Report casts light on UFO triangles

        THE INSTITUTE’S researchers contend that these types of vehicles are lighter-than-air, blimp-style craft of the U.S. military’s making. Likely powered by “electrokinetic” drive, the lifting body-shaped airships have been skirting the skies since perhaps the early to mid-1980s.
      NIDS has followed up on their study of last year that correlated sightings of large triangular or delta-shaped objects with Air Force Materiel Command and Air Mobility Command bases throughout the United States. Matches were made suggesting flight paths in and out of certain base locations.
      The new assessment focuses on what four police officers and more than a dozen others observed on Jan. 5, 2000: A large, silent, low-flying black triangular-shaped object. It flew on a southwesterly direction between Highland, Ill., and Dupo, located less than 30 miles (48 kilometers) from St. Louis.
      Part of the flight path took the enormous object near the perimeter of Scott Air Force Base.
      NIDS does not come up with definite conclusion regarding the origin of the object sighted in Illinois.
      However, the reports jibe with more than 150 separate reports of sightings of large triangular or deltoid-shaped objects. Those eyewitness accounts, accumulated by NIDS, have mainly come from the United States. A small number of the sightings they have on file come from Canada and Europe.
     
BALLOONING EXPECTATIONS
      To bolster their case about military airships being taken for UFOs, analysts at NIDS make a historical note.
      Lighter-than-air vehicles held all records for payload, distance, duration and altitude within the first four decades of the 20th century — even with the advent of the airplane. In fact, save for rocket-powered research aircraft like the X-15 and the space shuttle, all absolute altitude records are still held by high-altitude scientific balloons.
      NIDS makes the case that Big Black Deltas, or BBDs, are U.S. Defense Department airships. They are so large they can carry massive payloads at low altitudes, cruising at speeds three to five times as fast as surface ships.
      Among a range of NIDS observations, the group believes the BBDs are powered by electrokinetic/field drives, or airborne nuclear power units. These craft also fly at extreme altitudes, high above conventional aircraft and the pulsing of ground-based traffic control radar.
Electrokinetic propulsion means that no propellers or jets are used. A hybrid lighter-than-air craft would rely on aerostatic lift gas, like a balloon. No helicopterlike downwash would be produced. Except for a slight humming from high-voltage control equipment — and in older BBD versions an occasional coronal discharge — a Big Black Delta makes no noise.
      Given a slew of BBD capabilities — from silent running, diminished drag and elimination of sonic shock waves to operation from ground level to full vacuum — NIDS calls for pushing this black-world technology out into daylight for commercial benefit............more here
[url]www.msnbc.com/news/790220.asp?pne=msn#BODY[/url]

Interesting link, deserves a btt.

Some of those triangles of lights (there was one on the news a couple years ago that hung over AZ for quite a while, and had multiple home videos of it) are definitely just flares from aircraft at night.  Not the quick eject and distract a missile type flares, but I have seen very slowly sinking flares, with bigger chutes, that take a good 10-15 mins. to extinguish, and move with the wind in unison as they are sinking.

Could definitely see a use for a slow, black, small radar cross section blimp.  For years the Soviets have had an ancient prop plane, forget the name, but looks like something from WW2.  Mostly cloth, real low radar cross section, with carefully designed prop and engine shape.  It's primary purpose was to drop a small group of Russian Special Forces guys behind enemy lines and saboatage key enemy positions, not so much for straightforward military effect, but to inject confusion and use up enemy resources.

Could also be a real cheap, high altitude platform to mount communications relay equipment, missile launch detections systems, and RF sniffing equipment.

That would be the AN-2 COLT.  Oldy but goody with a massive radial engine (most of the metal on it)  It's pretty "stealthy" due to its otherwise fabric construction.  It can land or take off in about 300 meters, and is a pretty big aircraft.  I see one flying on a regular basis, along with other interesting stuff.  The North Koreans have a large number of them.  They serve as primary insertion platform for NK SOF.  It also flys the backwater and undeveloped areas of many former Commie countries, since it does well on primitive or unimproved landing strips.

That's one nice-lookin' aircraft.  I love the sound of big radials, especially on those "Spads" that would drop out of sight for a while after leaving the flight deck.

BTT

As an engineer in the aerospace business for +22 years, I have my doubts of secret 600 x 300 feet airships.

I read several years ago on the the FAS site of the ability of the USAF to keep the Stealth fighter and bomber secret: basically it failed.

For example, back in early 1981 people at Boeing-Seattle knew that the Development Center was going "black".  They also had a good idea of why:  The Stealth Bomber which became the B-2.

Everyone had theories about the so-called Aurora spy plane.  While there were numerous hints (USGS ground sensors that measured a high speed aircraft probably being the most credible), there has never been a photo shown.  In addition, there is no evidence of any "take" coming from a high speed, high altitude recon platform that the Aurora was supposed to be.

Same with these airships:  high tonnages being delivered in days; so far, there is no evidence of it happening.  Preps for Iraq have been either prepositioned out of the area or DG or ships from CONUS.

I don't doubt that the USG has some pretty nice hardware that we won't see for several years, if ever (BTW: most of it is probably tested at the Groom Lake Air Force Base, aka Area 51).  I just don't believe a 600' long secret airship is one of them.

I'm willing to be surprised however, as long as Saddam Stupid is also!

Regards,

Merlin

Nice post, but I got it beat.

[url]http://www.janes.com/aerospace/civil/news/jdw/jdw020729_1_n.shtml[/url]

Here's a pic of an AN2 that had a little problem.  October 1983.  Small island in the south Carib called Grenada.

[img]http://photos.msn.com/imageserver/image.aspx?Image=HcZNnT9kkUh7v3gGH5Km46T3B*!oDf9MUbUDs5xk0XFSSSvZsiY4yVPaF5ItOgvqg0T2BNoZPmySXi6RrQV7hD1UrZpiPWLUyACB3EJbYv872S2zK7hp!fTyZhS77m6mIhAiE*0hpQmPTck!3K6kfg$$[/img]

That Shvetsov radial couldn't drive over a claymore.

Check the name on the side.

Arock

Dsl,

According to Boeing News, Aug. 6:

Boeing developing anti-gravity devices?
                                              Recent news articles claiming that Boeing Phantom Works is
                                              conducting “anti-gravity research” have many employees
                                              around the company wondering if this is true. The short
                                              answer is no. While Phantom Works constantly monitors
                                              potential breakthrough technologies being developed
                                              outside the company, including research by a Russian
                                              scientist on so-called anti-gravity devices, it is not funding
                                              any research in this area. The news articles are based on a
                                              misinterpretation of information, including that found in a
                                              Boeing presentation that a journalist managed to obtain.
                                              While the purpose of the presentation is to explain the
                                              scientist’s theory, recommend continued monitoring of the
                                              research and possibly conduct some low cost experiments to
                                              evaluate the plausibility of the theory, the journalist
                                              erroneously took the document to be describing an actual
                                              ongoing project , say Phantom Works officials.

Link:  http://boeingnews.web.boeing.com/archive/08_02/080602/

I can't judge the veracity of the above denial since I'm not in that business nor location; therefore its hard for me to tell who's telling the truth.  One thing I do know is that Boeing would be the #1 company in the world to be interested in antigravity due to its commercial airplane business.  If I was in charge, I sure as heck would be developing/researching AG.

My .02.

Merlin