Is the PAK 50 the Raptor killer? Flight test video:

Todays excerpt from "The Interceptors Club & the Secret of the Black Manta.

> Next the Manta did a super high-speed climb up in to the sky until everyone lost sight of it, including Static and Caysi.

“Where’d it go?” Static said.

“It changed shape.” Caysi said.

“What?” Static replied confused.

“I’m telling you – I was watching it through the binoculars and it changed shape. It went from a sort of wide triangle to more of a cone.” Casyi said.

“How am I supposed to model that?” Static replied.

Just when they thought it wasn’t coming back, Static and Caysi heard a very low rumble coming from behind them.

They turned to see the Manta flying slowly over the very ridge they were hiding on, just a few dozen feet over their heads.

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War rumor: Taliban planing a strike.

'Reason to believe' Pakistani Taliban plotting to strike U.S.
U.S. intelligence has strong reason to believe that the Pakistani Taliban is actively plotting to hit interests in the U.S. and American targets overseas, a U.S. official told CNN Thursday.

The concerns about the group that authorities say directed the Times Square bombing plot are coming from multiple streams of information, including from Faisal Shahzad, the Times Square bombing suspect, the official said.

The official told CNN that CIA Director Leon Panetta and National Security Adviser Jim Jones relayed the new terror threat information to Pakistan's government on their trip there earlier this week.

The threat information was not down to the level of specific cities, the official said.

Breaking:Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair, has resigned!

Washington (CNN) – The president's top intelligence advisor, Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair, has resigned, two senior intelligence officials confirmed Thursday.

Word of Blair's resignation comes just two days after the Senate Intelligence Committee released a report that sharply criticized the National Counterterrorism Center - one of several agencies overseen by Blair's office - for failing to properly coordinate intelligence activities to detect the botched Christmas Day airline bombing in advance.

The report said the center, created after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to coordinate U.S. intelligence efforts, was "not organized adequately to fulfill its missions."

In addition, the report said other problems allowed suspect Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab to board a flight bound for Detroit, Michigan, in December with an explosive device that failed to detonate. AbdulMutallab was detained when other passengers noticed his clothes burning from his attempt to set off the device.


Blair responded to the report by noting changes made in response to the Christmas incident, including creation of a National Counterterrorism Center analytical unit dedicated to following up on terrorist threat information. However, Blair's statement noted that "institutional and technological barriers remain that prevent seamless sharing of information."

Wreckage of Afghan plane crash found

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Aircrews from the Afghan National Army Air Corps and from the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force have found the wreckage of the plane that crashed Monday with 44 people aboard, ISAF said Thursday.

The crash site is at 13,500 feet (4,100 meters) in the Shakar Darah district of Kabul province, ISAF said. Afghan authorities, supported by ISAF, are now making plans for a recovery operation taking into account the elevation and rugged terrain, ISAF said.

The crash site was initially observed late Wednesday and confirmed Thursday, ISAF said. Afghan authorities earlier reported that a satellite had spotted part of the Antonov plane in mountains near the Salang Pass, north of Kabul.

The Pamir Airways plane was carrying 38 passengers and six crew members when it crashed en route from Kunduz to Kabul on Monday. Several non-Afghans, including at least three Britons, were on the plane, officials said.

In a statement of condolence Thursday, the Afghan Ministry of Defense indicated high-ranking officials were aboard the plane. It said it had ordered the air force to help transport the victims' bodies back to their provinces.

At the time of the crash, a meteorological agency reported hearing a huge sound in the area of the crash, and the government's minister of transport and aviation and his deputy went to investigate.
While several plane crashes have occurred in Afghanistan in the past few years -- most of them military aircraft -- the last crash with fatalities occurred in September 2006, when a British Royal Air Force plane crashed about 12.5 miles (20 km) west of Kandahar, according to the web site of the Aviation Safety Network, which maintains a database of crashes. Fourteen people were killed in that crash.

In 2005, 104 people were killed when Kam Air flight 904 struck a mountain while approaching Kabul in poor visibility, according to the network.