Did Google Earth Spot a Top-Secret, Damaged Drone Near Air Force Plant 42?
- Posted on June 18, 2012 at 2:48pm by
Liz Klimas
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Some say the best place to hide something is in plain view. This sentiment could hold true unless the object in hiding is a drone at the U.S. Air Force’s Plant 42 in Palmdale, Calif., and a satellite is flying overhead.
According to the blog Open Source GEOINT, an unknown unmanned aerial vehicle was spotted near the USAF Plant 42 at Lockheed Martin’s Advanced Development Program Facility (Skunk Works). Open Source GEOINT writes “the signature above does not conform to any known UAV, it’s possible this could be anything from a mock-up to a failed design. (However, if it were a mock-up, why would LM feel the need to cover it?).”
What is this drone-like aircraft at Lockheed Martin in Palmdale, Calif.? (Image: Open Source GEOINT)
Some of the commenters on the post have likened it to the RQ-170 Sentinel, although the wingspan could be too wide. One even says it appears to be broken. Wired’s Danger Room reports aviation journalist David Cenciotti saying he think’s “it’s a Sentinel” and “a damaged one.”
RQ-170 Sentinel drone captured by Iran in December. (Image: Wikimedia)
Wired goes on to speculate that the drone could also be the P.420 “drone bomber” for which Lockheed received a patent in the 1990s.
Sketch of the P.420 drone bomber (Image: Lockheed Martin Patent)
Given that it was just left out in the open for any passing satellite to see, Wired reports two anonymous “drone-industry insiders” saying if Lockheed really valued the equipment, “it wouldn’t be sitting there like it is.”
Many have also pointed out the irony of the drone photo being taken on Dec. 4, 2011, as it is the same day a Sentinel drone was captured by Iranians.
This isn’t the first time Google Earth has revealed interesting and potentially secret structures from world military organizations. It has revealed other U.S. military bases as well, and last year, the Blaze reported strange aerial structures being seen in China by Google’s satellites.
(H/T: Business Insider)
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Comments (45)
demokratikhundscheisse
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 12:48pmGoogle found the burial location of Jimmy Hoffa (or Judge Crater, but then I’m dating myself)
Report Post »SquidVetOhio
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 8:58amMis-information. It’s a decoy. Those guys know full well the whole world is watching when they park stuff outside. That was meant to be seen.
Report Post »Docrow
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 9:16amKind of like the inflatable tanks in England before D-Day.
Report Post »truckinman1973
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 7:50amcould be anything from an old RCS model of the sentinel, or a similer UAV to something as simple as a wing spar assembly for a conventional aircraft. I agree that if it was something classified it wouldn’t be outside, in fact it probably wouldn’t even be at that facility. that plant produces fighters like the F-16 & the F-22. whle the classified stuff would be built/modified at the “skunk works”. my guess would be that it’s a left over wing spar from F-22 production.
Report Post »cribguy
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 6:42amIf thi is sitting outside covered or not, there is no ‘top secret’ anyhing. Top secret things do not get left outside.
Report Post »GumRock
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 1:13amits a Tent.
Report Post »that holds weather balloons
and free government condoms
MrObvious
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 11:22pmIt’s covering a weather balloon :)
Report Post »magedogtag
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 8:05pmI wonder if anyone has seen the show about the Skunk Works building a mockup of the WW2 era Horton flying wing. it seems to me that the Skunk Works would not leave anything classified out in the open but that particular model/mockup was unclassified and built strictly to see how stealthy the design might be. turned out it was very good for the time but not really in the current age. there was a really cool show on the History Channel a while back that showed the whole process. first time cameras were allowed in the modeling section of the Skunk Works.
Report Post »Inlandmar2
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 7:55pmIt’s a giant boomerang…Obama stole the plans from the Aborigines. You throw it into the air…It takes pictures…then it returns.
Report Post »Coonshine
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 10:12pmYou are so right….
Report Post »RJJinGadsden
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 3:04amINLANDMAR2, That explains a lot about 0bama. He still seems to be perplexed by that Didgeridoo that he thinks is a bong.
Report Post »ronin_6
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 7:00pmLooks like a Frank Gehry design.
Report Post »Meyvn
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 6:01pmIt’s just a bunch of trash cans with white tarps over them.
Report Post »MrObvious
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 11:19pmcould be … lol
Report Post »lqtm
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 5:59pmThat makes sense. Post it on your website so now it’s sure as shi+ to be well-known. Classic Beck.
Report Post »forthepeople
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 7:11pmObozo already gave them the plans last year anyway !
Report Post »Bryan B
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 5:55pmI see Elvis, with a Grilled Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich……
Report Post »ronin_6
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 7:03pmThat sounds good. I think I will go try one.
Report Post »AmericanStrega
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 11:08amBack in 1988 I saw Elvis driving a Town & Country stationwagon on the 405 freeway. And let me tell you, he’d really let himself go!
