Weird California sighting

A friend of mine just emailed me. He's been working in California recently, and saw something that he thought was really unusual, so I thought I'd throw it out there and see if anyone has any ideas.

He was driving back to where he was staying one night, kind of late, and saw three aircraft flying in formation, heading west. Two of them had the usual lights lit up on them, but he couldn't tell what type they were. He thought they were pretty big fighters, maybe F-15s, or F-22s. The third one was where it gets really interesting though.

He could tell from the lights that it was quite a bit bigger than the other two, and it was a lot faster. He said that there was what looked like a bright green strobe light on the fuselage, and it pulled away from the other two like they were standing still after awhile. It headed out towards the Pacific and finally disappeared from sight. It came from the general direction of Edwards.

I'm hoping to find out what it was, but haven't heard anything from any of my usual sources. I might be heading through that area this weekend, so hopefully I'll have a chance to see it, and maybe get a better idea of what it looks like.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Hmm...any matching reports from Cali or Hawaii?

a reply to: Thorneblood

I haven't checked yet. I only just got the email a short time ago and fired off some questions to the usual suspects. Hoping to hear back from them.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Hmm 2 chase planes and a fast moving LPI platform with a quiet boom. This has black project written all over it

a reply to: B2StealthBomber

This has Very Interesting Black Project written all over it.

I think I might know what it was... If it was what I'm thinking, then yeah, it's definitely a very interesting one that your buddy witnessed. And it wouldn't be the last time it's seen in that general area, either.

Keep your eyes skyward.

a reply to: weavty1

What is it?

a reply to: Zaphod58

Say have you seen this before? www.fbo.gov...

It's one of the more easily accessible bits of info

a reply to: B2StealthBomber

Yeah, makes you wonder doesn't it. If the only thing that used JP-7 retired in the early 1990s, why do they need 100,000+ gallons between two locations, starting around 2010.

Things that make you go hmmm.

a reply to: Zaphod58


Very interesting, my wife and I witnessed a similar sighting 2 years ago when we moved here to Arizona it was getting dark when we seen it, didn't hear much when we saw the strange object but heard the jets coming up behind it 10 seconds later, after the typical "did we see a e.t UFO" we realized that we are in the desert and we are going to see some interesting things out here.

Just making a quick post to get updates to this thread.

If Zaph says its weird, it's GOTTA be something good.

Maricopa (AZ) + Westminster (CA).

Eye witness reports [On differing dates, same year ] of single green light heading westwards at [presumed] high altitude. I would NOT be at all surprised what so ever if these reports are factual sightings of a very distinctive airframe.

originally posted by: Astr0
Maricopa (AZ) + Westminster (CA).

Eye witness reports [On differing dates, same year ] of single green light heading westwards at [presumed] high altitude. I would NOT be at all surprised what so ever if these reports are factual sightings of a very distinctive airframe.


Is that this year? I ask because I am in Pinal county az.

originally posted by: thesaneone

Is that this year? I ask because I am in Pinal county az.

Yes. The 'Green Light' sightings started 2012 and continue. Heading west.

Dear Zaphod - methinks you hit paydirt

Sorry doubled up on the posts.

a reply to: Astr0

Definitely! A lot of interesting things going on at Edwards, and they're gonna keep getting interesting with the new bomber going to south base pretty soon

Why must you all be so cryptic?

Tell me if I have the following right:

It would be odd for a plane that large to be so much faster than the fighters. The green light on the fuselage isn't a 'light' in the conventional sense, but something to do with the propulsion system. The government fairly recently acquired a LOT of fuel that was used in the SR-71.

So questions because I don't even know where to start looking. What is the green light associated with? Is there anything else kicking around that's big and that fast? Do any other planes use that fuel? Is this related to either the Texas sighting or the other one?

I remember a certain someone saying we would be seeing more and more of something, but I can't remember which on it was. This stuff absolutely fascinates me but again, I don't even know where to start. I think I asked you once Zaphod, but I get distracted easily.

Na reply to: Domo1

The lighting is fairly common with a test article, a single solid light, tests from Area 51 have pretty much been the same when being observed.

Usually you have to have chase planes but hey if they can't keep up then they'll follow until they can't anymore lol

The fuel was going to Edwards for a project that was going on a while back, remember the sky quakes? I think they've found a way to take the boom out of sonic boom!

a reply to: Domo1

The green light is very unusual. I don't know if it's related to anything, but I've never seen an aircraft with anything but a red light on the fuselage.

JP-7 fuel was last used in the SR-71. It's designed for high speed flight, because it has a high flash point to it. Nothing else out there used it, but they ordered 100,000+ gallons to be delivered between 2010 and 2012. So there's SOMETHING out there that uses it, and is probably high speed.

It's not clear if this is related to either one of those sightings. I didn't see it, so I don't know for sure about the size, but the SR-71 was just over 100 feet long and capable of Mach 3, so if it's something in about that size range, we could be talking about a new high speed recon platform.

a reply to: Zaphod58

We 'could' be lol