Archive for April, 2009

Lockheed Martin Advanced Development Projects is making perhaps the first realistic tests of a hybrid airship–a concept that dates back many decades but that is just now being tried at a significant scale.
The Skunk Works had secretly built the craft and hoped for a quiet first flight at its Palmdale, Calif., facility, but a few passers-by noticed the strange object in the sky.

The Defense Dept. is showing interest in two categories of airships–those that can carry large cargo at low altitude, exemplified by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) Walrus program, and those that can operate in high-altitude low-wind conditions and remain on station for long periods of time. The configuration of the Skunks Works ship indicates it is the former–a hybrid heavy-load carrier.

The interest is across the services and the notional applications are diverse, ranging from logistics–delivery of an integrated fighting unit within theater, for example–to sensor, communications and even laser-weapon relay platforms.

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But airships aren’t there yet. Major unresolved issues could derail the airship dream, such as their traditional delicate ground handling, and possibly prohibitive economics and vulnerability. These issues have been debated endlessly on paper, and now Lockheed Martin, a prime airship proponent, is investing to seek real answers.

A hybrid airship derives most of its lift by being filled with a lighter-than-air gas such as helium. Overall, it is heavier than air and gains the final 20% or so of lift by flying like an aircraft, but with slow takeoff and landing speeds that allow operations from short unprepared strips.

The Skunk Works made the first flight of its “P-791″ testbed on Jan. 31 at its facility on the Palmdale Air Force Plant 42 airport. The manned flight was about a 5-min. circuit around the airport in the morning and appeared to be successful. The company did not announce or want to discuss the flight.

The P-791 is not part of a government contract, but rather an independent research and development project by the Skunk Works to better understand airship capabilities and technologies, such as materials, a company official says. However, it may also be a quarter-scale prototype of a heavy-lifter.

TO GAIN MORE SPAN TO ACT LIKE a wing, the P-791 is three pressurized lobes joined together. An observer of the first flight says it was about the size of three Fuji blimps blended together. The Fuji blimp, a Skyship 600 model, is 206 ft. long. That suggests the P-791 would have a gross lift of roughly 3-5 tons.

while taxiing. It made a brief takeoff roll, climbed to a low altitude, made a few banks–including a long sweeping turn–then came back and landed. The landing approach had a nose-down body attitude that levelled for the flare. The flight was very smooth, the observer says. The craft was flown by P-791 Chief Test Pilot Eric P. Hansen.

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The speed of the testbed was estimated at about 20 kt. A full-scale version would be able to go much faster, over 100 kt. Lockheed Martin has long proposed a large transport airship, at one time called the Aerocraft, which was halted around 2000 (AW&ST Feb. 22, 1999, p. 26). That design was about 800 ft. long and was to carry 1-1.2 million lb. at 125 kt. The Skunk Works was one of two contractors to receive one-year, $3-million Darpa contracts in August 2005 to study Walrus. The second Walrus phase would be a three-year demonstration effort.

Hybrid airships have a long history. The Aereon Corp. in New Jersey started experiments in the late 1950s, but they were small scale (see www.aereoncorp.com). The company tested the “deltoid aerobody” shape, also called a deltoid pumpkinseed, with a 1,200-lb. manned demonstrator in 1970-71. That was followed by several studies funded by the military at less than $1 million. In the U.K., the Advanced Technologies Group built a 40-ft.-long unmanned SkyKitten hybrid airship and flew it in 2000 (AW&ST Sept. 23, 2002, p. 30). Nothing in the field has progressed to the size or apparent sophistication of the Skunk Works testbed.

The P-791 uses four air cushions as landing gear, located on the outer lobes. Taxiing the vehicle could be like flying a hovercraft, except one with greater exposure to winds. An advantage of the air cushions is they could be reversed to suck the aircraft onto the ground to resist winds for cargo operations. Air pressure may also be the best way to spread landing loads into the inflatable structure. It’s not clear if there are any devices, such as wheels, to keep the airship from sliding sideways when taxiing in crosswinds. The craft has a special towing system.

