# Strange aerial phenomenon **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 9, 2000, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-aerial-phenomenon/6014 "2000-01-09T03:49:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dark\_Wing\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f0a364/32.png) [@Dark\_Wing\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dark_Wing_Duck)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2000, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-aerial-phenomenon/6014/1 "2000-01-09T03:49:00Z")
I’m hoping someone here can provide an intelligent guess about an unusual aircraft I saw about ten years ago. I was headed north on I-55 in northeastern Arkansas in the middle of the night when I saw a bright white light to the west. I figured it was attached to some farm building until I noticed it was moving toward me. I watched it for several minutes as it approached. It was fairly close to the ground and moving slowly, so I then guessed it was a helicopter, especially when it became apparent that the light was a spotlight which was directed at the ground, sweeping back and forth. However, there was no sound. It wasn’t until the thing flew almost directly overhead that I got a good idea of what it was - a fairly large jet aircraft, with very quiet engines, only audible in close proximity (at least over automobile noise) - flying at maybe 500 feet at not more than 100 mph. About five miles past the spot of this “close encounter” I saw a sign for some air force base or other, which solved part of the mystery. But I’ve always been a little curious about what type of plane it was, and why it was being flown in that manner. Any ideas? ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecccb3/32.png) [@Lord\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2000, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-aerial-phenomenon/6014/2 "2000-01-09T04:19:00Z")
Sounds like a U2. If it looked like a huge engine with long wings. They can fly almost silently at low altitudes. They are almost like gliders, they can fly very slow. Probably on a training flight or something. Tucson is a base for them, they used to fly over the city and unless you just looked up a saw one, you wouldn’t know they were there. ---
**Author:** ![Dark\_Wing\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f0a364/32.png) [@Dark\_Wing\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dark_Wing_Duck)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2000, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-aerial-phenomenon/6014/3 "2000-01-09T04:41:00Z")
I’ll buy that. I didn’t know they were still flying them. I didn’t get a good impression of the shape, it was dark except for the single bright light. (That doesn’t explain the huge radar dish sticking out of my ass, but I guess that’s another topic. 🙂 ) ---
**Author:** ![Nickrz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbce88/32.png) [@Nickrz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nickrz)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2000, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-aerial-phenomenon/6014/4 "2000-01-10T06:13:00Z")
Man, if you think a U2 can fly “almost silently” and “very slow” at _any_ altitude, I’ve got a bridge to sell you. ---
**Author:** ![funneefarmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9fc348/32.png) [@funneefarmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/funneefarmer)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2000, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-aerial-phenomenon/6014/5 "2000-01-09T19:27:00Z")
[http://www.fas.org/irp/program/collect/u-2.htm](http://www.fas.org/irp/program/collect/u-2.htm) …Some U2 spy plane info. ---
**Author:** ![Erik\_Raven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c4cdca/32.png) [@Erik\_Raven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erik_Raven)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2000, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-aerial-phenomenon/6014/6 "2000-01-09T19:29:00Z")
Are you certain it was a jet aircraft? There is one type of a/c – I can’t recall the name at the moment – used by the Coast Guard and DEA for aerial surveillence, which is for the most part a powered glider, so it stays aloft at very low engine RPM, making it very quiet. Unfortunately, my Jane’s All the World’s Aircraft is halfway across the planet at the moment, but I seem to remember it was a high-winged craft with tricycle gear. ---
**Author:** ![funneefarmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9fc348/32.png) [@funneefarmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/funneefarmer)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2000, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-aerial-phenomenon/6014/7 "2000-01-09T19:34:00Z")
Also check out this account of General Atomics Aero. System’s I-Gnat unmanned spy satellite. [http://www.usbc.org/info/onpatrol/droneplane.htm](http://www.usbc.org/info/onpatrol/droneplane.htm) There is a short artical, along with photo, in Jan 2000 issue of Popular Science as well. ---
**Author:** ![Ursa\_Major](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a88e57/32.png) [@Ursa\_Major](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ursa_Major)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2000, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-aerial-phenomenon/6014/8 "2000-01-09T19:35:00Z")
Maybe it was a military trainer practicing a dead stick landing (or whatever they call it when you’ve lost your engine). You may have been closer to the runway then you thought. Do pilots do such drills outside of a simulator? ---
