Message posted by Steve Douglass on January 18, 2004 at 18:43:22 PST:

What your friend may have seen was the "son of Darkstar" or (as i have dubbed it) Blackstar, a new stealthy version of Darkstar. The following is from an article I wrote for Popular Communications magazine last June.

>Imagine you area a U-2 spy plane pilot flying over war-torn Iraq. Your mission; to take bomb-damage-assessment photos of downtown Baghdad.

Far below the war wages on, but your U-2 is flying at 90,000 feet so you are well out of harm’s way.

Just as you make your final turn into the “I.P” you notice a slowly-flying object very near your flight track and just above your altitude! Is it a UFO? Is it the enemy?

You press on and hope the object does not approach for your reconnaissance aircraft is unarmed and couldn’t defend itself if attacked.

As you fly by you get a better look at the craft. It is almost alien in appearance. Black, angular with very long and thin wings, it’s stealthy lines and advanced design indicate that it is probably of earthly origin and most likely the product of a secret American spy plane manufacturer, just like the U-2 you are flying in.

Thankfully, it doesn’t attack, and as you make your way out of the target area, you grab your Nikon you keep stashed under the seat and take a few snapshots of the bird, as it passes by.

On the way home you radio your command post, via secure satellite link, with mission status and mechanical gripes.

You also complain about your close encounter with the unknown black aircraft. Although you suspect it is one of your own, why wasn’t your crew briefed, especially when it was operating dangerously close to your aircraft?”

Although the voice on the other end of the radio has Above Top Secret clearance, he is as surprised as you are hear about the unknown aircraft, not under their control, flying over Iraq in broad daylight!

You find upon landing your aircraft is met by more than the usual support personell. You are barely out of your pressurized flight suit and you find yourself being questioned by blue-suiters asking you all sorts of questions about the strange aircraft you saw.

You remark off the cuff that you took a few snapshots of the craft and soon your camera is confiscated and you are forced to sign a non-disclosure agreement and warned to keep silent.

But as intimidating as the blue-suiters are, pilots can’t help but talk to other pilots, who talk to their crew chiefs who in turn, yada, yada yada, and soon its all over the base a new top-secret black aircraft is flying over Iraq.

But it wasn’t only U-2 pilots who saw the secret bird. Other military pilots, ground pounding grunts and civilian journalists also saw the strange fragile-looking blackbird flying endless eight-hour orbits over Baghdad.

Soon, back home the rumors are flying amongst aviation journalists and black project watchers (military enthusiasts) about this new secret aircraft.

Could it have been Aurora, the almost mythical Mach 8 methane-breathing beast, known as the holy grail of black airplanes in stealth-stalker circles, or was this a new bird, rushed into service for the war?

The press began making inquiries and in an unprecedented move, some senior Air Force officials began to talk.

Although information about this new spy plane is still limited, this is what we know.

Flying high over Iraq during the war (and since) has been a unique stealthy unmanned spy plane that we (until the official name is released) will call Blackstar.

Built by those American stealth gurus at Lockheed Martin, this UAV may serve as the ultimate remote-controlled radio-intercepting reconnaissance aircraft.

The aircraft is a stealth version of the cancelled Tier3-minus “Darkstar.”

Described by insiders (but not yet confirmed) as an ELINT electronic-intelligence gatherer. It is rumored that Blackstar was a key instrument for eavesdropping on Iraqi cellular and satellite telephones used by high-ranking members of Saddam Hussein’s government, including Saddam himself.

Reportedly, there are two Blackstars and they orbit in shifts (for eight hours at a time) high above Iraq. Since they are undetectable on radar an enemy would never know when one is up there.

Using antennas located on the back side of the aircraft (belly sensors could be detected by ground based radars) Blackstar intercepts targeted communication links and instantly relays them (real-time) directly to ground stations (by line of sight) or via satellite using undetectable data compression bursts.

Using advanced computers on board, Blackstar can also pinpoint within feet the location of enemy transmitters.

These intercepted communications are quickly analyzed by NSA supercomputers running advanced voice-recognition software which compares these intercepts with voice samples on file. How these samples were obtained is probably an intriquing story in itself.

Once a match is made, and the location of a wanted Iraqi official is pinpointed, other attack aircraft are instantly dispatched to the area to bomb (with GPS coordinates provided by Blackstar) the transmitter location.

In one case (when it appeared to be an intercept of Saddam Hussein himself using a satellite telephone) from voice print confirmation to relaying of the transmitter coordinates to an orbiting B-1 B took less than 10 minutes. Five minutes later the B-1 bomber was dropping GPS guided bombs on the suspected location, missing Saddam by several hundred yards. He had obviously moved to another building in the compound that was not targeted.

Very similar in design to Darkstar, Blackstar is larger, has a longer time on orbit and although is being used over Iraq now is not considered operational. Thought to be kept out-of-site in closely guarded hangars at Al Udedid Air Base, Quatar, the very low-observable UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) can fly a 1,000 miles to the target while penetrating hostile airspace unnoticed. The project is thought to be operated by the Air Force but overseen by the National Security Office and the National Reconnaissance Office.

In Reply to: Re: Darkstar lives? Yes in Oman posted by ansgar on January 18, 2004 at 12:42:38 PST:

Replies: