A PRIMER: BLACK AVIATION PROJECTS REAL, RUMORED AND UAPs

A PRIMER: BLACK AVIATION PROJECTS REAL, RUMORED AND UAPs

By Steve Douglass 

A friend of mine asked if I could include a list of suspected black project aircraft that I have either been involved with or written about. In the spirit of clarity, here's a sort of primer. No way is this list comprehensive. Embedded inks will take you to more information. 

To understand rumored secret aircraft from the 1970s to 2026, it is helpful to recognize how real aerospace research, classified programs, and field observations sometimes intersect in unexpected ways.

NORTHROP XST

Long before the 1990s rumors took off, there were real precedents for extreme secrecy. In the 1970s, Northrop’s XST (Experimental Stealth Technology) demonstrators quietly proved that radical faceted shapes could dramatically reduce radar signature.

That work led directly to Tacit Blue in the early 1980s — a bizarre, curved, whale-shaped aircraft designed to test low observable surveillance concepts. Tacit Blue flew dozens of times in total secrecy

TACIT BLUE 

and wasn’t revealed to the public until years later. Its existence alone proved that strange shapes in restricted airspace didn’t automatically mean fantasy — sometimes they meant classified engineering.

Around the same era was Senior Peg, the secret U.S. program that acquired and evaluated foreign MiG fighters. Those aircraft were flown covertly out of isolated ranges so American pilots could train against them. To anyone seeing them unexpectedly, they would have looked like something entirely out of place in U.S. skies. Again, secrecy first — explanation much later.

Northrop’s stealth lineage also includes internal concepts and rumored designations like AX-17, which circulated in enthusiast discussions as a possible advanced derivative of early stealth attack studies. While not all of those designations are formally confirmed, we know the stealth competition between Northrop and Lockheed produced numerous classified prototypes and paper projects that never became public aircraft. Some names persist in rumor because real programs once carried obscure internal labels before being cancelled or absorbed into other efforts.

SENIOR PEG

In the early 1990s, the name “Aurora” started circulating among aviation watchers. A cryptic budget line and reports of unusually high-altitude sonic events led to speculation about a hypersonic reconnaissance aircraft replacing the SR-71. No official confirmation ever came, but the idea stuck — especially among those paying attention to contrails, unusual flight paths, and acoustic signatures.

One of the more interesting observational threads from that era involved what became known as “donuts on a rope” contrails — a segmented, ring-like contrail pattern that appeared unlike the smooth trails typical of conventional jets. 

I witnessed and photographed a "donuts-on-a-rope" contrail in 1992 as it flew over Amarillo. The sound I reported wasn’t a steady roar; it was described as rhythmic, pulsing — distinct from typical turbojet or turbofan signatures.

At one point, I discussed these sightings and photos with an engineer from General Dynamics who was working on pulse detonation engine (PDE) concepts. PDEs are real — they produce thrust through rapid, repeating detonations rather than continuous combustion. During their conversation, the engineer used a synthesizer to simulate pulsing sound patterns, adjusting timing and tone. When he reached a particular rhythm, Steve indicated it was close to what he had heard in the field. The engineer reportedly reacted with visible frustration and said, “Dammit — the Skunk Works has beat me to it. I think I’m out of a job.”

That anecdote doesn’t prove an operational PDE aircraft existed. But it does show something important: the propulsion research was real, and professionals in the field took the possibility seriously enough to react strongly to observational data. In the 1990s and early 2000s, NASA, the Air Force, and defense contractors were actively studying detonation-based propulsion. Ground tests were conducted. Concepts were modeled. Whether any full-scale classified demonstrator flew remains unverified in the public record.

Note: Check out the PDE and other sightings in this classic Unsolved Mysteries segment:

 

TR3A ILLUSTRATION 

Meanwhile, other rumored aircraft circulated in enthusiast communities. Triangular craft labeled TR-3A or TR-3B became popular online. It’s important to be precise here: the TR-3B, as commonly described, is an invention of UFO enthusiast culture. There is no credible aerospace documentation supporting it. Real stealth aircraft and classified test platforms likely explain many unusual night sightings, but the specific TR-3B narrative does not rest on verifiable evidence.

BLACKSTAR/XOV ARTIST CONCEPT 

In the mid-2000s, “Blackstar” entered the discussion — an alleged two-stage orbital reconnaissance system. The idea was technically conceivable, but no follow-up documentation ever confirmed an operational system. It remains one of those stories that gained attention but never solidified into evidence, although there is considerable anecdotal evidence to support it. 

More recently, the SR-72 concept — sometimes called the “Son of Blackbird” — has occupied a middle ground between rumor and acknowledged development. Lockheed Martin has openly discussed hypersonic air-breathing propulsion concepts. That doesn’t mean a fleet is flying secretly, but it does confirm that Mach-6 class research is real and ongoing.

Lockheed Martin SR-72 Concept 

Across the decades, a consistent pattern emerges. Legitimate advanced propulsion research happens behind closed doors. Observers document unusual contrails and sounds. Engineers recognize the technical plausibility of what’s being described. At the same time, enthusiast culture generates designations and narratives that go far beyond what evidence supports.

