Aviation Week & Space Technology
01/12/2004, page 13
Edited by Patricia J. Parmalee
SECRET STREAKER?
On the morning of Jan. 7, an aircraft using call sign "Lockheed
Test 2334" told the FAA's Albuquerque Center it would be "going
supersonic somewhere above Flight Level 60 [60,000 ft.]" for about
10 sec. It was flying over the Pecos Military Operating Area in
eastern New Mexico at the time, transmitting on 350.350 MHz. When a
center controller queried, "Say aircraft type," the unidentified
vehicle's pilot responded: "We are a classified type and can't
reveal our true altitude." About 15 min. later, the same pilot--on
a different frequency (351.700 MHz.)--requested permission for a
descent to 30,000 ft. and flight-following to "Las Vegas with final
destination somewhere in the Nellis Range" complex. The U.S. Air
Force's super-secret Groom Lake test facility is located in the
northwest portion of the Nellis AFB, Nev., ranges. The Albuquerque
Center controller quipped, "Trip home a bit slower, eh?" There was
no response from the classified aircraft. The radio interchanges
were recorded by Steve Douglass, a "military radio monitor"
hobbyist in Amarillo, Tex.