GROUND HANDLING IS A MAJOR ISSUE facing hybrid airships. Conventional lighter-than-air craft require large ground crews and, because they are especially sensitive to winds on the ground, the airstrip is an area ripe for accidents. Hybrids are only slightly heavier than air, and a hybrid must show large improvements in ground handling over a standard blimp to be successful. The P-791′s current limits are to remain in the hangar if winds are above 5 kt., and there is a 10-kt. limit for taxiing and flight. That could restrict its flight test in windy Palmdale. It’s not clear how the pilot was performing the balletic spins on his taxi-out–whether purely with vectored thrust, or by spinning around one sucked-down air cushion, or other means.
Lockheed Martin Advanced Development Projects is making perhaps the first realistic tests of a hybrid airship–a concept that dates back many decades but that is just now being tried at a significant scale.
The Skunk Works had secretly built the craft and hoped for a quiet first flight at its Palmdale, Calif., facility, but a few passers-by noticed the strange object in the sky.

[ad#ad-1]

The Defense Dept. is showing interest in two categories of airships–those that can carry large cargo at low altitude, exemplified by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) Walrus program, and those that can operate in high-altitude low-wind conditions and remain on station for long periods of time. The configuration of the Skunks Works ship indicates it is the former–a hybrid heavy-load carrier.

The interest is across the services and the notional applications are diverse, ranging from logistics–delivery of an integrated fighting unit within theater, for example–to sensor, communications and even laser-weapon relay platforms.

But airships aren’t there yet. Major unresolved issues could derail the airship dream, such as their traditional delicate ground handling, and possibly prohibitive economics and vulnerability. These issues have been debated endlessly on paper, and now Lockheed Martin, a prime airship proponent, is investing to seek real answers.

A hybrid airship derives most of its lift by being filled with a lighter-than-air gas such as helium. Overall, it is heavier than air and gains the final 20% or so of lift by flying like an aircraft, but with slow takeoff and landing speeds that allow operations from short unprepared strips.

The Skunk Works made the first flight of its “P-791″ testbed on Jan. 31 at its facility on the Palmdale Air Force Plant 42 airport. The manned flight was about a 5-min. circuit around the airport in the morning and appeared to be successful. The company did not announce or want to discuss the flight.

The P-791 is not part of a government contract, but rather an independent research and development project by the Skunk Works to better understand airship capabilities and technologies, such as materials, a company official says. However, it may also be a quarter-scale prototype of a heavy-lifter.

TO GAIN MORE SPAN TO ACT LIKE a wing, the P-791 is three pressurized lobes joined together. An observer of the first flight says it was about the size of three Fuji blimps blended together. The Fuji blimp, a Skyship 600 model, is 206 ft. long. That suggests the P-791 would have a gross lift of roughly 3-5 tons.

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while taxiing. It made a brief takeoff roll, climbed to a low altitude, made a few banks–including a long sweeping turn–then came back and landed. The landing approach had a nose-down body attitude that levelled for the flare. The flight was very smooth, the observer says. The craft was flown by P-791 Chief Test Pilot Eric P. Hansen.

The speed of the testbed was estimated at about 20 kt. A full-scale version would be able to go much faster, over 100 kt. Lockheed Martin has long proposed a large transport airship, at one time called the Aerocraft, which was halted around 2000 (AW&ST Feb. 22, 1999, p. 26). That design was about 800 ft. long and was to carry 1-1.2 million lb. at 125 kt. The Skunk Works was one of two contractors to receive one-year, $3-million Darpa contracts in August 2005 to study Walrus. The second Walrus phase would be a three-year demonstration effort.

