two aircraft flying in formation low to the ground, in the city, of an unknown aircraft design, with no noise.
Friday, June 19, 2009, 9:15 am I was driving, 60 miles per hour, to work on Interstate 80 heading west just South of Salt Lake City, from about the 700 East Exit to the State Street Exit, approximately one mile in distance I viewed the following. In the distance, some five miles away, an airliner that had taken off from the Salt Lake International Airport heading due south and slowly gaining altitude when I noticed two aircraft flying parallel to the airliner but most likely closer to my position. The two craft, in formation, then made a right 90 degree turn and came directly east towards my position and then made another hard 90 degree turn and flying due north over me at maybe 200 to 400 feet, at about the State Street Exit.
The time I had to view these craft including paying attention to traffic and observing was at least one minute.
The craft appeared to behave aerodynamically. They seemed to cover quite a bit of territory in a short time, at least four to six miles. When they made their turn just before passing over me, they must have been near a stall speed to make such a sharp turn and for me to view them in as much detail.
I heard no engines, prop or jet. The Craft were approximately the same size as a military fighter plane, or smaller. My window was down, but I think I would have heard something over the noise of the traffic. I-80 is under construction and the max speed is 60 mph, and the traffic was light.
The odd appearance of these craft is the reason for this report. The fuselage was long and cylindrical, coming to a point at the front and rear in the usual aerodynamic configuration. The wings began about mid point of the length fuselage shaft. The appearance of the wing configuration, in plan view, is that of a bird with wings spread out. The leading edge of wing seemed to sweep forward and then back again at the end of the wing, with the rear of the wing flaring back toward the fuselage. The color was a white or silvery white. I couldn’t remember seeing any secondary wing or tail stabilizer in the rear. There was no forward secondary wing in front of the shaft as one would expect of so long of a forward portion of the fuselage. No cockpit canopy could be seen.
Upon reviewing what I had just seen, the wings appeared to have a wide black line that followed the contour of perimeter of the wing, and set back from the edge of the wing.
I latter called the Salt lake City Airport and talked to the air tower representative and described what I had seen, At first he stated that these craft could be from any number of different government agencies, he then stated that they were most likely VFR craft used in mosquito abatement. I said they had pretty sophisticated equipment for crop dusting.
I will send a copy of a sketch that I had drawn.
Friday, June 19, 2009, 9:15 am I was driving, 60 miles per hour, to work on Interstate 80 heading west just South of Salt Lake City, from about the 700 East Exit to the State Street Exit, approximately one mile in distance I viewed the following. In the distance, some five miles away, an airliner that had taken off from the Salt Lake International Airport heading due south and slowly gaining altitude when I noticed two aircraft flying parallel to the airliner but most likely closer to my position. The two craft, in formation, then made a right 90 degree turn and came directly east towards my position and then made another hard 90 degree turn and flying due north over me at maybe 200 to 400 feet, at about the State Street Exit.
The time I had to view these craft including paying attention to traffic and observing was at least one minute.
The craft appeared to behave aerodynamically. They seemed to cover quite a bit of territory in a short time, at least four to six miles. When they made their turn just before passing over me, they must have been near a stall speed to make such a sharp turn and for me to view them in as much detail.
I heard no engines, prop or jet. The Craft were approximately the same size as a military fighter plane, or smaller. My window was down, but I think I would have heard something over the noise of the traffic. I-80 is under construction and the max speed is 60 mph, and the traffic was light.
The odd appearance of these craft is the reason for this report. The fuselage was long and cylindrical, coming to a point at the front and rear in the usual aerodynamic configuration. The wings began about mid point of the length fuselage shaft. The appearance of the wing configuration, in plan view, is that of a bird with wings spread out. The leading edge of wing seemed to sweep forward and then back again at the end of the wing, with the rear of the wing flaring back toward the fuselage. The color was a white or silvery white. I couldn’t remember seeing any secondary wing or tail stabilizer in the rear. There was no forward secondary wing in front of the shaft as one would expect of so long of a forward portion of the fuselage. No cockpit canopy could be seen.
Upon reviewing what I had just seen, the wings appeared to have a wide black line that followed the contour of perimeter of the wing, and set back from the edge of the wing.
I latter called the Salt lake City Airport and talked to the air tower representative and described what I had seen, At first he stated that these craft could be from any number of different government agencies, he then stated that they were most likely VFR craft used in mosquito abatement. I said they had pretty sophisticated equipment for crop dusting.
I will send a copy of a sketch that I had drawn.
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
Off
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
Salt Lake City
USA
one minute
one minute
40.71
-111.89
other
UT
Occurred : 6/19/2009 09:15 Reported: 6/24/2009 4:50:15 PM 16:50 Posted: 8/5/2009 Location: Salt Lake City, UT Shape: Other Duration: one minute
two aircraft flying in formation low to the ground, in the city, of an unknown aircraft design, with no noise.