The intersection between field observation and propulsion research — especially in the case of the “donuts on a rope” contrails and the pulsing acoustic signature — remains one of the more technically grounded threads in the broader secret aircraft discussion. It doesn’t confirm a hidden fleet. But it does anchor the conversation in engineering reality rather than mythology.

From the 1990s to 2026, that balance holds. Real black programs exist. Advanced propulsion concepts like PDEs were genuinely explored. Some sightings and acoustic anomalies may align with experimental testing. And beyond that, the story expands depending on who’s telling it.

One of the most famous rumored projects was the  F-19 Stealth Fighter.

F-19

The F-19 is a technically never existed… at least not publicly. In the 1980s, before the F-117 was revealed, aviation enthusiasts knew something stealthy was flying but had no details. Model companies even released F-19 kits based purely on speculation. When the real F-117 Nighthawk was unveiled in 1988, it looked nothing like the sleek dart-shaped F-19 art everyone imagined. That gap between expectation and reality helped fuel the idea that maybe the “real” F-19 was something even more secret still hiding in the shadows. Skunk Works stealth pioneer Ben Rich told aviation writer and historian, Jim Goodall - "we were gonna call it (the F-117) the F-19 but the designation leaked so we decided to change it as a fuck-you to Testors who made the first plastic model. We got called to Congress to explain how are to-secret aircraft design had ended up as something you could buy in a toy store. It hadn't "

                                                      Wait - there's more! 

BIN LADEN RAID STEALTH HELICOPTER 

Then you’ve got the stealth helicopter from the Bin Laden raid in 2011. That one is fascinating because it’s not rumor — a modified stealth Black Hawk actually crashed in Abbottabad. Photos showed a radically redesigned tail section with faceted surfaces clearly meant to reduce radar signature. The U.S. never officially detailed it, but we know stealth rotorcraft exist. That incident basically confirmed there are operational low-observable helicopters we’ve never fully seen.

Flying triangles are where things get murkier. In the 1990s, especially in Belgium and the U.K., people reported large, silent, black triangular craft with lights at each corner. Some think they were classified platforms like TR-3B (which there’s no solid evidence for), others think misidentified aircraft or atmospheric effects. But the consistency of the triangular shape is interesting — it mirrors stealth design logic: blended surfaces, smooth edges, minimal radar return.

A-12 Avenger II 

The A-12 Avenger II is less mysterious but just as intriguing. It was a Navy stealth attack aircraft in the late ’80s that looked like a flying Dorito — a triangular flying wing. The program was cancelled in 1991 due to cost overruns, but it proves that triangular stealth designs were absolutely being built and tested. When people see black triangles, this is often what they’re unknowingly imagining.

Boscombe Down in 1994 is one of the more compelling U.K. cases. Witnesses reported a strange triangular aircraft escorted by U.S. military planes after what sounded like an emergency landing. Aviation watchers believe it may have been a classified U.S. aircraft — possibly another  stealth platform or maybe the AX-17., Nothing was ever confirmed, which of course only deepened the mystery.

Then there’s the Scotland “mystery booms,” especially around "Mach" 

Machrihanish was (is) a joint U.S. base during the Cold War (and after) and had one of the longest runways in Europe — ideal for unusual aircraft. In the early ’90s, locals reported strange sounds, lights, and triangular shapes. Some journalists suggested it was connected to experimental aircraft moving between the U.S. and Europe. Again, no confirmation — but the geography and timing make it interesting.

What ties all of this together is timing. The late ’80s and early ’90s were peak black-project years: the F-117, B-2, secret UAV programs, stealth materials research. We know for a fact that aircraft flew for years before public acknowledgment. So it’s completely reasonable to assume other prototypes existed that never went public.

That said, one thing history shows is this: when something truly revolutionary exists, it eventually leaks in some concrete way — budget traces, test photos, retired engineers talking decades later. So far, there’s no hard evidence of anti-gravity triangle craft or exotic propulsion. But stealth triangles? Advanced reconnaissance platforms? Low-observable drones? Those are entirely plausible within known aerospace tech. 

Then there was the "FASTMOVER" sighted from Tikaboo Peak that overlooks everyone's favorite non-secret- secret base, Area 51. 

On the early morning of September 8, 1999, Eberle and two Swiss friends — Raphael “T‑Bird” Bloechlinger and Dino “Godzilla” Regli — were camped up on Tikaboo Peak watching the skies over Groom Lake/Area 51 with cameras, binoculars, a military‑band scanner and a tape recorder. At about 6 AM they picked up a radio call allegedly from Groom Lake Tower that said something like “traffic departing off Runway 32 is a Fastmover… cleared for take‑off!” — “Fastmover” being a generic term used by some spotters for a low but fast aircraft.

Almost instantly, they saw a large, deep‑black aircraft roll down the runway, accelerate, and climb away into the morning sky. They describe it as having a smooth, streamlined silhouette with a massive fuselage, no bright reflections, and no visible landing gear, engines, or air intake details from their distant vantage point. Two big upright tail fins near the wingtips were visible, and when it turned to fly away the underside formed a broad triangular shape.