Hybrid airships have a long history. The Aereon Corp. in New Jersey started experiments in the late 1950s, but they were small scale (see www.aereoncorp.com). The company tested the “deltoid aerobody” shape, also called a deltoid pumpkinseed, with a 1,200-lb. manned demonstrator in 1970-71. That was followed by several studies funded by the military at less than $1 million. In the U.K., the Advanced Technologies Group built a 40-ft.-long unmanned SkyKitten hybrid airship and flew it in 2000 (AW&ST Sept. 23, 2002, p. 30). Nothing in the field has progressed to the size or apparent sophistication of the Skunk Works testbed.

The P-791 uses four air cushions as landing gear, located on the outer lobes. Taxiing the vehicle could be like flying a hovercraft, except one with greater exposure to winds. An advantage of the air cushions is they could be reversed to suck the aircraft onto the ground to resist winds for cargo operations. Air pressure may also be the best way to spread landing loads into the inflatable structure. It’s not clear if there are any devices, such as wheels, to keep the airship from sliding sideways when taxiing in crosswinds. The craft has a special towing system.

[ad#ad-1]

GROUND HANDLING IS A MAJOR ISSUE facing hybrid airships. Conventional lighter-than-air craft require large ground crews and, because they are especially sensitive to winds on the ground, the airstrip is an area ripe for accidents. Hybrids are only slightly heavier than air, and a hybrid must show large improvements in ground handling over a standard blimp to be successful. The P-791′s current limits are to remain in the hangar if winds are above 5 kt., and there is a 10-kt. limit for taxiing and flight. That could restrict its flight test in windy Palmdale. It’s not clear how the pilot was performing the balletic spins on his taxi-out–whether purely with vectored thrust, or by spinning around one sucked-down air cushion, or other means.
Lockheed Martin Advanced Development Projects is making perhaps the first realistic tests of a hybrid airship–a concept that dates back many decades but that is just now being tried at a significant scale.
The Skunk Works had secretly built the craft and hoped for a quiet first flight at its Palmdale, Calif., facility, but a few passers-by noticed the strange object in the sky.

The Defense Dept. is showing interest in two categories of airships–those that can carry large cargo at low altitude, exemplified by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) Walrus program, and those that can operate in high-altitude low-wind conditions and remain on station for long periods of time. The configuration of the Skunks Works ship indicates it is the former–a hybrid heavy-load carrier.

The interest is across the services and the notional applications are diverse, ranging from logistics–delivery of an integrated fighting unit within theater, for example–to sensor, communications and even laser-weapon relay platforms.

But airships aren’t there yet. Major unresolved issues could derail the airship dream, such as their traditional delicate ground handling, and possibly prohibitive economics and vulnerability. These issues have been debated endlessly on paper, and now Lockheed Martin, a prime airship proponent, is investing to seek real answers.

[ad#ad-1]

A hybrid airship derives most of its lift by being filled with a lighter-than-air gas such as helium. Overall, it is heavier than air and gains the final 20% or so of lift by flying like an aircraft, but with slow takeoff and landing speeds that allow operations from short unprepared strips.

The Skunk Works made the first flight of its “P-791″ testbed on Jan. 31 at its facility on the Palmdale Air Force Plant 42 airport. The manned flight was about a 5-min. circuit around the airport in the morning and appeared to be successful. The company did not announce or want to discuss the flight.

The P-791 is not part of a government contract, but rather an independent research and development project by the Skunk Works to better understand airship capabilities and technologies, such as materials, a company official says. However, it may also be a quarter-scale prototype of a heavy-lifter.

TO GAIN MORE SPAN TO ACT LIKE a wing, the P-791 is three pressurized lobes joined together. An observer of the first flight says it was about the size of three Fuji blimps blended together. The Fuji blimp, a Skyship 600 model, is 206 ft. long. That suggests the P-791 would have a gross lift of roughly 3-5 tons.

while taxiing. It made a brief takeoff roll, climbed to a low altitude, made a few banks–including a long sweeping turn–then came back and landed. The landing approach had a nose-down body attitude that levelled for the flare. The flight was very smooth, the observer says. The craft was flown by P-791 Chief Test Pilot Eric P. Hansen.

