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Comment by TTPrograms | Hacker News Reader

I'm not an expert on fighter thermal signatures, but this sort of looks like the rear output of two engines followed by usage of the afterburners maybe?

http://i51.tinypic.com/20fs0pf.jpg

It may correspond to known aircraft configuration, or an unknown one, but it doesn't seem like there's anything anomalous about it...

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It appears to be a lot longer then the one shown in the picture that you posted

SR-71 ? Could explain the fact that it wasn't detected by radar. And the twin exhausts. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_SR-71_Blackbird

That's a unique theory, especially considering the SR-71 is anything but stealthy.

And decommed.

And would stall well above 130 knots.

FWIW here's a story by a former SR-71 driver that makes it clear that the plane isn't capable of flying that slowly.

http://oppositelock.kinja.com/what-was-the-slowest-you-ever-...

This thing just hovers there, slowly moving.

Seeing noting in the visible spectrum is not anomalous?

Here my guess: - It appears stationary as it is travelling towards the camera and very far away. - It isn't apparent in the visible spectrum because of cloud/haze between it and the camera. - The plume appears as it passes through a layer of cloud and heats the moisture therein.

I've experienced this a few times driving near the airport. It's really mind blowing until the highway changes direction a bit and the illusion is ruined.

I think that's sound - and the "plumes" from the object would make sense as turbulence from its passage seen head-on.

I'd love to have a straightforward explanation to this mystery too, which was a few months before this was filmed, and has been an itch in my mind for the intervening years. http://www.pbase.com/flying_dutchman/pacific_eruption

Absolutely. It's a twin engined something, and we're seeing the heat signature. May not even be an unusual aircraft.

How come no radar signature. Is that not unusual for aircraft, or are most aircraft radar absorbing?

Most civilian ATC radars are 'Secondary' radars which depend on cooperative transponders on all aircraft. If you turn your transponder off, the system doesn't work.

US ATC uses 'Primary' radars as backup for locating aircraft that don't have transponders or don't have them on. Militaries use Primary radars for most of their activities. Other articles don't provide distinction on what type of radar was used.

Seeing that blog post this is probably the case.

Not hovering -- seems to be matching velocity at 130kas. (which is slow for a twin-engine fighter jet).

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