Fighter Sweep dot com "There I Was: The X-Files Edition

[Quix]

.
https://fightersweep.com/1460/x-files-edition
.

A good buddy of mine and former squadron mate, Dave “Sex” Fravor, has one of the most bizarre aviation stories of all time.  It is a story that stretches credibility, so I’ll start off by building up Dave’s bona fides.
.
. . .
.
On the morning of 14 November 2004, Dave and his WSO launched into the clear blue Southern California sky about a hundred miles southwest of San Diego.  Their Call Sign was FASTEAGLE 01.  His wingman and WSO launched just after them in FASTEAGLE 02.  They climbed overhead the ship and rendezvoused in normal fashion before setting off to their assigned work area in the open ocean south of USS Nimitz.  Normal day, normal ops for the pre-deployment work up cycle they were in the middle of.
.
. . .
.
What Dave didn’t know was for the past several days, Princeton had been picking up some bizarre returns on their Death Star-worthy SPY-1 radar.  On several occasions beginning 10 November, the Fire Control Officer and the extremely experienced Fire Control Senior Chief had detected multiple returns descending from far above the radar’s scan volume–somewhere higher than 80,000 ft.  The targets, dubbed Anomalous Aerial Vehicles (AAVs), would drop from above 80K to hover roughly 50 feet off the water in a matter of seconds.



Always over the same spot, a Lat/Long about 30NM off the coast of Baja, roughly 70nm southwest of Tijuana.  At the time, the SPY-1 was the most sophisticated and powerful tactical radar on the planet.  With it, they were able to track these AAVs while they descended, hovered and then zipped away at speeds, turn rates and accelerations faster than any known friendly or threat aircraft.  Impossibly fast.
.
. . .
.
While Princeton was communicating with Cheeks, they were also attempting to hand off their AAV contact to the Air Wing’s E-2C Hawkeye, also airborne at the time.  The crew from VAW-117 had been providing intercept control for FASTEAGLE flight during their training.  Princeton now wanted the E-2 to guide the Super Hornets to an intercept with the AAV contact, currently hovering over their favorite spot, but now about 20,000 feet over the ocean.
.
. . .

.
The sea was calm, almost glassy smooth and it was late morning on a beautiful SoCal day.  Perfect conditions.  As Cheeks flew over the spot he saw a disturbance on the surface of the ocean.  A round section of turbulent water about 50-100 meters in diameter.  It was the only area and type of what he called, “whitewater” describing that it looked as if there was something below the surface like a shoal or what he’d heard a ship sinking rapidly would look like.



He overflew the disturbance and circled back in the direction of Nimitz without ever seeing what caused the water to froth.  As he turned away, which happened to be the moment the Super Hornets converged on the location, the whitewater cleared and the ocean surface returned to its smooth state.  The spot of the previous disturbance was completely indiscernible.
.
. . .
.
All four aircrew were eyes out from this point forward.  The first unusual indication Dave picked up was the area of whitewater on the surface that Cheeks was looking at over his shoulder as he flew away.  He remembers thinking it was about the size of a 737 and maybe the contact they had been vectored on had been an airliner that had just crashed.  He maneuvered his F-18 lower to get a better look.  As he was descending through about 20K he was startled by the sight of a white object that was moving about just over the frothing water.  It was all white, featureless, oblong and making minor lateral movements while staying at a consistent low altitude over the disk of turbulent water.



Dave put FASTEAGLE 02 into high cover passing through about 15K and she and her WSO witnessed the events from a perfect vantage point.  Dave continued his dive lower towards the object, now also attempting to slave the radar through his HMCS to achieve a short range lock.  No luck.  His intention was to pass the object close aboard at about 350 kts, but as he got closer he noticed that the AAV had oriented one of its skinny ends towards him, as if, in his words, “It had just noticed us” and it was now pointing at them.



The AAV then began to rise from its hover.  The object, which he would later describe as a while tic-tac, rose in right 2-circle flow about a mile cross-circle from Dave’s Hornet.  BFM instincts took over and Dave dug nose-low to cut across the bottom of the circle.  As he was looking at the AAV and pulling his nose up to bear, the tried again to slave his radar via the HMCS.  Again, the APG-73 was unable to lock on the white, fighter-sized flying object now just a couple of thousand feet away and closing.



All through these maneuvers, Dave’s WSO was broadcasting the real-time events of the intercept to Princeton.  The radar operators in the E-2 listened on the secure net to what sounded like one of the hundreds of intercepts they had heard over the years.  With the notable exception that the aircrew’s voices were more stressed and the verbiage to ID the target was unlike anything they had heard before.
.
. . .

.

.
Sounds like a very convincing experience, to me.
.

What do the Navy sky-jocks hereon say?
.

