# Greatest prank ever (area 51) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 7, 2010, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-prank-ever-area-51/542339 "2010-06-07T21:00:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-prank-ever-area-51/542339/21 "2010-06-08T10:14:15Z")
I have zero desire to join in that trainwreck, so I’ll simply say this: if they exist, show me one. Just one. Not a blurry picture, no coverup excuses, no suppositions from UFOlogists, just show me a single UFO of extraterrestrial/alien origin. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-prank-ever-area-51/542339/22 "2010-06-08T11:53:51Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > [Yub Yub, Commander.](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Kettch) > > I’d imagine it would have been even funnier if a) the SR-71 could fly slow enough inverted for someone in a general aviation aircraft to see the occupants, b) [SR-71s cannot fly inverted at all](http://jalopnik.com/5532546/how-to-fly-an-sr+71-blackbird/gallery/), and c) even if it could, [the windows are extremely small](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/97/Lockheed_SR-71_Blackbird.jpg), making the odds of seeing inside remote at best. > > All that notwithstanding, [cool story, bro](http://incredimazing.com/static/media/2009/11/12/Coolstorybro/CoolStoryBro.jpg). You’re late. We already concluded that I misheard/misidentified the story as pertaining to SR-71s when it might’ve happened with an XP-49 instead. In that case it would still be striking because jet technology was not at all widely known of, and there’d be a gorilla flying a propellerless plane. > [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > You seriously think that could be mistaken for a UFO, you know with the noise and the general wingy-shaped design thing? For real? > > I suppose you have stills of it looking unmistakeably like a ufo, don’t you? Sorry, which class of UFO are we comparing it to? The xenu class attack UFO or the mrryyxxyy class scout or what? And yeah - that’s not what happened here, but I could definitely see the SR-71 being mistaken for a UFO before it was well known to the public. It looks nearly alien just due to badassedness, and oh, it flies faster than any other plane ever did. So if you happened to see it flying across 5 or 10 times faster than any other air traffic, plus it could be silent or sound weird because it’s flying past its sound waves (so the sound comes late and from a weird direction) or it’s flying so high that it appears to be silent, why not? ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-prank-ever-area-51/542339/23 "2010-06-08T12:47:33Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > You seriously think that could be mistaken for a UFO, you know with the noise and the general wingy-shaped design thing? For real? > > I suppose you have stills of it looking unmistakeably like a ufo, don’t you? Please confine your stupid to your little corner and stop dribbling it all over everyone else’s nice threads. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-prank-ever-area-51/542339/24 "2010-06-08T14:11:30Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > You’re late. We already concluded that I misheard/misidentified the story as pertaining to SR-71s when it might’ve happened with an XP-49 instead. In that case it would still be striking because jet technology was not at all widely known of, and there’d be a gorilla flying a propellerless plane. I know. I was feeling rather surly this morning. It happens sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-prank-ever-area-51/542339/25 "2010-06-08T14:37:42Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > A spooky, extremely noisy black triangle, you fail to add. The B-2’s engines are masked and ducted to reduce noise. I don’t know firsthand if it’s audible from the ground when when it’s at altitude, but considerable effort has been made to render it quiet, so I’m guessing “extremely noisy” is something you just threw out as a criticism and not reality-based. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-prank-ever-area-51/542339/26 "2010-06-08T14:41:13Z")
[Erm, no!](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N31eEXjNAUU) Or did that one have its muffler removed? ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-prank-ever-area-51/542339/27 "2010-06-08T14:45:16Z")
Could y’all remember to leave the personal insults out of the discussion, please? Thanks, **twickster** , MPSIMS moderator ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-prank-ever-area-51/542339/28 "2010-06-08T14:51:43Z")
> [@](#): > > Erm, no! Or did that one have its muffler removed? He made a statement about the **B2** stealth bomber and you reply with a clip of an **SR-71** Blackbird? Apples and Oranges ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-prank-ever-area-51/542339/29 "2010-06-08T14:55:12Z")
> [@ducati](#): > > I quickly increased our speed, calculating the time it would take for the weapons, most likely SA-2 and SA-4 surface-to-air missiles capable of Mach 5, to reach our altitude. I estimated that we could beat the rocket-powered missiles to the turn and stayed our course, betting our lives on the plane’s performance. Here’s a naive question: what happens to the missles that missed you? Do they fall back to earth and blow up someone’s house? ---
**Author:** ![DiggitCamara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@DiggitCamara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiggitCamara)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-prank-ever-area-51/542339/30 "2010-06-08T14:57:44Z")
> [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > That reminds of a few UFO stories I’ve heard in years past. The “Ufologists” were trying to classify the different types of craft that were reported. There was the disc, the triangle, and the “cigar”. > > The triangle was mostly reported out west. > > A few years later the Air Force declassifies the B2. I’ve seen that thing fly above me when I lived close to Dobbins Air Force Base just north of Atlanta. It had already been declassified, but _damn_, seeing one of those things in flight overhead does make you think: “Wow. Did I just see that?!” It’s a spooky black triangle. > > Now wonder people claimed “UFO” before it was declassified. This kinda irks me. I know that, in general, when people are talking about “UFO”'s what they actually are trying to say is “Alien Spacecraft”. However we all know “UFO” stands for “Unidentified Flying Object”. Which is exactly what you saw. (Or maybe you already knew it was a B2. In which case, you actually saw an “IFO”) ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-prank-ever-area-51/542339/31 "2010-06-08T14:58:48Z")
