In August of last year, aviation watchdog sites noticed some strange aircraft activity above central Seattle when a state-of-the-art surveillance plane was seen circling several neighborhoods. That aircraft was eventually identified as a high-tech spy plane used for visual reconnaissance, but its flat gray paint job and lack of identification numbers left the identity of its controllers a mystery. With little else to go on, the story faded into the ether of the 24-hour news cycle.
However, this week another mystery plane turned up over Seattle, again circling a small, specific area for hours which included areas inside the airspace of Seattle International Airport. This time, though, the airplane was clearly an instrument of war as opposed to spycraft. What exactly is going on in the skies above Seattle?
Do we really want to know?
As in the last case, this new mystery plane was reported by Tyler Rogoway at the military blog The Drive. Rogoway identified the plane as a “highly modified AC-130J transport plane” equipped with 30mm and 105mm cannons, advanced sensors and defensive countermeasures” and “a variety of missiles and guided bombs.” Similar AC-130J aircraft are operated by the Air Force Special Operations Command, and this particular craft flew under the not-so-subtle callsign “SHADOW99.” Is a 13-year-old gamer naming these things?
The Drive notes that aside from the awesome weapons these planes are capable of carrying, many of them are also equipped with “communications intelligence gathering and emissions geolocating capabilities.” The plane flew in near radio silence without “squawking” its callsign as is normal procedure when flying over civilian areas, and some aviation experts noted that the aircraft’s flight path is consistent with an AC-130’s overhead surveillance profile. What was this plane looking for? Is it related to last year’s spy plane? How could it not be?
Why not just use a drone? Were they expecting to need those 105mm cannons?
The more I read about these stories and all of the mystery booms overhead, the more I believe there could be some sort of shadow military conflict already taking place. It should be quite clear to anyone now that the news can’t be trusted. Would the proverbial They want us panicking about a space war above our heads? After all, a panicked consumer isn’t good for business. Maybe all of the recent “UFO disclosure” news is meant to distract us from what’s really going on in the skies. Wouldn’t be the first time.
It’s best we all just start shooting indiscriminately at anything flying overhead. What could go wrong?
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