Origin of the SR-71 designation

Everyone knows the story of development, testing, and operational career of the SR-71 Blackbird, but the website Designation-Systems.net has a succinct overview of how the SR-71 got its designation:

"Conventional" wisdom now says that then president Lyndon B. Johnson messed up the designation in his public announcement and called it the SR-71 - and nobody wanted to correct the president. Because the strike mission had been cancelled anyway, "SR" was quickly reinterpreted as "Strategic Reconnaissance". However, a first-hand witness of those events recently revealed in Aviation Week & Space Technology, that LBJ did not misread anything. In fact, then USAF Chief of Staff LeMay simply didn't like the "RS" designator - he already objected it when the RS-70 was discussed, preferring "SR-70". When the RS-71 was to be announced, he wanted to make sure it would be called SR-71 instead. He managed to have LBJ's speech script altered to show "SR-71" in all places. Using archived copies of LBJ's speech, it can actually be verified that it reads SR-71 both in the script and on the tape recording. However, the official transcript of the speech, created from the stenographic records and handed to the press afterwards, shows "RS-71" in three places. It seems that not the president but a stenographer did accidentally switch the letters, and thus create a famous aviation "urban legend".

Since the original script of LBJ's 1964 speech revealing the SR-71's existence mentioned RS-71 (the RS-70 was to be a reconnaissance/strike version of the B-70 Valkyrie, but was never built due to opposition from the Kennedy administration) and LBJ calling the aircraft SR-71 in his speech despite mentioning the RS-70, many people thought that LBJ misread the RS-71 designation. However, LBJ's speechwriter had "RS-71" in the script changed to SR-71 the last minute in the final copy of LBJ's speech because General Curtis LeMay disliked the RS letter in RS-70 and RS-71, preferring to have RS-70 and RS-71 redesignated SR-70 and SR-71. Therefore, personal intervention from LeMay made LBJ's speechwriter modify the president's speech the last minute to have RS-71 changed to SR-71. When did you first learn that Blackbird was originally called RS-71 but later redesignated SR-71 due to General LeMay's dislike of RS in the RS-70 and RS-71 designations.

a reply to: Potlatch

Interesting, considering how long ago it was designed it's still a technological wonder.

Also, such a pretty bird.

Most insane aircraft ever, to think it was a 1950s aircraft/mainframe design and operational in the 1960s is mind-blowing engineering

So Jet engines were brand new tech... and they developed this BEAST which outperforms the majority for decades?? crazy to think

Its that fact alone which makes me think a lot of UAP/UFO could very well be man made aircraft far beyond what is currently know physics

There could very well be next level tech in the black world, and given we know once they develop and release, it is then countered by adversaries, so why disclose it? why show your hand?

Just say

SR-71 1950/60s
SR-WHAT 2020/30s ???

What you got in your head?

A Tick Tack?

Who knows, just never be as ignorant as Mick West, all possibilities regardless how wild must be in the table, because that is the scientific process, simple as that

a reply to: TritonTaranis

We can only speculate, there will no doubt be some exotic tech generations ahead of what's known publicly.

Only chance of disclosure is for a crash landing or aircraft shot down on enemy soil. Even then they would probably scoop up the wreckage and ship it off to some lab for study and reverse engineering.

a reply to: TritonTaranis

Can't remember where but i seen a theory that the tic tac encounter was some kind of beam technology experiment, focusing multiple energy beams from the ocean surface onto a set point in space. The rapid movement could be explained by the generator moving its focus to another point.

I'll try and find it for you. Even if it was BS i enjoyed reading the hypothesis and it was well fleshed out. Imagine a laser pen, pivoting only a few inches in your hand would translate to much larger distances in the sky.

originally posted by: Grenade
a reply to: TritonTaranis

Can't remember where but i seen a theory that the tic tac encounter was some kind of beam technology experiment, focusing multiple energy beams from the ocean surface onto a set point in space. The rapid movement could be explained by the generator moving its focus to another point.

I'll try and find it for you. Even if it was BS i enjoyed reading the hypothesis and it was well fleshed out.

I do know the theory you're talking about, a sensor spoof-er tech, but i dont see it personally

It was multi platform and multi eye witness account, not buying that, nooooo wayyyy

Im 50/50 we got something not of this earth or we got some undisclosed tech... but where from? crashed craft or Nazi Bell?

All options open for me, its something and i know because ive seen a lot, tbh im more interested in how it works than who is operating

don't care, never did, who is it what is it

It's such a nice looking plane up close.

originally posted by: grey580
It's such a nice looking plane up close.

Wow man, such a beautiful plane

Thanks for posting images

More than Half a century away technology

Mind blown again

If you look at modern day Russian or Chinese aircraft they’re still mostly constructed hence look the same way, visible rivets or no coating’s, no meta material science

originally posted by: Grenade
a reply to: TritonTaranis

Can't remember where but i seen a theory that the tic tac encounter was some kind of beam technology experiment, focusing multiple energy beams from the ocean surface onto a set point in space. The rapid movement could be explained by the generator moving its focus to another point.

I'll try and find it for you. Even if it was BS i enjoyed reading the hypothesis and it was well fleshed out. Imagine a laser pen, pivoting only a few inches in your hand would translate to much larger distances in the sky.

Their are several research papers out there. from memory, you take two out of phase lasers and where they intersect it causes microdroplets of water to precipitate out of the air; this forms a cloud of microdroplets that can be used by other lasers to draw a 3D shape on the droplets, which show on radar as a faint blob, and on FLIR as a slightly warmer area in the sky.
There was another method using what used to be called a MASER that would cre4ate the cloud of water microdroplets.
The only problem I can see with it is that it takes a 10th of a second (or really close to that) for the microdroplets to precipitate; if you have a UFO that is traveling FAST, you would have to have it's flight track pre-prepared, so on radar and FLIR it would appear as a very elongated blob (though to an eyeball mark one it would look like a high speed UFO).

I, personally, can't see a way around that technological limitation; well, two ways.
if the entire area in question was covered with droplets ("Fog" or "high humidity at a precise temperature") you could draw whatever you wanted, and have you8r slightly out of phase lasers hitting THAT point at the same time; I THINK it would create a very faint FLIR image, and maybe even a radar return that was different.

The 2nd way is to have your holographic UFO move fast along the beam-track of your out of phase lasers. If the UFO is FAST, you would expect to see disturbance along it's flight path, and by golly that's what you would have.

A detailed, realistic UFO with moving parts, depth? I would THINK it would have to be nearly stationary.

There were once upon a time a youtube video of a Hong Kong chinese New Year celebration, circa 2002-2003, that showed this in action; it started out with a projected phoenix on water fountains shooting mist up into the air, but, as I recall (because it's GONE), the phoenix exploded, and holographic birds flew out over the audience along multiple spokes of instantly created mist. it wasn't explicitly stated what technology was used, however, and like I said it's GONE from the internet.

In fact, then USAF Chief of Staff LeMay simply didn't like the "RS" designator - he already objected it when the RS-70 was discussed, preferring "SR-70".

Father LeMay to members of SAC back in the day.