[ad#ad-1]

The speed of the testbed was estimated at about 20 kt. A full-scale version would be able to go much faster, over 100 kt. Lockheed Martin has long proposed a large transport airship, at one time called the Aerocraft, which was halted around 2000 (AW&ST Feb. 22, 1999, p. 26). That design was about 800 ft. long and was to carry 1-1.2 million lb. at 125 kt. The Skunk Works was one of two contractors to receive one-year, $3-million Darpa contracts in August 2005 to study Walrus. The second Walrus phase would be a three-year demonstration effort.

Hybrid airships have a long history. The Aereon Corp. in New Jersey started experiments in the late 1950s, but they were small scale (see www.aereoncorp.com). The company tested the “deltoid aerobody” shape, also called a deltoid pumpkinseed, with a 1,200-lb. manned demonstrator in 1970-71. That was followed by several studies funded by the military at less than $1 million. In the U.K., the Advanced Technologies Group built a 40-ft.-long unmanned SkyKitten hybrid airship and flew it in 2000 (AW&ST Sept. 23, 2002, p. 30). Nothing in the field has progressed to the size or apparent sophistication of the Skunk Works testbed.

The P-791 uses four air cushions as landing gear, located on the outer lobes. Taxiing the vehicle could be like flying a hovercraft, except one with greater exposure to winds. An advantage of the air cushions is they could be reversed to suck the aircraft onto the ground to resist winds for cargo operations. Air pressure may also be the best way to spread landing loads into the inflatable structure. It’s not clear if there are any devices, such as wheels, to keep the airship from sliding sideways when taxiing in crosswinds. The craft has a special towing system.

GROUND HANDLING IS A MAJOR ISSUE facing hybrid airships. Conventional lighter-than-air craft require large ground crews and, because they are especially sensitive to winds on the ground, the airstrip is an area ripe for accidents. Hybrids are only slightly heavier than air, and a hybrid must show large improvements in ground handling over a standard blimp to be successful. The P-791′s current limits are to remain in the hangar if winds are above 5 kt., and there is a 10-kt. limit for taxiing and flight. That could restrict its flight test in windy Palmdale. It’s not clear how the pilot was performing the balletic spins on his taxi-out–whether purely with vectored thrust, or by spinning around one sucked-down air cushion, or other means. Thanks to Aviation Week.

UFOWEEK.COM
UFOIN.COM
UFOFILER.COM
MUFONNJ.COM
TRUNKNECK.COM

Brazil – UFO Photo of Fast Moving Strong Lights

RIO DE JANEIRO I was on holiday, in Cabo Frio, (Cape Cold)” and took some landscape pictures on March 8, 2007, and in one of them the Unidentified Flying Object appears in a perfectly clear blue sky. Two people have looked at the photo.

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1) A PhD professor from the University of. São Paulo – Photo Master, Professional Photographer, Director from Fullframe School Photograf, Master in Astronomy, Ph.D. He made a cynical analysis, and supposes a very fast object flew by based on the camera description and experience.

2) An Ufologist from CUB Civil Engineering assumed that this was only a bug near the lens. I have doubts about these conclusions. In photo 4062 – In the sky, above the beach, we see something very small approaching – In Photo 4063 shown here 38 seconds later the object appears. Thanks to MUFON CMS
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UFOIN.COM
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ITATA Unidentified flying objects (Ovnis) are back over Sertões Canindé, Brazil and terrifying the 17,689 residents who are avoiding walking on the roads at night. Home owners, farmers, students, cowboys and drivers say they view blue, red and yellow objects at night. The objects move fast, radiate a strong light that causes enormous heat and emits no noise. Luciana Cristina a student 17, says, a bright object appears from nowhere and radiates a light orange color that can raise the temperature of the body in seconds. We managed to shoot this one on March 28, 2009, at 8:30 PM, that was a light red color, and delivered an intense heat. “It started small, the size of a star with a reddish color. The air was blue and gray after the UFO was gone. “My grandson screamed, “Grandpa, look at the light and when I looked up I fainted due to the heat on my body that was way above normal.” It leaves people very afraid.”

