Blacked out craft (2) headed south crossing in controlled airspace in Blue Springs area.
On this night I have been enjoying the crisp, clear star lit night in my backyard hottub, relaxing aftera long workday. I had been observing the starry night for about 20 minutes prior to the occurrence. The air termperature was about 25 degrees with a moderate wind from out of the northwest at about 10 to 15 kts. I had been observing several of the star formations in the northern sky when a movement in the sky caught my attention. I had been observing several commercial airline departures from the Kansas City International Airport, KCI, located about 45 nautical miles northwest of my location prior to the occurrence.
When my attention was drawn to the subject craft, I thought that it was the only one. I was surprized to see another one following the first in a left echelon flight formation about 5 seconds later. Both craft were blacked out, ie, no visible lighting as required by FAA flight regulations. Ambient light from the surface delineated the crafts surface being that of a flat black and distinguishable from that of the night sky. The structure was solid as it blocked out the stars as they passed just west of my location. A calculated lat/long was made, being @lat 39deg,00'-17", long:94deg,17'-02". I thought to myself, a veteran pilot with over 10,000 flight hours in numerous aircraft and helicopters, what the heck are those carft flying without any markings (lights) in controlled airspace. Then it occurred to me that maybe these were stealth bombers on maneuvers and the Federal Aviation Admin (FAA) would know about it. It should be noted that even the military are required to have permission to cross active airspace utilizing discrete transponder codes as to avoid other air traffic operating in the controlled space.
The two craft were observed to be flying on a north to south heading, at an altitude of below 10,000 feet agl and at a speed of between 200 and 250 knots. This speed I estimated based upon how long my observation was for the distance traveled. As a veteran pilot, and as a former aircraft accident investigator, I was concerned with the safety of other aircraft in the area, as these two craft could not be seen by commercial or other air traffic operating in the same area. I observed a commercial jet pass through at the same estimated altitude less than a minute behind the two craft, on a southeast heading of about 120 degrees. I estimated the two craft to be about 3 times the size of the commercial airliner with a shape of a horseshoe front fuselage, rounded underneath and with a smooth underside. An area of distortion just aft of this viewable side was present, precluding me from viewing the complete structure of the craft.
As a veteran pilot, I did not jump to any conclusions as to what the craft were, but was more concerned that they were operating in controlled airspace and I wanted to know more about their mission. On Tuesday AM, I contacted a friend of mine wht the FAA ARTCC facility in Olathe, KS to ascertain if he could help me identify who or what these craft were and if they had any radar signatures or transponder data. An FAA approach control facility supervisor responded to my call on Wednesday AM and I relayed my observations. He indicated that he would attempt to reconstruct the occurrence based upon my observations and let me know if they could identify the subject craft. To this date, I've had no response from the FAA. Maybe a FOIA request is necessary to ascertain the nature of this event.
One further note, during the observation of the two craft, I did not hear any noise eminating from them, but them moved silently on their flight. On the other hand, the commercial jet aircraft I observed crossing their track behind them made it's distinctive noise signature from the engines as I heard it approaching from the northwest and as it flew over my location.
((NUFORC Note: Second, more detailed, report from same witness, who has impressive credentials in the field of aviation. We have spoken with this witness on several occasions, and we find him to be an exceptionally skilled, and credible, witness. PD))
On this night I have been enjoying the crisp, clear star lit night in my backyard hottub, relaxing aftera long workday. I had been observing the starry night for about 20 minutes prior to the occurrence. The air termperature was about 25 degrees with a moderate wind from out of the northwest at about 10 to 15 kts. I had been observing several of the star formations in the northern sky when a movement in the sky caught my attention. I had been observing several commercial airline departures from the Kansas City International Airport, KCI, located about 45 nautical miles northwest of my location prior to the occurrence.
When my attention was drawn to the subject craft, I thought that it was the only one. I was surprized to see another one following the first in a left echelon flight formation about 5 seconds later. Both craft were blacked out, ie, no visible lighting as required by FAA flight regulations. Ambient light from the surface delineated the crafts surface being that of a flat black and distinguishable from that of the night sky. The structure was solid as it blocked out the stars as they passed just west of my location. A calculated lat/long was made, being @lat 39deg,00'-17", long:94deg,17'-02". I thought to myself, a veteran pilot with over 10,000 flight hours in numerous aircraft and helicopters, what the heck are those carft flying without any markings (lights) in controlled airspace. Then it occurred to me that maybe these were stealth bombers on maneuvers and the Federal Aviation Admin (FAA) would know about it. It should be noted that even the military are required to have permission to cross active airspace utilizing discrete transponder codes as to avoid other air traffic operating in the controlled space.
The two craft were observed to be flying on a north to south heading, at an altitude of below 10,000 feet agl and at a speed of between 200 and 250 knots. This speed I estimated based upon how long my observation was for the distance traveled. As a veteran pilot, and as a former aircraft accident investigator, I was concerned with the safety of other aircraft in the area, as these two craft could not be seen by commercial or other air traffic operating in the same area. I observed a commercial jet pass through at the same estimated altitude less than a minute behind the two craft, on a southeast heading of about 120 degrees. I estimated the two craft to be about 3 times the size of the commercial airliner with a shape of a horseshoe front fuselage, rounded underneath and with a smooth underside. An area of distortion just aft of this viewable side was present, precluding me from viewing the complete structure of the craft.
As a veteran pilot, I did not jump to any conclusions as to what the craft were, but was more concerned that they were operating in controlled airspace and I wanted to know more about their mission. On Tuesday AM, I contacted a friend of mine wht the FAA ARTCC facility in Olathe, KS to ascertain if he could help me identify who or what these craft were and if they had any radar signatures or transponder data. An FAA approach control facility supervisor responded to my call on Wednesday AM and I relayed my observations. He indicated that he would attempt to reconstruct the occurrence based upon my observations and let me know if they could identify the subject craft. To this date, I've had no response from the FAA. Maybe a FOIA request is necessary to ascertain the nature of this event.
One further note, during the observation of the two craft, I did not hear any noise eminating from them, but them moved silently on their flight. On the other hand, the commercial jet aircraft I observed crossing their track behind them made it's distinctive noise signature from the engines as I heard it approaching from the northwest and as it flew over my location.
((NUFORC Note: Second, more detailed, report from same witness, who has impressive credentials in the field of aviation. We have spoken with this witness on several occasions, and we find him to be an exceptionally skilled, and credible, witness. PD))
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
No
No
Off
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
Blue Springs
USA
20 sec
20 sec
39.02
-94.29
oval
MO
Occurred : 12/13/2004 20:15 (Entered as : 12/13/2004 20:15) Reported: 1/17/2005 9:44:48 AM 09:44 Posted: 1/19/2005 Location: Blue Springs, MO Shape: Oval Duration: 20 sec Characteristics: There was an aura or haze around the object, There were aircraft in the vicinity or aircraft chasing the object
Blacked out craft (2) headed south crossing in controlled airspace in Blue Springs area.