**Author:** ![funneefarmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9fc348/32.png) [@funneefarmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/funneefarmer)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2000, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-aerial-phenomenon/6014/9 "2000-01-09T19:38:00Z")
Popular Science I-Gnat [http://www.popsci.com/scitech/features/spy\_sky/](http://www.popsci.com/scitech/features/spy_sky/) ---
**Author:** ![Dark\_Wing\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f0a364/32.png) [@Dark\_Wing\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dark_Wing_Duck)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2000, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-aerial-phenomenon/6014/10 "2000-01-09T20:15:00Z")
The U2 idea sounds plausible. What I saw was definitely a jet. The FAS site says the U2 is a very slow plane with glider-like characteristics that operates within 5 knots of stall through most phases of flight. But, Nickrz, if you’re selling bridges, I’ll take that big red one in San Francisco. ---
**Author:** ![Satan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Satan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satan)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2000, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-aerial-phenomenon/6014/11 "2000-01-09T20:15:00Z")
I know for a FACT it’s a UFO. * * * Yer pal, Satan _ **First Place** Most Popular Poster of the 20th Century Competition As overseen by Coldfire_ ---
**Author:** ![Dark\_Wing\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f0a364/32.png) [@Dark\_Wing\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dark_Wing_Duck)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2000, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-aerial-phenomenon/6014/12 "2000-01-09T20:26:00Z")
> [@](#): > > I know for a FACT it’s a UFO. Well, finally, an explanation for the radar dish. ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2000, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-aerial-phenomenon/6014/13 "2000-01-09T20:40:00Z")
I have to agree with Satan; this is a clear cut case, beyond refutation. ---
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2000, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-aerial-phenomenon/6014/14 "2000-01-09T20:50:00Z")
- - - As a matter of fact, early Wednesday morning, local police officers from four different towns saw a UFO. The story appears in today’s St Louis Post-Dispatch. One guy took a grainy Polaroid of it, a photo of _that_ photo is shown. - - - At Scott AFB, Medevac planes (C-9 Nightingales) often land with their engines at idle. When they do, you can’t hear them until they are within a couple hundred feet of you (above you, in this case: there’s a road that encircles the airstrip). The C-9 is a converted mid-sized “passenger” jet, not a 777 but by no means a small plane. - - - Also, I don’t know for sure but I seems to recall that U-2’s aren’t used for military duty anymore. A few years back one was fitted with atmospheric instruments to study the ozone hole. - MC ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2000, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-aerial-phenomenon/6014/15 "2000-01-09T21:09:00Z")
> [@](#): > > - > - > - Also, I don’t know for sure but I seems to recall that U-2’s aren’t used for military duty anymore. The site funneefarmer linked says the Air Force plans to keep them operational until 2020. You might be thinking of that other high flyer, the SR-71. ---
**Author:** ![funneefarmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9fc348/32.png) [@funneefarmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/funneefarmer)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2000, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-aerial-phenomenon/6014/16 "2000-01-09T22:47:00Z")
Re-reading my own post… plane not satellite. ---
**Author:** ![Krispy\_Original](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ec9cab/32.png) [@Krispy\_Original](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Krispy_Original)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2000, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-aerial-phenomenon/6014/17 "2000-01-10T01:07:00Z")
…probably an alien craft…happens all the time… ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecccb3/32.png) [@Lord\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2000, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-aerial-phenomenon/6014/18 "2000-01-10T02:54:00Z")
While I’ll agree a UFO is a definant(sp?) posibility, I offered the idea of a U2 because they _have_ to land at a very slow speed. Since they only have 2 landing gear, they land by stalling at a couple of feet off the ground. We’re talking, flying at no miles per hour. There are a lot of ground crew involved in U2 flights, so it would either be that there was a U2 or a NASA converted U2 stationed there or it may have been a different aircraft that normally landed at an idle speed as **MC** suggested. ---
**Author:** ![Satan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Satan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satan)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2000, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-aerial-phenomenon/6014/19 "2000-01-10T08:32:00Z")
Not a possibility, it’s definite. It’s a UFO all right. I know this with all of my heart… * * * Yer pal, Satan _ **First Place** Most Popular Poster of the 20th Century Competition As overseen by Coldfire_ ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2000, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-aerial-phenomenon/6014/20 "2000-01-10T13:50:00Z")
I’ll say it again, Satan’s on to it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-aerial-phenomenon/6014.md?page=2)