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Antonio Cavalcante, 39, stated, “Its silver fuselage is round and long and has blue glass in front and a black chassis and its diameter is about eight meters that took up the whole road and discharged my battery.” Over 273 appearances have been recorded in Itata since November 21, 2008, until April 8, 2009. Thanks to Scott Corrales
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UFOIN.COM
UFOFILER.COM
MUFONNJ.COM
TRUNKNECK.COM

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Part 3 of a ufo uso video series.

SOUTHAVEN PARK — In 1992, a UFO crashed in Shirley Long Island. Many witnessed the event near Sunrise Highway and Southaven Park was closed for three days. Brookhaven National Labs investigated and a flatbed truck brought a large object to the lab. My brother, who worked in the lab at the time, told me and my Mother that they had an alive alien at the lab. He told me this shortly before he died in 2006. I offer you this report from the paranormal investigative group.

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The LIUFON Press reports, “The actual crash occurred at 7 PM, on November 24th, 1992. A man was driving east on Sunrise Highway and saw a large craft, tubular in shape with two large bright blue lights on each end with a bright white light in its center whose structure was composed of a dull metallic gray texture.” He saw the object make a very tight right angle, cross the highway, and crash into the woods of Southaven Park. When it hit, the object emitted a dazzlingly white beam that turned night to day for a moment. He turned around and came back on the other side of Sunrise Highway to backtrack and find the source of the crash. He saw helicopters near the exit to William Floyd Parkway. Neither the helicopters nor the personnel that came to block off the westbound exit to William Floyd bore any markings or insignia and the men were dressed in plain black. Finally he drove west on Victory which was closed off later, and reached the second turn on Gerard Ave. This street and its neighbors would soon report all manner of electrical glitches, phones ringing, and TV static. The witness saw a huge fire back in the woods.

UFOWEEK.COM
UFOFILER.COM
MUFONNJ.COM
UFOIN.COM
TRUNKNECK.COM

PLAYA DEL REY — On April 19, 2009, I woke up at 4 AM, and noticed a light moving across the sky and then disappearing. When I woke up this morning I walked out on my patio I noticed the moon had a bright object next to it that was very large and was not moving. I ran and got my camera and zoomed in to find what looks like a space ship of some kind!

When I zoomed in it shape shifted and started moving off towards the west of Los Angles LAX Airport and disappears in a poof. But I did see it flying off into the distance at the end of the clip I recorded. Then it came back into site again and I recorded it for about ten minutes changing its shape very slowly. Thanks to MUFON CMS

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MISSION VIEJO Upon returning home from a walk with my son on April 16, 2009, at 8:23 PM, we looked up at Saddleback Mountain and saw a bright glowing blue light on one of the canyon rims. Then another on a canyon rim to the west. We watched these lights for forty minutes and one would fade out, then the other would get brighter, then both would go out, then both start glowing again. Finally they each split into four separate lights and swirled around the hillside to rejoin the glowing blue light. Thanks to Brian Vike – HBCC UFO Research: http://www.brianvike.com

UFOWEEK.COM

UFOFILER.COM

MUFONNJ.COM

TRUNKNECK.COM

ROYAL PALM BEACH My husband and I were in our hot tub and looked south to see a triangle shaped craft with three long rectangles on it. We couldn’t tell exactly how high it was because the object appeared very large. It was going in and out of the clouds traveling quietly due north. It was a gray metallic color with rectangles in the darkest parts and seemed transparent. This object had no lights on it and crossed the entire sky in twelve seconds. Thanks to Peter Davenport Director Image is depiction.

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CLERMONT — I was looking out my window when I saw four balls glowing in the sky at 6:19 AM, on April 8, and again at 5:29 AM, and on April 9th, 2009. They seemed to be moving back and forth so I grabbed my camera and started taking pictures. The sighting lasted for about almost four minutes.

