Area 51 on ATC screen showing 3 aircraft.

Bringing this over from another site to see if any of you can elaborate.



Picture is of an aggressor air controller terminal over the Nellis Range clearly showing "the Box" aka Dreamland with 3 flights originating from A51. Speculation?

I can tell you what it's not.

EDIT: If you right click and "open in new tab" you can see this image in much larger resolution.

Excuse my ignorance on this,but why is it considered unusual to have ONLY 3 aircraft in flight over somewhere as big as Groom Lake?

originally posted by: aholic
I can tell you what it's not.

Janets?

a reply to: Imagewerx

It's unusual to have a published image of anything flying over 51! Especially a picture of Nellis' combat maneuvering instrumentation system showing aircraft over 51.

Here is the original, airman.dodlive.mil...

The three flights in the box are not apart of Red Flag. I can confirm you that.

a reply to: Aarsvin

But three? So close together?

....the two north bound ones intrigue me the most.

a reply to: aholic

Why not? One to Plant 42, one to Vegas, and one of their smaller birds to somewhere else. There's no reason they wouldn't.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Those would be the wrong tracks for both Palmdale and Vegas.

I mean, don't they test aircraft there? Why is it odd to see planes flying over the area?

a reply to: aholic

And I was just throwing out a reason for three flights all around the same time. There's no reason they wouldn't fly three flights like that. Especially if they're heading out to a remote site.

a reply to: MystikMushroom

They usually don't let any data leak about test flights. Even normal aircraft testing new equipment.

a reply to: Zaphod58

I'm sure someone else can chime in but I've never seen or heard of tandem JANET flights. And I've always been under the impression they takeoff in a southernly direction from 51s runway. They could be headed to TTR.....that track would make sense.

Maybe two F-16s. Don't TTR and 51 share an F-16 security detail?

I have to wonder how in the heck they keep track of whats out there that can and can't be? Is there like one guy that knows all the secrets that delegates it down the chain? A computer can scan the web for images, but I'd imagine a human set of eyes have to review stuff before the "bleach" is poured on it.

a reply to: MystikMushroom

Not sure what the deal with this one is either.

www.lazygranch.com...

They occasionally leak these photos. I put one in the page in the link above. Now in my case, I had to correct the perspective.

I suggest downloading the original 13MByte photo.
m.flickr.com...
In the case of the pair of planes, they are flying close enough that one might be flying chase. Or they are just F-16s doing proficiency training. Lots of routine stuff has to be done at Groom Lake as well as testing. It you do enough. Tikaboo hikes, you will eventually see some non-Janet stuff. The only non-Janet I photographed was a F-117, and that was back when the plane was still in active inventory.

Am I right to assume the red square is area 51 and so indicates a high attention area for the operator?

If so, what is the red triangle in the left upper corner?

originally posted by: EartOccupant
Am I right to assume the red square is area 51 and so indicates a high attention area for the operator?

If so, what is the red triangle in the left upper corner?

In an actual Red Flag exercise, Groom Lake is considered to be a neutral country that you can't fly over. So ATC will warn pilots if they are close to breaking the box.


Nothing comes to mind on the red triangle.

Maybe it's a training simulation program
Of them breaking the box ?




Just a guess.....

originally posted by: Kapusta
Maybe it's a training simulation program
Of them breaking the box ?




Just a guess.....

You don't break the box. In an emergency, you punch out and crash the plane before breaking the box. During Red Flag, if you break the box you are getting a lecture then going home.

originally posted by: gariac

originally posted by: Kapusta
Maybe it's a training simulation program
Of them breaking the box ?




Just a guess.....

You don't break the box. In an emergency, you punch out and crash the plane before breaking the box. During Red Flag, if you break the box you are getting a lecture then going home.

Right ,well more of a reason for me to believe it was a simulation program .

Since they likely test drones out of area 51 its likely they use them for site security.

I know NAWS China Lake tests navy drones and does use them to look for people crossing there fence onto there bombing ranges to hunt for scrap metal and other military idems.