Aurora on FAS site under aircraft

Not sure if this is a good find or not, however, I was reading about chemical weapons on www.FAS.org - Federation of American Scientists, Under Aircraft, I was surprised to find some " mystery " planes, but astounding when I found the aurora

FAS Aurora

The list of planes is located Here ( Planes ) It looks like a pretty legit website...I'm still just astounded.

hey there, it might be a good find ...i aint one to judge really, but i was wondering what were your thoughts on the pic from the link you provided. only cuz the title lists it as fake. I think the picture looks pretty good to the untrained eye



short story.........back when I was in school (2000), i questioned my teacher about the Aurora, only because I knew he was a former SP in the Air Force and me being just out of the Marines I thought he'd be a little bit on the generous side with info...however, instead he got quite agitated and cited a couple rules on the conduct of secrecy and how they apply whether you are active or not....he closed the conversation with "THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS THE AURORA!"
I never asked him another thing after that.

reply to post by dawgjay


According to Paul McGinnis, THE civilian authority on such matters, Senior Citizen is most likely a transport craft, though it might have some stealth features.

Here's a link to the old Skunkworks newsgroup that may be of interest.

www.netwrx1.com...

Thus, this is probably speculation on the part of the FAS. Those images are CADs.

Edit: here's an interesting page of Paul's on naming conventions:
www.totse.com...


[edit on 17-10-2007 by Badge01]

reply to post by spikedmilk


Do you recall what he said precisely? Unless he said 'There is currently no such thing as a Mach 6 triangle-shaped craft in our operational inventory' - the usual disclaimer, then saying there's no 'Aurora' isn't very meaningful. He could just mean the name.

Even then, one could still be telling the truth - an single experimental one-up craft isn't considered 'part of the inventory'. In order to be operational, there has to be a fleet, if I'm not mistaken.

The only disclaimer that means anything, from people who are potentially in the know is something like "I can neither confirm or deny", or they can decline all comments.

So I suspect that he was not in a position to know if he specifically disclaimed the craft by 'name'.

Just a thought.

No he didnt give any specifics as such, prior to to my inquiry. (it was a "snow day" - when 90% of the class doesnt show up) and we all got to talking about what we did prior to where were at currently and he mentioned the Air Force and being stationed out west...well the two girls in the class were prodding him with a couple q's in regards to UFO's. Something I would have never done to a military man in front of everyone just out of respect for the man, or any man for that matter. He laughed at their silly questions and basically blew them off as just being silly questions. I approached him respectfully after the class and when no one was around. He must of been angry still cuz he never blew up at me like that, ever. The way he answered me, I felt like I was back in front of one of my CO's or maybe even my dad cuz I didnt think twice about asking again. And it never came up again. But to answer your question, there were no technical specifics of any kind. I called it by what I heard of it - Aurora

reply to post by spikedmilk


My uncle was in the AF and stationed at one of the bases noted for advanced craft. We asked him about it, and he laughed and said something about it being nice to have a hobby, according to what I was told. (we mentioned UFOs).

Oddly he lived at the time in one of the biggest hotspots in the US and ended up getting interested in the phenomena.

Generally, unless you were an engineer working on a current project you wouldn't be in a position to know.

It's curious that he'd lecture you on the secrecy act. After all you just asked a question - it's incumbent upon him to be careful what he says.

Thanks for the clarification!

yeah, i always thought that. he could've just said "nope, never heard of it." and i might've thought nothing of it.

no problem man.

reply to post by spikedmilk


Did you know that when various aviation writers and scientists first saw the first low res pics released by the military of the Stealth Jet (F-117a) many of them were sure that this was the Aurora Mach 6 craft?

Man, it didn't even look like a supersonic craft (it isn't even able to go supersonic); it just looked futuristic.

reply to post by Badge01


I think I might of heard that somewhere.
My last unit I was in before I was discharged, one of my last Platoon commanders used to be an Embassy Guard and held various post's all over. Had pics of him and various Bush's, Mr Clinton, other dignitaries, etc...all over even better (however no pic to back it up). One of his first guard duty assignments that he would tell us about was guarding the SR-71 Blackbird before it was known to the public. Where he did this, wasn't specified. I could speculate, but there are alot of questions he wouldn't entertain. But, thats the Marines.