Note: The photos suggest that the lights probably were not moving very fast. However, two photos are quite streaked and show “motion blur.” The photos were taken with a high quality Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT. The maximum resolution of this camera is 10.1 mega-pixels. The different colors of the balls of light on both nights make it more difficult to explain these photos. Thanks to

WOODSTOWN Bill Devine called Friday, April 17, 2009, and reported seeing a UFO at 5:25 AM. He was going turkey hunting and driving along Route 40 and near the Yorktown sign and the Davy Crockett Boy Scout Camp Lake he saw a large flashing object about 300 to 500 feet in altitude. It appeared to be a triangle shaped object with several strobing lights. It was closer to a narrow arrowhead design with large hanging objects below it. He estimates it was twenty by thirty feet in size and seemed to be hovering above the large power lines.. Large double power lines travel inland from Salem Nuclear Plant in this location near Yorktown. The image is similar to one seen by Charles Stone who is investigating the case.

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PITTSGROVE I see orange balls or triangles or disc shape UFOs just sitting there at 11 PM, almost every other night, the most recent on April 13, 2009. Sometimes they take out the town’s electric power. I see these things right in front of Green Branch Park. He stated that to the south of his home he would see large orange lights. The lights were generally stationary, but would sometimes slowly move. They would “blink out” when cars approached and then reappear. Eventually they just disappear. The lights emitted no sound and showed no propulsion. The witness has taken several photos which he described showed a “wormlike” light pattern. One photo showed an entity (described as like a fairy).

Note: I don’t know for sure what the witness is seeing. The fact that the Unidentified Flying Object lights have reappeared on several occasions suggests a more likely conventional explanation. New Jersey has been the home of several hoaxes this past year. Thanks to William Puckett UFOS Northwest

Astronaut Edgar Mitchell says: Man is not alone in universe

(CNN) — Earth Day may fall later this week, but as far as former NASA astronaut Edgar Mitchell and other UFO enthusiasts are concerned, the real story is happening elsewhere. Astronaut Edgar Mitchell, shown after his Apollo mission in 1971, claims there “is no doubt we are being visited.”

Mitchell, who was part of the 1971 Apollo 14 moon mission, asserted Monday that extraterrestrial life exists, and that the truth is being concealed by the U.S. and other governments. He delivered his remarks during an appearance at the National Press Club following the conclusion of the fifth annual X-Conference, a meeting of UFO activists and researchers studying the possibility of alien life forms. Mankind has long wondered if we’re “alone in the universe. [But] only in our period do we really have evidence. No, we’re not alone,” Mitchell said. “Our destiny, in my opinion, and we might as well get started with it, is [to] become a part of the planetary community. We should be ready to reach out beyond our planet and beyond our solar system to find out what is really going on out there.”

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Mitchell grew up in Roswell, New Mexico, which some UFO believers maintain was the site of a UFO crash in 1947. He said residents of his hometown “had been hushed and told not to talk about their experience by military authorities.” They had been warned of “dire consequences” if they did so.

But, he claimed, they “didn’t want to go to the grave with their story. They wanted to tell somebody reliable. And being a local boy and having been to the moon, they considered me reliable enough to whisper in my ear their particular story.” Roughly 10 years ago, Mitchell claimed, he was finally given an appointment at Pentagon to discuss what he had been told. An unnamed admiral working for the Joint Chiefs of Staff promised to uncover the truth behind the Roswell story, Mitchell said. The stories of a UFO crash “were confirmed,” but the admiral was then denied access when he “tried to get into the inner workings of that process.” The same admiral, Mitchell claimed, now denies the story.

“I urge those who are doubtful: Read the books, read the lore, start to understand what has really been going on. Because there really is no doubt we are being visited,” he said. Edgar Mitchell states, ‘All truth passes through three stages – First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.’ “The universe that we live in is much more wondrous, exciting, complex and far-reaching than we were ever able to know up to this point in time.” Snip Thanks to CNN http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/04/20/ufo.conference/index.html