@ **CalMeacham** I know. My bad. I can’t find a youtube link of a B2 Bomber that doesn’t have dramatic music dubbed over the top of the clip. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-prank-ever-area-51/542339/32 "2010-06-08T16:01:45Z")
> [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](#): > > Here’s a naive question: what happens to the missles that missed you? Do they fall back to earth and blow up someone’s house? Wiki says the SA-2 is command detonated. The SA-4 has contact and proximity fuses. The SA-2 was probably command detonated at altitude, the SA-4 probably self-detonated as its target was leaving its performance envelope. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-prank-ever-area-51/542339/33 "2010-06-08T16:29:03Z")
> [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](#): > > Here’s a naive question: what happens to the missles that missed you? Do they fall back to earth and blow up someone’s house? \*\*ducati \*\*posted anecdotes from a book. He wasn’t claiming that these things happened to him. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-prank-ever-area-51/542339/34 "2010-06-08T17:05:48Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > I have zero desire to join in that trainwreck, so I’ll simply say this: if they exist, show me one. Just one. Not a blurry picture, no coverup excuses, no suppositions from UFOlogists, just show me a single UFO of extraterrestrial/alien origin. Sorry I did not manage to take a picture, but I saw a green streak going east to west while driving to Caledonia from Rochester NY in 1982 at about 8 pm. As I did make no effort to find said object, and I surmise it was a meteorite of some material [greenish burn, copper bearing perhaps] it was indeed an UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECT of extra terrestrial origin. UFOs are not always space ships dude…😃 ---
**Author:** ![BobArrgh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobarrgh/32/2881_2.png) [@BobArrgh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobArrgh)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-prank-ever-area-51/542339/35 "2010-06-08T17:23:53Z")
[hijack] There is an SR71 hanging in the lobby of the Kansas Cosmosphere in Hutchinson, Kansas. It is probably one of the most beautiful aircraft ever assembled, and it looks freaking scary when looking at it head on, even if the pilot is not wearing a gorilla mask. [/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-prank-ever-area-51/542339/36 "2010-06-08T18:07:38Z")
> [@BobArrgh](#): > > [hijack] > There is an SR71 hanging in the lobby of the Kansas Cosmosphere in Hutchinson, Kansas. It is probably one of the most beautiful aircraft ever assembled, and it looks freaking scary when looking at it head on, even if the pilot is not wearing a gorilla mask. > [/hijack] [extending hijack] I saw the one on the USS Intrepid in NYC. Smaller than I expected, and so totally gorgeous. You could clearly see the cuts in the nacelles made to remove the engines, and all I could think was that they’d raped that beautiful plane. (In a figurative sense, damnit. I know it’s not really rape.) How sad it is that no more will be built! [/extending hijack] ---
**Author:** ![The\_Vorlon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@The\_Vorlon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Vorlon)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-prank-ever-area-51/542339/37 "2010-06-08T18:11:32Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > You, sir, have never seen an A-10 work a column of tanks. The SR-71 is a cool airplane, but it doesn’t carry any weapons. It just goes really fast, and really high. And takes pictures. They tried giving the SR-71 toys but they had a issue: It out ran them. See A-12 ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-prank-ever-area-51/542339/38 "2010-06-08T22:53:24Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > [extending hijack] I saw the one on the USS Intrepid in NYC. Smaller than I expected, and so totally gorgeous. You could clearly see the cuts in the nacelles made to remove the engines, and all I could think was that they’d raped that beautiful plane. (In a figurative sense, damnit. I know it’s not really rape.) How sad it is that no more will be built! [/extending hijack] The one on the Intrepid is an A-12. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-prank-ever-area-51/542339/39 "2010-06-08T23:35:25Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > The B-2’s engines are masked and ducted to reduce noise. > [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > I can’t find a youtube link of a B2 Bomber that doesn’t have dramatic music dubbed over the top of the clip. [Here’s some text](http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/design/q0070.shtml) on the subject, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-prank-ever-area-51/542339/40 "2010-06-08T23:35:27Z")
The SR-71 is a cool airplane, and one of the few Air Force birds in service at the time that I didn’t ride in or chase. Did see one land at my base once. Story was he lost an engine about 1,000 miles out, and figured he could slow it down enough to land by the time he reached us. The problem was fixed overnight, and the jet departed early the next morning. I was strapped in to a jet for another early morning mission, and got to watch the takeoff. About as soon as the wheels hit the well, he took it into a max climb. Damned impressive. Really wish I could have finagled a ride in that thing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-prank-ever-area-51/542339.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-prank-ever-area-51/542339.md?page=3)