Nebula Editor
pscppol@aol.com
One of the most shadowy of the U.S. Air Force's secret projects is the craft known only by the code name "Aurora." Rumor has it the ultra high speed plane (said by some to be capable of Mach 6) is the next generation of high altitude reconnaissance aircraft, replacing aging U-2 and SR-71 planes. Some aviation buffs speculate that Aurora is nothing less than a space plane, able to achieve orbit via horizontal takeoff like a normal jet. Called the "sky splitter," it reputedly uses an advanced PWDE (Pulse Detonation Wave Engine) system for propulsion, which produces the telltale "beads on a string" or "rings on a rope" contrail. Noisy low altitude night time sightings have been claimed by people who haunt the fringes of Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada. Other unsubstantiated whispers claim Aurora uses extraterrestrial technology.
Our faithful correspondent in the southwest, Alfredo Garcia (who previously brought his excellent panoramic photos of Area 51 to ParaScope), has done it again. Recently, while photographing an unusual solar phenomenon from his back yard, Garcia caught what may be the first daylight pictures of a PWDE powered, high altitude aircraft. Here's his description of the sighting:
 On Saturday, January 23, 1999, Alfredo Garcia was taking some pictures of a sky phenomena known as a "sundog" or "false sun" (shown above). What happened a few minutes later was quite unexpected! |
 |
"About 16:15 on 23 January 1999, my wife called me on the cell phone and told me to look outside and see what was around the sun. I was at home at [address deleted for privacy reasons] Arizona.
"It turns out that there were some very high altitude cirrus clouds, and the sun being behind them was causing an atmospheric phenomenon known as "sundogs" or false suns. Anyway, I was shooting the phenomenon, and about 16:30 I notice a contrail off in the northwest horizon some distance away. The "craft" was moving fast and that caught my attention. As it got closer, I could see more of the contrail, and it looked like little white puffs. As it got even closer and started to turn, I saw it starting to accelerate, which produced the characteristic PWDE contrail or the classic "beads on a string" pattern. I know what contrails look like, and this was not ordinary. I had seen PWDE contrails before on the Internet, and knew I had something unusual. So I proceeded to shoot it and got it on film. The craft was moving very fast as it was turning. This thing was hauling butt, as they say!
"So this is what happened and how I happened to take pictures of the contrail. I think I did catch a PWDE propelled aircraft, maybe the Aurora undergoing a flight test! Who knows? I think this is the first sighting in Arizona too. Why they were flying between or over two major cities is beyond me, as this technology is supposed to be so classified. Since it came from the northwest (Nevada's in that direction -- Area 51?) and moved to the southwest (California in that direction -- Edwards AFB or the Skunk Works?) I assume they were doing a test, and when they encountered the cirrus clouds that produced a contrail, they decided to hightail it out of Dodge, so to speak! Just pure speculation on my part."
--Alfredo Garcia
Click Here to ViewAurora Contrail Photos
Photographs by Alfredo Garcia showing the "beads on a string" contrail, the "eyelash effect," PWDE aircraft maneouvers, contrail close-ups, silhouettes and more.