Observer, making absolutely no sound.  It was enormous; 200 feet plus of wingspan at the least.  The Neutral Observer decided (stupidly) to take a picture of it, brought up his camera, and popped off the flash (dumb idea at night and at that distance; no way the picture would come out).  The instant the flash went off, the aircraft turned (spun, almost) 180 degrees (in less than the space of a football field), climbed and increased speed, and was over the horizon in less than 4 seconds.  All the while making no sound.  The Neutral Observer is certain of the distances, speeds, and times.  It wasn't that dark of a night, but He could see shadows caused by it's lighting.  He walked it off and measured it numerous times later, trying to confirm what He saw. The Neutral Observer stayed out the rest of the night hoping to see it again, but only saw F-16s blundering around the sky looking for it fruitlessly.  The Neutral Observer has no clue what He saw; nothing The Neutral Observer knows of can move like that. The Neutral Observer also got bitched out by three air force personnel in the next couple of days.  A Lt. Kelly L-something (female; she was attractive), a Col (name forgotten) male, and a TechSgt (name forgotten) male. So was it real?  A B-2 with distance and speed distorted by the dark?  A figment of The Neutral Observer's imagination? Who knows?  The Neutral Observer still doesn't know what He saw.

Did you notice a blue-ish color glow anywhere on the craft? Did you notice any strange smells (like an air freshener "ionizer") or feel "electricity" in the air?

AvWeek has had quite a bit on this if you're interested.

Luck
Alac

Quoted: Quoted: Believe or disbelieve, as you wish. The Neutral Observer has seen one of these, close up.  During an air defense exercise involving (publically) F-16s and B-1s a few (6-7) years ago, The Neutral Observer saw one of these fly almost directly over His head at about 500 ft.  It was around midnight, and it was equipped with standard lighting (all aircraft were flying with lights on for safety purposes), but moved overhead very slowly, at an estimated 100-200 mph.  It was about 200 yds away, 500 ft up, and moving directly towards The Neutral Observer, making absolutely no sound.  It was enormous; 200 feet plus of wingspan at the least.  The Neutral Observer decided (stupidly) to take a picture of it, brought up his camera, and popped off the flash (dumb idea at night and at that distance; no way the picture would come out).  The instant the flash went off, the aircraft turned (spun, almost) 180 degrees (in less than the space of a football field), climbed and increased speed, and was over the horizon in less than 4 seconds.  All the while making no sound.  The Neutral Observer is certain of the distances, speeds, and times.  It wasn't that dark of a night, but He could see shadows caused by it's lighting.  He walked it off and measured it numerous times later, trying to confirm what He saw. The Neutral Observer stayed out the rest of the night hoping to see it again, but only saw F-16s blundering around the sky looking for it fruitlessly.  The Neutral Observer has no clue what He saw; nothing The Neutral Observer knows of can move like that. The Neutral Observer also got bitched out by three air force personnel in the next couple of days.  A Lt. Kelly L-something (female; she was attractive), a Col (name forgotten) male, and a TechSgt (name forgotten) male. So was it real?  A B-2 with distance and speed distorted by the dark?  A figment of The Neutral Observer's imagination? Who knows?  The Neutral Observer still doesn't know what He saw. Did you notice a blue-ish color glow anywhere on the craft? Did you notice any strange smells (like an air freshener "ionizer") or feel "electricity" in the air?

No.  The Neutral Observer just saw the shape of the aircraft against the sky, the standard lighting, and heard complete silence.

KA3B must be Asgard for ART BELL,welcome back art...... KA3B

I have no idea as to the reality of this or not.  I can say this however:  For many years I was involved in some "code word" projects that required a clearance far higher than TS.  When I was first exposed to this "stuff" I was STUNNED at how far our technology had progressed and I was likewise STUNNED at how little we the people really know about these technologies, weapons, vehicles and "science projects" that our DoD, working with the best and brightest from our universities are creating.

For example...put the U-2, the HABU (SR-71) and Stealth aircraft into a temporal context.  Look at the aircraft the ROW was designing and flying when these planes reached IOC.  We know have working particle beam and laser weapons that can shoot down ballistic missiles from aircraft.  Soon this technology will be at sea.  When that happens, we will no longer need slow kinetic energy weapons to defeat anti-ship missiles.

Personally, I believe we have some incredible stuff in the works, including perhaps a successor to HABU and exoatmospheric non-ballistic, non-airbreathing aerospace vehicles.

Basically...I believe that whatever we see today, we have stuff far more fantastic in development or already fielded.

Quoted: I have no idea as to the reality of this or not.  I can say this however:  For many years I was involved in some "code word" projects that required a clearance far higher than TS.  When I was first exposed to this "stuff" I was STUNNED at how far our technology had progressed and I was likewise STUNNED at how little we the people really know about these technologies, weapons, vehicles and "science projects" that our DoD, working with the best and brightest from our universities are creating. For example...put the U-2, the HABU (SR-71) and Stealth aircraft into a temporal context.  Look at the aircraft the ROW was designing and flying when these planes reached IOC.  We know have working particle beam and laser weapons that can shoot down ballistic missiles from aircraft.  Soon this technology will be at sea.  When that happens, we will no longer need slow kinetic energy weapons to defeat anti-ship missiles. Personally, I believe we have some incredible stuff in the works, including perhaps a successor to HABU and exoatmospheric non-ballistic, non-airbreathing aerospace vehicles. Basically...I believe that whatever we see today, we have stuff far more fantastic in development or already fielded.

The Neutral Observer will believe that.

Considering that most scientific and technological advances from these projects do not get published, most scientists on the outside don't know how far they are along.

Tinfoil hat is on so the aliens can't control me

In mid 2004, NIDS again reviewed our database comprising the locations of the Triangle sightings in the United States. We find (see the Map #1) the sightings of Triangles appear primarily adjacent to population centers and along Interstate Highways. From the map, the Triangle sightings cluster on both coasts. The flight path direction of the Triangle aircraft is shown by the direction of the black arrow on the map. If an arrow points west, the Triangle was reported flying west.
www.nidsci.org/articles/8_25trireport.php

Tagged for future reading. Great links Blackgun_Fun

Maybe they actually built some A-12 prototypes.

Tagged.

Did you say they were PIE shaped?

Quoted: All the more reason to buy a .50 BMG and some incindery rounds and make it your truck gun.

HAHA!   Quote of the night.

- BG

I wouldn't be suprised if this stuff was DOD.

After all, look how old the SR-71, the flying wing concept, etc. are. This is "ancient" stuff technologically speaking.