AMERICA'S SECRET SPACE PROGRAM
AND THE SUPER VALKYRIE
THIS REPORT WAS WRITTEN FOR UFO MAGAZINE (UK) BY BILL ROSE
There is growing evidence that a mini-shuttle was developed shortly after the space shuttle
Challenger disaster on January 28, 1986 and that the trials began in 1992.
Operating under the mysterious Aurora Project , the system is believed to comprise a
spaceplane roughly the size of an SR-71 spyplane and a hypersonic launch vehicle
resembling the experimental XB-70A strategic bomber designd in 1957-60. This large
aircraft could perform a number of roles, but it appears to have been designed specifically
to carry the smaller spaceplane to a suitable launch altitude.
Sightings of the aircraft described as a "mothership" first began in the late summer of
1990. It was said to resemble a modernized version of the highly advanced North
American XB-70 Valkyrie bomber, developed for the USAF, but never put into production.
Designed to achieve high efficiency through a very close integration of propulsion and
aerodynamics, the XB-70 could achieve a speed of Mach 3.
On September 13 and October 3, 1990, sightings of the aircraft were made at Mojhave,
near Edwards Air Force Base (AFB). Another sighting occured north of Edwards AFB in
April 1991. On May 10, 1992, a journalist with CNN saw the plane flying near Atlanta,
Georgia. The final sighting occurred on July 12 at 11:45p.m. near Lockheed's Hellendale
Facility and because it coincided with a severe thunderstorm in the Groom Lake area,
speculation arose that an emergency divert had taken place. An indication as to the
aircraft's manufacturer came on January 6, 1992, when there was a sighting of an SR-71
shaped forward fuselage section being loaded onto a C-5 transport plane at the Lockheed
Skunk Works facility in Burbank, California. It was about 65 to 75 feet long and 10 feet
high. The C-5 was bound for Boeing Field in Seattle.
The aircraft was described as having a large delta wing and a large forward fuselage. The
wingtips were upturned to form fins. The edges of the wing and fins had a black tile
covering, while the rest of the fuselage was white. The rear fuselage had a raised area with
a black line extending down it. Some witnesses reported seeing a long-span canard near
the nose. It was said to be about 200 feet long.
Nothing is known, however, about the aircraft's propulsion system. If the
"Super-Valkyrie" has been designed as a hypersonic launch vehicle, the most likely method
of propulsion would be Pulse Detonation Wave Engines (PDWEs). Operating on a
different principle then conventional ramjets, PDWEs dont't continuously burn kerosene,
but detonate fuel as it starts to leave the combustion chamber. This generates a regular
pulse which may be responsible for producing the unusual "doughnuts-on-a-rope"
contrails. The most probable fuel for PDWEs would be cryogenic liquid methane, which
could also act as a structural coolant.
At 1:45p.m. on August 5, 1992, A United Airlines 747 crew reported a near miss with an
unknown aircraft as the airliner headed out of Los Angeles International Airport. The
airliner was in the vacinity of Georges AFB, California, when the 747's Traffic Alert and
Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) warned the flight crew that an aircraft was
approaching at high speed. The unidentified aircraft flew past the 747 about 500-1000 feet
below it at high supersonic speed. The UFO was described as having a lifting-body
configuration, much like the forward fuselage of an SR-71, and being roughly the size of
an F-16. It was speculated that the aircraft was a drone that had "escaped". Could this
have been the secret spaceplane?
It has been reported that the spaceplane is codenamed Brilliant Buzzard or Blue Eyes. The
spaceplane has most likely been based on NASA's X-24C proposals or the highly classified
USAF FDL-5 Project . The aircraft was also most likely to have been developed alongside
the "North Sea" Aurora . Feasibility studies by many companies all led to the same
conceptual design: A one-man delta-shaped vehicle with a 75-degree sweep.
The X-24C rocketplane was intended to follow NASA's X-24B. At the same time, the
USAF was considering the black budget Lockheed FDL-5 as a successor to the X-15
rocketplane , the most successful US high-speed research aircraft with 199 flights to speeds
of Mach 6.7 and altitudes of 354,200 feet. A mockup was built, and if the X-24C was fully
developed and tested, it would explain why the X-24C was cancelled by NASA. It may be
however, that the FDL-5 and the proposed X-24C were actually "black" and "white"
versions of the same vehicle.
