Exclusive! White Triangle Over Amarillo- Stealth Airship?

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Myself and a group of local aviation photographers were having our usual Saturday lunch at Rick Husband /Amarillo Airport when we spotted a strange object in the sky

In our group was a cop - three were computer techs (including myself) another was a NWS employee - a meteorology student (who works at the local National Weather Service ) - one was a teacher - another is an Amarillo Emergency Service volunteer.

That said - we call ourselves ASAP - for Amarillo Society of Aviation Photographers. We meet almost every Saturday to have lunch and photograph what ever pops into the airport.

Saturday was no exception - and in fact we were treated to a visit (quick turn) by two F/A 18s - one painted in Russian Aggressor colors and an E2C Hawkeye. Not to mention we shot photos of the one of many V-22s out on test hops from the Bell Textron plant just up the road.

One of the photogs (Jay McCoy) caught sight of a glint - way up in the atmosphere and said, "What the heck is that?"

We all turned to see it. It was almost straight up - maybe five degrees off 12:00 o'clock position a little to our west.

Whatever it was it looked much higher than the common NASA weather balloons (launched from Fort Sumner, New Mexico) that sometimes drift over Amarillo - the last one we I saw was 119,000 feet. This object looked much higher.

The object was almost in the sun - but it glinted bright.

At first sight I thought it was a star visible in daylight - and not much more.

Someone in the group suggested it was the ISS - but it appeared not to be moving - only glinting.

You could not tell what it was with the naked eye - or a 300mm lens for that matter - but it was very bright.

I raised my camera and since I was the only one with a decent telephoto - I was the only one to take a photo.

I couldn't see anymore detail on full zoom - but shot two frames anyway.

I was backing up to get a better view of it - and promptly fell off a concrete step (about a drop of two feet) almost loosing my camera. Fell right on my arse I did.

Everyone helped me up - asked if I was OK - I was.

I was more concerned about protecting my camera gear than myself. I only suffered a sore ankle and some wounded pride.

Anyway, once my dignity had been restored - we all looked up back up into the sky - we could no longer see the object. Either clouds that were moving in obscured it - or it had otherwise left our view.

I didn't think much more about it - until I got home and loaded up the images into my computer.

TECH DETAILS:

Camera; Nikon D-70S with 70 to 300mm ED lens

Full EXIF data and the raw images are available on request for analysis by qualified persons and media.

LINK FOR FULL SIZE PHOTO # 1

LINK FOR FULL SIZE PHOTO # 2 HERE

All images copyright (C) Steve Douglass and require permission for re-posting or publication.


Comparison photo: Southwest Airlines 737 at 30,000 feet - Lens focal length : 240mm
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Comparison photo # 2 AIRBUS 380 at 35,000 feet - focal length 290mm.
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Mirage fighter colides with Lithuanian jet trainer

(CNN) -- A French Mirage 2000 jet fighter collided with a Lithuanian plane during a training mission Tuesday in Lithuania, the French Defense Ministry said.

No one was hurt during the training exercise at an air force base in Siauliai, Northern Lithuania, military officials from both countries said.

Two French jet fighters and and a Lithuanian jet trainer were in the air when one of the jet fighters collided with the Lithuanian plane, officials said.
Both pilots of the Lithuanian L-39 Albatross ejected and are safe. Their plane crashed.
The French jet landed, Lithuanian officials said.

Space Station may have to be abandoned

The failure of a Soyuz rocket to send a supply ship into space last week may mean that the International Space Station will have to be temporarily abandoned for the first time since 2000, Florida Today reports.

Russian space vehicles are the only means of ferrying crews and supplies to the station now that the U.S. space shuttle program has ended.

Last week, the third-stage failure of a Soyuz rocket sent an unmanned Progress supply ship crashing into Siberia.

As a result, plans to launch a new crew to the station on Sept. 21 have been postponed indefinitely while Russian officials investigate why the rocket failed.

Mike Suffredini, NASA's program manager for the space station, says two factors could now force the temporary abandonment of the station, the newspaper reports.

First, is the imminent expiration date of the "certified orbital lifetimes" of two Soyuz "lifeboats" now attached to the station. The second involves flight rules that call for crews to return to Earth during daylight.

Three of the crewmembers aboard the station -- two Russians and an American -- have already delayed their planned Sept. 8 return by a week while the probee continues.

They will likely return before Sept. 19 -- the last daylight landing opportunity that month in the central steppes of Kazakhstan, Florida Today reports.

The next opportunity would not come until Oct. 27, about 10 days beyond the 200-day "certified orbital lifetime" of their Soyuz taxi back home.

The remaining three crew members need to return before Nov. 19 -- the last daylight landing opportunity that month.

Otherwise, the certified life of their Soyuz spacecraft will expire before the next daylight opportunity rolls around in late December, the newspaper says.

