News "Flying Dorito" over Texas

[JonnyBGoode]

Here's another report of the strange triangular craft seen flying at high altitudes over Texas. The media is now dubbing it the "Flying Dorito."

http://www.kens5.com/news/Flying-Dorito-in-West-Texas-skies--258819431.html

 

[MaverickSawyer]

That's the third confirmed sighting of this. No one's quite sure what it is, or what it's for. And obviously, the Chair Force is keeping quiet on this.

 

[Urwumpe]

Possibly somebody pulled the old A-12 Avenger II plans out of the poison cabinet and turned it into a new UAV. :rofl:

But it more looks like the Next-Generation Bomber

 

[Evil_Onyx]

Probably a prototype UCAV like the X-47B flying high.

 

[fred18]

i know the truth... it's the Deltaglider in the Beta Version of Orbiter Reality :rofl:

 

[n122vu]

Probably a prototype UCAV like the X-47B flying high.

Agreed. I still think it's just a full-scale test bed version of this:
http://www.boeing.com/Features/2012/08/corp_x48_08_07_12.html

 

[jedidia]

Wouldn't it be a little early for that to go full-scale?

 

[Urwumpe]

Was it photographed this weekend? There was a major UAV event at Cape Canaveral this weekend, the "Aviation Research Challenge".

 

[n122vu]

Wouldn't it be a little early for that to go full-scale?

Possibly. But the article I linked is from almost 2 years ago, so if someone (say, the military) saw great potential for application, it's feasible they might accelerate the research schedule. Pure speculation of course.

 

[Fabri91]

The speculation around these sightings has been rampant:
http://theaviationist.com/2014/04/17/new-image-triangular-mystery/

http://theaviationist.com/2014/04/23/two-different-black-projects/

 

[Hlynkacg]

I'm still 90% convinced that it's one of the US navy x-47s currently stationed in White Sands on it's way to or from a carrier in the Gulf of Mexico. (or Urwumpe's UAV event)


X-47A "Prototype"

X-47B "Production" model, undergoing carrier certification in the Gulf of Mexico

 

[Fabri91]

Don't know...in one sighting three were spotted flying in formation, at an altitude at which they generated contrails, which allowed for some (very basic) size estimation, and they appeared to be quite a bit bigger than normal UAVs:
http://aviationweek.com/blog/mystery-aircraft-over-texas

Possibly related radio traffic even suggests that they could be manned.

 

[Hlynkacg]

How much bigger? the 47B is almost the same size as an F-18 so saying that it looked big enough to be manned doesn't mean a whole lot.

Likewise the radio traffic doesn't mean much because UCAV's all use repeaters to communicate with ground controllers.

 

[Thunder Chicken]

Are there any F-117s still flying? The wing sweep looks similar and the exhaust contrails are close to the centerline, where they would be for a 117.

Just a thought.

EDIT: I just saw a better photo - never mind, definitely not a F117.

Whatever it is, I hope it doesn't get stuck with the appellation "The Flying Dorito Chip".

 

[thepenguin]

Whatever it is, I hope it doesn't get stuck with the appellation "The Flying Dorito Chip".

It's all a cover-up! The planes were really built by Frito-Lay as a marketing plan!
:rofl:

EDIT: Anyway, the A-12 Avenger is supposedly already called the "flying dorito". Adding another one would just confuse people

 

[Thunder Chicken]

It's all a cover-up! The planes were really built by Frito-Lay as a marketing plan!
:rofl:

Gosh, I could go for a cold beer and a [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frito_pie"]Frito Pie[/ame] now.

 

[Pioneer]

It's obviously an X-47B drone spying on the American poplace :shifty:

 

[fsci123]

It's obviously an X-47B drone spying on the American poplace :shifty:

Im not an expert on this but...Didnt spy satellites and drones eliminate the need for fast, manned, spy planes?

 

[JonnyBGoode]

There are still some tasks men in cockpits can do better.

 

[Codz]

Im not an expert on this but...Didnt spy satellites and drones eliminate the need for fast, manned, spy planes?

The X-47B is a UCAV. The only manned spy/surveillance aircraft in the US military is the U-2.