@bigheadfred
@Cyber Liberty
@DCPatriot
@Freya
@Ghost Bear
@GrannyMinimum
@Idaho_Cowboy
@jedidah
@Liberty Tree Dr
@Mom MD
@mrpotatohead
@Smokin Joe
@Texas Yellow Rose
@the_doc
@Victoria33
@WorkingClassFilth
.

[Smokin Joe]

I put it with the things that make you say "Hmmmmm."  Did anyone have a sonar contact? That much ruckus in the ocean should have left a mark on someone's passive sonar, or maybe SOSUS.

[Quix]

I put it with the things that make you say "Hmmmmm."  Did anyone have a sonar contact? That much ruckus in the ocean should have left a mark on someone's passive sonar, or maybe SOSUS.

There often ARE sonar contacts in such cases. Of course, the evidence is usually ferreted away etc. etc.

Sometimes sonar has picked up a huge undersea craft headed straight for the Navy vessel at significant speed causing sonar operators enormous fear or worse. Of course, the exotic craft changes course or stops or disappears at the last minute/second.

IIRC, it is not ALWAYS the case that sonar picks such up just as it is true that radar often does not detect large craft visible clearly at close range to the naked eye. 

[Smokin Joe]

There often ARE sonar contacts in such cases. Of course, the evidence is usually ferreted away etc. etc.

Sometimes sonar has picked up a huge undersea craft headed straight for the Navy vessel at significant speed causing sonar operators enormous fear or worse. Of course, the exotic craft changes course or stops or disappears at the last minute/second.

IIRC, it is not ALWAYS the case that sonar picks such up just as it is true that radar often does not detect large craft visible clearly at close range to the naked eye. 

We see that, even with the B2. Passive sonar requires one to make noise. Getting fluid dynamics down to the point where that was minimized or eliminated, would enable an object to move without noise, and if propulsion generated no sound, there would be nothing for passive sonar to hear. I would think active sonar could be 'stealthed' as much as radar, just change the numbers in the equations. The only problem comes with propulsion efficiency and maneuverability in the different fluid (water). Spherical shapes settle most efficiently in water (the reason nuke subs are shaped that way in front--least resistance, and least sound pushing through). For that shape to be in air or water (both fluids) just makes sense, and a tic tac is just a cylinder with spherical ends. It seems that it would be easier to bend light or sound around that shape as well.

[Quix]

We see that, even with the B2. Passive sonar requires one to make noise. Getting fluid dynamics down to the point where that was minimized or eliminated, would enable an object to move without noise, and if propulsion generated no sound, there would be nothing for passive sonar to hear. I would think active sonar could be 'stealthed' as much as radar, just change the numbers in the equations. The only problem comes with propulsion efficiency and maneuverability in the different fluid (water). Spherical shapes settle most efficiently in water (the reason nuke subs are shaped that way in front--least resistance, and least sound pushing through). For that shape to be in air or water (both fluids) just makes sense, and a tic tac is just a cylinder with spherical ends. It seems that it would be easier to bend light or sound around that shape as well.

YUP. Your perceptiveness & knowledge shine again.

I agree.

Interesting times, anyway.

Though it does get a bit tiring trying to navigate Alice's rabbit holes just to keep one's head up in daily life, decently. LOL.

[Smokin Joe]

YUP. Your perceptiveness & knowledge shine again.

I agree.

Interesting times, anyway.

Though it does get a bit tiring trying to navigate Alice's rabbit holes just to keep one's head up in daily life, decently. LOL.

Increasingly, life seems to be down the rabbit hole with all else. I know you're a praying person, so please, if I may ask, would you pray for the well being of my granddaughter? She's going through a tough time right now. 

[Quix]

Increasingly, life seems to be down the rabbit hole with all else. I know you're a praying person, so please, if I may ask, would you pray for the well being of my granddaughter? She's going through a tough time right now. 

Sure.

Just did.

Would likewise appreciate prayer--prostate larger than 4 years ago--MD says about right for my age and evidently benign. May refer to urologist. Also ... a troublesome UTI  . . . and skin has become itchy almost all over--compared to 'normal' fungal problem usually in feet and hands. Also . . . want to finish a book for Kindle re how churches handle money and do better at advertising the Kindle book already published. etc. etc.

God's best to you and your loved ones. May your granddaughter find the hope, help & resources needed.

[Smokin Joe]

Sure.

Just did.

Would likewise appreciate prayer--prostate larger than 4 years ago--MD says about right for my age and evidently benign. May refer to urologist. Also ... a troublesome UTI  . . . and skin has become itchy almost all over--compared to 'normal' fungal problem usually in feet and hands. Also . . . want to finish a book for Kindle re how churches handle money and do better at advertising the Kindle book already published. etc. etc.

God's best to you and your loved ones. May your granddaughter find the hope, help & resources needed.

Thank you! And may The Almighty heal you bless you as well! .