Al Qaida #2 - now # none. Killed by US.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Al-Qaida's second-in-command, Atiyah Abd al-Rahman, has been killed in Pakistan, delivering another big blow to a terrorist group that the U.S. believes to be on the verge of defeat, U.S. officials said Saturday.
The Libyan national had been the network's operational leader before rising to al-Qaida's No. 2 spot after the U.S. killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden during a raid on his Pakistan compound in May.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said last month that al-Qaida's defeat was within reach if the U.S. could mount a string of successful attacks on the group's weakened leadership.
"Now is the moment, following what happened with bin Laden, to put maximum pressure on them," Panetta said, "because I do believe that if we continue this effort we can really cripple al-Qaida as a major threat."
Since bin Laden's death, al-Qaida's structure has been unsettled and U.S. officials have hoped to capitalize on that. The more uncertain the leadership, the harder it is for al-Qaida to operate covertly and plan attacks.

Bin Laden's longtime deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, is running the group but is considered a divisive figure who lacks the founder's charisma and ability to galvanize al-Qaida's disparate franchises.
A U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to summarize the government's intelligence on al-Rahman, said al-Rahman's death will make it harder for Zawahiri to oversee what is considered an increasingly weakened organization.

"Zawahiri needed Atiyah's experience and connections to help manage al-Qaida," the official said.
Al-Rahman was killed Aug. 22 in the lawless Pakistani tribal region of Waziristan, according to a senior administration who also insisted on anonymity to discuss intelligence issues.
The official would not say how al-Rahman was killed. But his death came on the same day that a CIA drone strike was reported in Waziristan. Such strikes by unmanned aircraft are Washington's weapon of choice for killing terrorists in the mountainous, hard-to-reach area along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

It's a miracle! B-2 Spirit resurrected!

by Daryl Mayer
88th Air Base Wing Public Affairs

8/23/2011 - WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio -- Sadly, we've seen too many comrades return home bearing the scars of war -- enough that the term "wounded warrior" has become entrenched in the American lexicon and merits millions of hits on Google.

So when a 'wounded warrior' - a veteran which has stood ready to answer its country's call -- flew into Palmdale, Calif., on August 16, it could've passed as yet another sad and noble story.

Except that aircraft number 0332, the B-2 bomber named the "Spirit of Washington," hadn't received its scars in battle, but from a horrific fire in February 2010 that left it unable to fly.

Marooned on the island of Guam, the aircraft needed to travel to Northrop Grumman's maintenance facility in Palmdale. Six thousand miles across the Pacific is normally a cakewalk for an aircraft that was designed to project U.S. power to any spot on the globe. But the Spirit of Washington was going to need a lot of work just to get off the ground.

What ensued over the next 18 months was nothing short of a herculean effort, according to Col. Mark Williams, Aeronautical Systems Center's B-2 Division Chief.

"This was a truly amazing effort with tremendous teamwork between my folks in the B-2 Division, B-2 System Support Branch, Northrop Grumman, Global Strike Command, Air Force Materiel Command, Global Logistics Support Center, U.S. Transportation Command, and the Air National Guard," Colonel Williams said. "A very large group of people came together to bring this aircraft home."

Early on, the team set a goal to have the aircraft in Palmdale before the end of the 2011 fiscal year.

"We budget for three aircraft every other year to receive Programmed Depot Maintenance (PDM)," Colonel Williams said. "It was an aggressive goal, but we wanted to get 0332 to Palmdale before the end of FY11 as our third PDM."

Getting a team on the ground was the first order of business and Northrop Grumman basically deployed a team of engineers and technicians to work with the Air Force. The task list was long and included rebuilding some structural components, work that typically is only done at the depot.

"Our goal was to make the aircraft safe to fly. We knew it would be going straight in for depot maintenance and didn't want to duplicate anything. But there were some depot-level items that needed attention to ensure our flight crew would be safe," Colonel Williams said.

The colonel dispatched two of his best from the division to be his eyes and ears on the ground.

Lt. Col. Greg Tolmoff deployed and learned how to inspect and certify the repairs to ensure every task was performed to standard. Senior Master Sgt. Keith Sanders used his 16 years of experience as a B-2 Maintenance Crew Chief to help guide and assess progress.

"I can't say enough about how Greg and Keith performed," Colonel Williams said. "I'm extremely proud of the dedication they displayed during periods of long hours and family separation."

Once the aircraft was ready to again take the skies, the entire team outlined a comprehensive plan to fly the aircraft home. They established very strict controls on weight, altitude, and speed to lessen stress on the airframe. In-flight refueling was used to prevent ever having to take on the weight of a full load of fuel and a support aircraft followed along to assist the flight crew with avoiding turbulent weather and coordinate with air traffic control.

"The 141st Air Refueling Wing (ANG) deployed to Guam from Fairchild, Washington, and provided KC-135s for refueling and to serve as a support plane," Colonel Williams said. "That allowed us to put a team of Northrop engineers in the support plane where they could monitor the aircraft's performance and offer technical advice to deal with any issues."

Fortunately for all, this "wounded warrior" took to the skies like the proverbial phoenix traveling the entire distance without incident and landing in Palmdale more than a month ahead of schedule. It now starts a 24 month PDM process that will completely return this veteran to operational duty for the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman AFB, Mo.

Looking at a photo of 0332 silhouetted against Joshua Trees and the rising California sun taken as it prepared to land in Palmdale, Colonel Williams has the look of someone who witnessed something amazing.

"I'm going to make that photo my new computer wallpaper," he sa