Aurora is in itself, an enigma. Was it a code name on a budgetary memo or was it in fact an actual top secret aircraft program? My question concerning this "supposed" aircraft is; If it doesn't exist, then why did we zero the budget for the SR-71 for maintenance and support? Did the satellite technology allow this to happen, or did we come up with something better?

A publication from the Department of Defense, Office of the Director, Program Analysis and Evaluation titled "Future Years Defense Program (FYDP) Structure" (DoD 7045.7-H), published in April 2004, lists AURORA as program element number PE010119F. Its staus is listed as "Historical," meaning it is no longer an active program.

A high-level Pentagon official with intimate knowledge of all U.S. hypersonics programs, current and historic, told me that AURORA was a budget line for facilities to support construction and testing of the B-2 stealth bomber. It was never an aircraft project. He also said there was no replacement for the SR-71, or any operational hypersonic aircraft.

I recall that Ben Rich of Lockheed, in his autobiography, also shot down the AURORA rumors.

I wouldn't be surprised if one of the many still-classified one-of-a-kind technology demonstrator projects over the past 25 years was something designed to go fast, but I doubt an operational replacement for the SR-71 would have been any easier to hide than the Blackbirds themselves. Even when the OXCART program was a completely unacknowleged "black" project, operating mainly within the confines of the Nellis Range, there were numerous unauthorized sightings of the A-12. It would be even more difficult to operationally deploy such an aircraft in secret, especially considering the logistics aspects.

Thanks Shadowhawk, I always love reading your replies, very straight forward and with confidence, I'm no conspiracy theorist, but what about all the sightings? Just plain luck or something of the same nature, under a different X name?

What was ever made of the satellite photo of the "donuts on a rope" contrail leaving Nevada and making its way all across the country?

Was it confirmed to be a hoax?

[edit on 18-10-2007 by PokeyJoe]

I don't put much stock in the so-called "donuts on a rope" contrails. Most of the pictures I have seen look like normal contrails with subsidence puffs, or intermittent contrail formation due to atmospheric conditions.

The "air quakes" are a somewhat different story. There have been a number of possible explanations, but I don't know what to make of them. I would be much more skeptical of the phenomenon if I hadn't experienced it myself. It really shook the house like an earthquake, a long shake that sounded like a freight train coming though, but without the ground motion of an earthquake. I'm only sorry I didn't note the date and time to cross-check with other reports.

Very fine article, thanks. I have to believe they have a classified replacement for the SR 71.

There was no direct replacement of the SR-71. It's mission is undertaken by a combination of satellites, U-2, and a variety of classified and unclassified UAVs.

A high-speed, high-altitude, manned reconnaissance platform is a "sexy" concept, but there is little requirement for such a platform these days.

reply to post by dawgjay


why are you astounded ?

did you actually read the FAS article ?

is see absolutly nothing reven remotelty astounding - merely the major speculations about "AURORA" writen up in a clear and concise manner , and clearly labeled as speculations

Thinking that there is no need for a high speed manned recon platform is very unrealistic. There will always be a need to a "quick look" at what is going on somewhere. You cant always get satellite coverage of an area, UAV's work as a tactical recon paltform, but if you dont control the reachable airspace then a UAV like Global Hawk is not a good option for a strategic recon platform. The U2 takes a long time to get somewhere, and is hardly untouchable any more. No major power is going to allow an incursion of thier airspace with such an aircraft.
In any future large scale international conflict, if it involves the super powers, survailence satellites will be the first operational equipment losses.
I dont think there is actually an "Aurora" aircraft per se, but that there is a decendant of the original program operating. And who's to say that it isnt a UAV by now. And what about "Pumpkinseed",
More than ten years ago I personaly saw a "donuts on a rope" contrail being made by an aircraft as it passed overhead. It was accompanied by an odd sound, not at all like the normal noise of a jet motor. And the contrail wasnt at all like that being made by the other civillian and military jets that day.
In more recent times I have seen an aircraft moving at very high speed and at very high altitude, flying over central california from the south east to the north west. I have seen it 3 times now in the last couple of years, each time it was just after sunset.
There is a post on here, in an unrelated topic, from some one who has been living in nepal. And they have seen what, I think he called , "the skipping stones" or something like that. It is like a meteor that skips along flaring up and dimming as it goes overhead. Like a stone skipping on the water. It alwys come from the direction of china and dissapears to the south. Overflights of china to land at diego garcia, then back home , or going orbital all the way around.

oops double post

[edit on 24-10-2007 by punkinworks]