Aurora, the American secret hypersonic spyplane

It’s been 25 years since the rumors started and the alleged hypersonic spyplane is still a huge topic for researchers and enthusiasts.It all started in August 1989 when Chris Gibson from Royal Observer Corps (British civil defense organisation) was working at a gas platform in the North Sea and saw something really strange: a triangle-shaped delta aircraft apparently refueling from a Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker. Next to them were two F-111 fighter-bombers that were slightly smaller than the mysterious aircraft. The formation flew into the UK, probably en route to a US base in the country.

Six months after the apparition, the American magazine Aviation Week noted that the US government had included US$455 million for “black aircraft production” in the 1987 budget, an unusual leak in the restricted world of military intelligence. At the same time, a group of observers neighboring the famous secret military base ‘Area 51‘ started to hear strange aircraft noises early in the morning.

Since then, the mysterious project ‘Aurora’ has been enticing the curiosity of many people around the world. The name comes precisely from the document leaked by the publication. However, 25 years after the first rumors had started, nothing has proven the existence of this supposed hypersonic spy plane, which was always denied by the US government. Last year, many people in England and NY reported they heard strange booming sounds of an extremely fast plane, and of course Aurora was blamed for these mysterious bangs. If real, the Aurora is surely be the best kept secret by the US military in history. But the question that still remains is: Is there really a need for such an aircraft after the creation of spy satellites? The answer is not so simple, but the fact that the United States Air Force plans to design the next-gen U-2 spy plane shows that satellites can’t do the job on their own.

Even without any certainty that it even exists, the alleged plane has a detailed description: 33.5 meters long, 18.2 meters wide, service ceiling of over 40,000 meters, and the ability to fly between Mach 5 and Mach 8 (which is four times faster than the Concorde, for example). For this incomparable performance, the Aurora would use ‘Ramjet’ or ‘Scramjet’ engines. Since it operates at high temperatures where turbines and compressors don’t work too well, a hypersonic plane needs a technology capable of generating power even in such a hostile environment. The ‘Ramjet’ engine works with an extremely hot and fast airflow that requires a pulsing fuel combustion, hence the theory that matches the reports of people who heard these unusual sounds of an airplane The pulsejet idea has gained more strength with the sighting of condensation trails in the shape of ‘donuts on a rope’, in 2006 in the city of Austin in Texas. As in almost all the secret American aircraft projects, the ‘Aurora’ would have been assigned to Lockheed Martin’s Skunk works division, famous for creating aircraft such as the F-117A Nighthawk, the U-2 spy planes and the SR-71 Blackbird. Aurora would be the natural successor to the Blackbird, a long-range, Mach 3+ strategic reconnaissance aircraft. The Blackbird eventually retired in the 90s, but it inspires those who believe in the existence of the mysterious Aurora. In the 60s, it also had its existence denied by the government, although several people witnessed its departures for missions in Southeast Asia at the time of the Vietnam War. Headquartered in California, Skunk Works doesn’t usually have any government projects approved, but there is always a lot of people working in their hangars. And if Aurora does exist, the ideal place for it to be developed would have been in ‘Area 51’.\

A favorite by UFO researchers and alien enthusiasts, the region is also the scene of many strange sightings and aircraft noises. The fact that the air base has expanded their facilities a few years ago, with the addition of new hangars, buildings and an extra airstrip, signals that work in ‘Area 51’ were intensified. “The question, finally, is does Aurora exist? Years of pursuit have led me to believe that, yes, Aurora is most likely in active development, spurred on by recent advances that have allowed technology to catch up with the ambition that launched the program a generation ago,” stated Bill Sweetman to Popular Science.