Despite the X-24C being officially scrapped in 1977 and NASA and the USAF apparently
unable to produce enough money to build prototypes, Historian Rene Francillon, in a
survey of Lockheed aircraft published in 1982, reported that Lockheed had already flown
an experimental aircraft capable of sustained flight at Mach 6.
If Lockheed had developed a hypersonic vehicle like the X-24C, it is possible that
technology was used in the development of the "North Sea" Aurora and the spaceplane.
Testing of the vehicle would have been undertaken at the top-secret Groom Lake
installation and the decision to go ahead with constructing prototypes of the "North Sea"
Aurora and two-stage spaceplane may have coincided with the Challenger disaster in 1986.
The commissioning of these two systems would also explain unusual changes within the
"black world" and it's "white" exterior: The Pentagon's decision to scrap the military space
shuttle launch facilities at Vandenburg AFB, the appearance of a major black program in
the mid-1980s, and also its appearance showing up in Lockheed's company accounts in the
form of an extreme budget. Another factor reinforcing the belief that these projects left the
drawing board in 1986, is the redevelopment carried out at Groom Lake. The old housing
area, built for A-12 Oxcart personnel, was replaced by modern accomadation blocks. An
indoor recreation facility and a new commisary were also built. Four water tanks were
built and an extensive runway upgrade program was undertaken. Another improvement
was the construction of a new fuel tank farm at the south end of the base, which was
believed to store the liquid methane which fuelled Aurora. These improvements were
initially attributed to the "North Sea" Aurora spyplane, but a larger hangar was built.
Larger than the rest, this could house the "mothership", the Super-Valkyrie/ Spaceplane
Project. Known as Hangar 18 by base personnel (after the Hangar 18 at Wright-Patterson
AFB, Ohio), observers claim to have caught glimpses of large aircraft moving in and out of
it prior to the closure of land overlooking Groom Lake in 1995. All evidence points to the
existence of the Super-Valkyrie and while it's exact role remains unknown, the aircraft
seems to have been primarily designed as a mothership.
The flight testing of a spaceplane would have began with a scale-sized demonsrator, used
in a series of glide drops conducted from a converted B-52. Although the parent aircraft
was being developed, a rocket booster may have been considered as a fall back launch
system. Interestingly enough, in 1991 NASA awarded Lockheed's Skunk Works a contract
to explore the possibility of developing a small lifting-body spaceplane.
A mockup of this vehicle was built and designated HL-20 PLS. If it had been built, the
mini-shuttle would have been an economical alternative for transporting astronauts and
pay-loads into Low Earth Orbit (LEO). The project was abandoned in 1993 in favor of the
X-33 Venture Star demonstrator.
Propulsion for the spaceplane is unknown and may take the form of a highly advanced
scramjet running on liquid hydrogen. The vehicle will carry two crew members within an
ejection capsule who observe the outside via high definition video screens and small side
windows.
Assuming the spaceplane is capable of reaching LEO this will allow it to launch small
military satellites, inspect foreign satellites and destroy them if necessary. The spaceplane
could also carry out global reconaissance missions and deliver nuclear missiles. Current
estimates suggest that as many as five spaceplanes have been built, perhaps costing as
much as a Super-Valkyrie.
The Super-Valkyrie may have been built by Boeing in Seattle and then transported to
Groom Lake and/or Edwards AFB for testing in total secrecy at the beginning of the 1990s.
Using proven technology and modern developments, Boeing could have built as many as
four of these motherships, costing $2 billion each with funding secretly diverted from
"visible" projects. The likely contractor for the small spaceplane is Lockheed Martin's
Skunk Works who are also believed to be the contractors of the "North Sea" Aurora. The
existence of both programs seems to be confirmed by the way officials from
Lockheed-Martin deny their involvement with hypersonic aircraft and their existence.
Despite official denials, the CIA is probably responsible for operating the "North Sea"
Aurora and mini-shuttle programs with support from the USAF. The spaceplane probably
operates from Groom Lake, Nevada and the White Sands Space Harbor, New Mexico,
with reports claiming that the Super-Valkyrie has occasionally visited Wallops Island,
Virginia.
From where the "North Sea" Aurora spyplanes operate is less clear, but some of the
aircraft may be based at Beale AFB which is home to the 9th Reconnaissance Wing.
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