Message posted by Peter Merlin (Member since 11/13/2003) on January 19, 2023 at 16:40:17 PST:
It's true. The FAA air traffic controllers were briefed that these were A-7 Corsairs operating out of Tonopah Test Range. The Air Force should have stuck with that cover story when the F-117A crashed near Bakersfield. Had they done so, the news media would have largely ignored the incident. Its would have rated, at best, a paragraph on an inside page. Instead, Air Force spokesmen refused to disclose the type of aircraft involved. This enhanced level of secrecy turned the whole event into a media circus and guaranteed that it would be front-page news. Compare and contrast with how the CIA handled the first loss of an A-12 after it crashed on public land during a test flight from Area 51. The Agency had the Air Force put out a statement claiming that an F-105 had crashed. As a result, subsequent news media coverage was minimal. As to the call signs, each of the squadrons used different ones that probably changed from time to time. The 4450th Test Squadron "Nightstalkers" was using ARIEL for a while, followed by numbers in the 20 and 30-series. The 4453rd Test and Evaluation Squadron "Grim Reapers" used BURNR with 40, 50, and 60-series numbers. Examples would be ARIEL 31 and BURNR 54.
In Reply to: Re: F-117 posted by Ron on January 19, 2023 at 13:08:48 PST:
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