Report Post »heyjim55
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 5:54pmI think it is an existing aircraft that is of no secret to anyone, however Lockheed did indeed produce a larger bomber and that could be it. This kind of speculation is fun but the military was not that upset when then lost a craft to Iran. What I was told by someone in the military is that they were able to gain intelligence on Iran by allowing them to take the drone , it was more on how Iran did it and how to counter it and even return the favor. One of the new methods of warfare is not just the use of Drones to attack or spy on another country, but to gain how they track their own and how they defend against intruder Drone’s and how they try and hijack one. If we were at war with Iran with open hostilities those hackers would have caught a Tomahawk instead of a Drone.
Report Post »BlessedONE333
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 5:23pmIT’S COVERED FOR THE DUST STORMS we have – it’s not a secret – it’s a Lockheed craft
big deal
Report Post »thekuligs
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 4:19pmLooks like a bomber with tarp over it.
Report Post »TrUe.AmEriCaN
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 3:59pmI am sure that china will have several just like it soon.
Report Post »The_Cabrito_Goat
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 3:51pmLet’s hope no one steals the design plans…how much can you copy from a space-shot?
Report Post »FedUpWithLibs
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 4:04pmYou can’t, not really. Do you think you could make a cell phone just by seeing one. Now actually having one to take apart is a whole different subject.
Report Post »@leftfighter
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 4:11pmNot much at all. Basic shape, that’s about it, but then again, what‘s special about this particular shape that the world didn’t first in the 1910′s when Hugo Junkers first patented the design?
The stealthiness in the design is about the polymers used and the minutiae of the angles on the leading edge of the wing, and that‘s not something that’s a huge secret at this point. The Russians have been aware of it a long time now and the Chinese are actively and publicly working on it.
Nothing to worry about here.
Report Post »theamericanvision
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 3:48pmParked outside, in the open by empty containers, next to what appears to be a decommissioned F-16… I‘m sure it’s some super-classified, reverse-engineered spacecraft parked as a beacon to everybody with an internet connection.
Report Post »jamesctheman
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 3:56pmI wonder if it‘s just the world’s largest Gyro? Maybe half of the world largest grilled cheese?
Report Post »Jwmajic
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 3:44amLooking at its shape, size and where its at I think its probably a scale model they made when they were designing the b2.
Report Post »Jwmajic
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 3:52amLook at the “tail area” of it its not a RQ-170 Sentinel there is more than one point there.
Report Post »Todd P
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 3:15pmIt’s hidden behind a chain-link fence and a tarpaulin. What more do you want?
Report Post »bobbyjoe
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 3:10pmI live a few miles from this airport and have seen some interesting planes fly out of it over the past 25 years. Two last month I couldn’t identify. There use to be a van parked on a road near the end of the runway every day with a man that was always sitting outside with a good looking camera. We all called him the “Russian” That plant 42 was always called ‘skunk works’ alluding to the secrecy going on there and a couple of years ago they put a giant skunk picture on the outside of the building.
Report Post »BostonHarold
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 3:19pmThe Skunk Works (taken from the old Lil’ Abner cartoon strip) under Kelly Johnson developed some of the most advanced aircraft in history…among them the awesome SR-71 Blackbird that generated a lot of UFO reports in it’s heyday.
Report Post »bobbyjoe
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 3:31pmThere’s an air park next to the plant that anyone can go to that has two SR-71 and some other interesting planes you can walk up to. The SR-71 is still the fastest plane ….. on record.
Report Post »Electacon
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 12:52amThat skunk tells me that L’Amour is going on inside. Oh wait that’s not Pepe.Is it just me or does the west facing hangar door seem to be open on occasion. Maybe the workers like a little breeze while they work. Just like you BOBBYJOE I have seen many different planes flying from that direction and just here in the desert in general. U2′s, B-1, B-2, AC-130<– a lot of those. NASA test planes and a few drones coming out of General Atomics. Sure is nice living near Edwards Air Base.
Report Post »AmericanStrega
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 11:14amI lived just off Ave J from the mid to late 80′s. Back then there was a Vietnam Veteran who used to sit in his van at the end of the runway at Ave N (I believe). He was a really neat guy. I would visit with him from time to time. I got some really cool pictures of the SR-71 and other aircraft taking-off from there. Plant 42 is the only thing I miss about Lancaster.
Report Post »jamesctheman
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 3:00pmDOes anyone really care if there is a damaged drone sitting on the tarmac of a military air strip? It‘s covered so you can’t tell exactly what it is. Just the fact they covered it shows the amount of speculation of what it could be means no one knows what it is. Looks like Lockheed did enough to keep maybe some sort of secret hidden.
Report Post »Texas Chris
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 3:12pmIt’s not damaged, it just has the transport tarp on it.
Report Post »BostonHarold
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 2:59pmThat’s the rental tent for the employee picnic.
Report Post »USPATRIOT101
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 3:23pmLmao!!!
Report Post »MAULEMALL
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 2:58pmNow if it was a real secret obamama staff would have told us
Report Post »jamesctheman
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 3:14pmSomeone will leak it out. This administration has more leaks than a N Korean fishing boat.
Report Post »LLATPOH
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 2:58pmThe answer? Looks like the discovered an unmanned object under a white sheet.
Report Post »sWampy
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 2:53pmIf it’s out in plain sight, it’s most likely garbage or a decoy. The air force is very good at hiding what they want hidden.
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