RE: Re[2]: Low freq noise in New Mexico?

[jdelahunt@cc.colorado.edu]

E. F. Forrer suggests:
>
>          This wouldn't by chance related to a secret aircraft being
>          developed as a replacement for the Blackbird?  My
>          brother-in-law is a 911 dispatcher in central Oregon, he was
>          getting several reports from the area of earthquakes.  They
>          checked with all of the appropriate agencies but they all
>          reported no seismic activity in the state.  One of them got
>          the bright idea to call the Air Force.  Their reply was that
>          yes it is us, don't ask what, goodbye.  Seems they are
>          working on a new, really fast, jet.  The tremors were
>          assumed to be a sonic boom as the thing slowed down over
>          Oregon to turn around.  Could be the thing is flying east
>          now instead of north.

To which don (don@radpro.uchicago.edu) replied:

>I would be surprised if the SR-71 replacement was still being developed.
>I would rather have expected the replacement to be operational before the
>old black bird was put out to pasture at the Air & Space Museum.   The real
>clue is if Revell has a model out already.   

Since we have already far outstepped the standard bounds  of
RadSafe, I add:


The prime suspect in this theory would be the Aurora, a
hypervelocity project now said to be in active duty (in
fact, it is reputed to have flown in Desert Storm, when
even the F-117 pilots were shocked...)

Aurora, it is reported, flies at altitudes approaching
125,000 feet, with a top speed of over mach 5.  It uses
compressed liquid methane as it's fuel, and has been blamed
for numerous false seismic events in southern california, in
the region of Edwards AFB.

Aurora's mission is high- and low-altitude, high-speed
surveillance.  Impetus for it's development came when the
Soviets came up with high-altitude, high-speed interceptor
and high-altidude surface-to-air missile technology, both of
which rendered the SR-71 vulnerable to attack, and
therefore, less effective.

Security is, of course, air-tight, but there have been
several confirmed sightings (one from an oil derrick in the
North Sea) of both Aurora and it's escorts (two F-111s and
a KC-130).

Nearly everything reported on Aurora comes from one man,
whose name eludes me.  He has discussed the plane in
Jane's, Omni, Popular Mechanics, and on several television
shows.

Ths single point of contact leads me to believe that either
security is tight or this guy is lying, or both.

Sorry for the content-free posting.

John