# 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:** 3
**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 9, 2010, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-prank-ever-area-51/542339/41 "2010-06-09T03:31:36Z")
> [@Mach Tuck](#): > > The one on the Intrepid is an A-12. I stand corrected. Still a beautiful plane, and closely related. ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-prank-ever-area-51/542339/42 "2010-06-09T04:34:02Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > @ **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. Got to see a B2 do 5 or 6 passes low overhead a few years ago (the only benefit of playing soccer close to Indy on the day of the 500). You couldn’t really hear it coming toward you, but you could when it was leaving. I suppose for a bomber that is what matters since they have already dropped their load by the time you hear them. This was low, on a sunny day, in broad daylight, and I’ll say it was really odd to see this huge bird silently coming overhead. At altitude at night you would have no clue until it was too late. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-prank-ever-area-51/542339/43 "2010-06-09T04:41:52Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > Jeez…did they make the books _out_ of SR-71s? > > (Which I’ve [touched part of](http://www.pacificcoastairmuseum.org/aircraft/SR71Blackbird.asp)) I sat in the cockpit of one at [Boeing Field](http://www.museumofflight.org/cockpits) and got close and personal at [Evergreen](http://www.sprucegoose.org/aircraft_artifacts/Aircraft/Modern%20Era/SR-71.htm). ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-prank-ever-area-51/542339/44 "2010-06-09T04:41:54Z")
Here… someone in the same area caught it on video. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzD7br6-OZM) ---
**Author:** ![thirdname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-prank-ever-area-51/542339/45 "2010-06-09T07:04:29Z")
I saw a B2 flyover at the [EAA](http://www.eaa.org/) Sun & Fun fly-in in Florida back in the nineties. They had a mock air battle with WWII planes, then a B2 made a low pass with its bomb doors open while they set off gasoline bombs on the ground. I know someone who traveled to Area 51 for work, but he died before this declassification so I wasn’t able to get any stories about the place. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-prank-ever-area-51/542339/46 "2010-06-09T12:42:40Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > So apparently at one point an [SR-71](http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2011461015_area51vets28m.html), the most badass vehicle ever invented, encountered a general aviation aircraft out in the desert. This was during the testing of the aircraft long ago, so the general public wouldn’t recognize it for what it is. Apparently kept for just such an occasion, the flight crew donned gorilla masks and then flew upside down over the other aircraft. > > Yep, a guy is just flying peacefully along in the desert when a gigantic futuristic aircraft flown by monkies decides to buzz him. I don’t care who you are, that’s funny right there! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-prank-ever-area-51/542339/47 "2010-06-09T13:08:31Z")
Are there any SR-71’s still flying at airshows or in any other capacity, or are they all mothballed? ---
**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 9, 2010, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-prank-ever-area-51/542339/48 "2010-06-09T13:11:57Z")
They’re all out of service. ---
**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 9, 2010, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-prank-ever-area-51/542339/49 "2010-06-09T13:45:50Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > They’re all out of service. I thought NASA had one they used for testing? [Guess not.](http://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/news/FactSheets/FS-030-DFRC.html) ---
**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 9, 2010, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-prank-ever-area-51/542339/50 "2010-06-09T13:49:14Z")
I support using taxpayer dollars in some sort of national awesomeness fund to keep a few of them running. Our awesomeness level took a significant hit. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-prank-ever-area-51/542339/51 "2010-06-09T13:52:41Z")
I guess satellite imagery improvements over the years spelled the demise of something like the Blackbird for reconnaissance photography. IIRC the Blackbird was exceedingly expensive to maintain. ---
**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 9, 2010, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-prank-ever-area-51/542339/52 "2010-06-09T13:57:37Z")
It cost 250m a year to maintain the squadron, which might’ve been beyond their worth in recon value. There still is a need for aircraft recon though - satellites have predictable paths and often certain areas are only covered once every few days at known intervals. Which means you could arrange whatever you wanted to hide around it. We do still have U2s operational though (believe it or not). Some people speculate that we have some sort of super secret high tech recon aircraft that replaced the SR-71 but isn’t publically known yet. Still, we could’ve kept those two test platforms flying for NASA. The SR-71 is one of those things where you can see one and say AMERICA! FUCK YEAH! That’s gotta be worth something, right? ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-prank-ever-area-51/542339/53 "2010-06-09T17:19:39Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > Still, we could’ve kept those two test platforms flying for NASA. The SR-71 is one of those things where you can see one and say AMERICA! FUCK YEAH! That’s gotta be worth something, right? Abso-fucking-lutely. I think at least a couple should be making the rounds at airshows. I know I would go just to see/hear one of those things fly. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-prank-ever-area-51/542339/54 "2010-06-10T04:44:33Z")
One of these days I’m going to sell a body part and get an "18 - "24 model kit of the SR-71. [Craig Ferguson]That would be AWESOME.[/Craig Ferguson] And my neighbor has a bit of an Air Force museum in his basement, so I could donate it to him if/when I grew inured to its awesomeness. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-prank-ever-area-51/542339/55 "2010-06-10T05:12:06Z")
Here is a story about how [slow](http://www.clublexus.com/forums/the-clubhouse/471413-how-slow-can-a-blackbird-fly.html) an SR71 can fly. Awesome aircraft. One of my neighbors worked on it, and another neighbor who is now dead also worked on it. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-prank-ever-area-51/542339/56 "2010-06-10T05:35:26Z")
> [@Rick](#): > > Here is a story about how [slow](http://www.clublexus.com/forums/the-clubhouse/471413-how-slow-can-a-blackbird-fly.html) an SR71 can fly. > Awesome aircraft. One of my neighbors worked on it, and another neighbor who is now dead also worked on it. Totally fucking awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-prank-ever-area-51/542339/57 "2010-06-11T18:27:23Z")
I had to google a bit to find it, but [15 minutes in in this video](http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6689729805171588113#) there’s Jeremy Clarkson getting all hypnotized by the blackbird. ---
**Author:** ![noskcire001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d6d6ee/32.png) [@noskcire001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/noskcire001)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-prank-ever-area-51/542339/58 "2011-11-26T17:57:44Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > A few months back the people who used to be employed at area 51 were cleared to talk about it by the government. They couldn’t discuss everything, there were still actual valuable military secrets to be kept, but in general they could discuss life there. > > Shockingly, there were no aliens or anything like that. But the military actually liked all of the conspiracy theories about the place, since it distracted from the actual secret work, like on military spy planes, that they were actually doing. > > So apparently at one point an [SR-71](http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2011461015_area51vets28m.html), the most badass vehicle ever invented, encountered a general aviation aircraft out in the desert. This was during the testing of the aircraft long ago, so the general public wouldn’t recognize it for what it is. Apparently kept for just such an occasion, the flight crew donned gorilla masks and then flew upside down over the other aircraft. > > Yep, a guy is just flying peacefully along in the desert when a gigantic futuristic aircraft flown by monkies decides to buzz him. > > What is that guy supposed to say about the incident? > I don’t know who authorized this - if it was policy for the base or if some individual flight crew was having fun, but I have to commend them on how awesome that is. This is the sort of thing I’d be doing if you gave me a few billion dollars. > [The Seattle Times | Local news, sports, business, politics, entertainment, travel, restaurants and opinion for Seattle and the Pacific Northwest.](http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2011461015_area51vets28m.html) You have your planes mixed up. It was not the SR-71, but rather the Bell P-59 that Jack Woolams flu with a Gorilla mask and was smoking a cigar over Edwards Air Force Base. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-prank-ever-area-51/542339/59 "2011-11-26T18:03:50Z")
> [@noskcire001](#): > > You have your planes mixed up. It was not the SR-71, but rather the Bell P-59 that Jack Woolams flu with a Gorilla mask and was smoking a cigar over Edwards Air Force Base. The subject came up about a month before this thread was started. [I posted some quotes](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=12408048&postcount=16) in that thread, which might be of interest to anyone wanting to know a little more about the Jack Woolams prank. ---
**Author:** ![user\_hostile](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/user_hostile/32/474_2.png) [@user\_hostile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/user_hostile)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-prank-ever-area-51/542339/60 "2011-11-26T21:53:05Z")
UFO stories: Driving east one moonless night along I-40 in Southern California (about an hours away from the border CA-AZ) in February 1998, I note a tiger tails from a jet. That in itself isn’t surprising…what caught me off guard was the color–they were green. At first I thought it was the blue tint on the upper part of the windshield. But the object was located too low relative to the tint zone. Whatever it was, it was 1) moving fast, 2) low to the ground, and 3) seemed to me that the pilot deliberately kicked in the afterburners just as he/she flew over the interstate just to screw with peoples minds. Has anyone else see the “green”? I’ve only seen blue or yellow tiger tails [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-prank-ever-area-51/542339.md?page=2)