They estimated the craft to be roughly 100 feet long with a 55 foot wingspan and about 75° of sweep, and said it produced a low rumbling noise as it vanished toward the west. No navigation or other lights were seen on it, even though it was just after dawn.

Eberle’s report was later published in a trip report on the Dreamland Resort site and reprinted in Aircraft Illustrated magazine, where it helped fuel speculation among aviation hobbyists and secret‑aircraft watchers about whether it could have been an advanced black project design — perhaps an SR‑71 successor or some other unacknowledged manned aircraft — though nothing about it was ever officially confirmed.

Pilots, engineers or official sources have never authenticated the sighting, and skeptics point out that distant visual observations combined with audio interpretation can lead to overestimation or misidentification of known but classified aircraft movements. Nonetheless, the “Fastmover” at Groom Lake remains one of the more detailed black‑project aircraft sightings reported by civilian spotters.

Ah, now let's talk about the next generation of stealth aircraft — the ones that are moving beyond the F-22, F-35, and even the B-2. Let’s break them down in a conversational way.

B-21 Raider 

The B-21 Raider. 

This is the Air Force’s big, next-generation stealth bomber, meant to eventually replace the B-1 and B-2. It’s a flying wing like the B-2, but sleeker and packed with modern stealth tech and sensors. What’s interesting is that it’s designed from the ground up to survive in heavily defended airspace — think long-range, low observables, and networked to work with drones and satellites. The Air Force is secretive about its performance, but testing photos and sightings suggest it’s bigger than most conventional bombers and uses a lot of new materials and shaping to keep radar signatures tiny. It's not inconceivable that there are probably many never-acknowledged secret prototypes of proof-of-concept vehicles that lead up to the B-21s advanced design. 

Boeing F-47 concept

The F-47, which was officially acknowledged in 2025.  People speculate it’s a next-gen stealth fighter or multirole aircraft beyond the F-35/F-22 line, potentially integrating extreme supercruise, advanced sensors, and maybe even adaptive stealth coatings. Think of it as the “grandchild” of the F-22 lineage — quieter, harder to detect, and fully networked to operate in a future battlefield with drones, electronic warfare, and AI-guided systems. Everything about it is highly classified, so almost everything we hear comes from sightings, budget leaks, or aerospace patent filings.

For the Navy, their future stealth aircraft ambitions focus on carrier-capable platforms. The rumored programs include stealth drones or optionally manned fighters that could operate alongside or instead of the F/A-18E/F Super Hornets and eventually the F-35C. Naval aviation has unique challenges — short takeoffs, catapult launches, and the corrosive maritime environment — so the next stealth platforms need to be rugged but still stealthy, possibly using tailless designs or flying wings like the B-21 or some experimental triangular drones. Some reports also hint at a stealthy unmanned carrier strike system, essentially a low-observable drone bomber capable of long-range missions from carriers.

So, in short: the B-21 is here and advancing, the F-47 is cloaked in mystery but undoubtedly the USAF's  future stealth fighter, and the Navy is working on its own next-gen stealth aircraft, manned or unmanned, carrier-compatible. All of them show the same trend — more automation, more integration with sensors, and a stronger focus on stealth across radar, IR, and even acoustic signatures.

That said, one thing history shows is this: when something truly revolutionary exists, it eventually leaks in some concrete way — budget traces, test photos, retired engineers talking decades later. So far, there’s no hard evidence of anti-gravity triangle craft or exotic propulsion. We haven't even mentioned advanced autonomous reconnaissance platforms? Low-observable drones? Those are entirely plausible within known aerospace tech.

UAPS and UFOs

 

Imagine the sky over the last 80 years as a kind of shadow theater where classified aircraft and unexplained phenomena keep crossing paths. It starts back in the late 1940s, right after World War II. Pilots like Kenneth Arnold reported objects flying faster than anything they knew, doing tight maneuvers near Mount Rainier. 

 The 1960s and 1970s saw mysterious sightings near places like Area 51, where black projects were quietly taking off and testing. Observers reported strange lights, triangles in the sky, and low-noise craft. Some of these sightings probably came from early stealth experiments like the F-117 prototype or other classified drones. The shapes and flight behavior looked otherworldly because they were designed to evade radar and avoid easy recognition. That’s why even military observers sometimes couldn’t identify them — they were ahead of everything public aviation had seen.

The 1980s and 1990s brought the “black triangle” phenomenon in Europe and the U.S., which coincided with a flurry of stealth aircraft development. People saw huge triangular craft with lights at the corners, moving silently or performing impossible maneuvers. 

Civilian enthusiasts, like Meinrad Eberle, witnessed strange “Fastmovers” at Groom Lake in 1999, craft that seemed impossible by normal aviation standards. From the observer’s perspective, these could easily be UFOs, but in reality, many were likely black project aircraft, testing low observability, advanced aerodynamics, and new propulsion methods.

Even today, when the Pentagon releases UAP videos, we see objects performing sudden stops, extreme acceleration, or hovering without visible propulsion. While some remain unexplained, there’s a strong chance that some are cutting-edge stealth drones or experimental aircraft, built to be undetectable, operating in restricted airspace. What makes it fascinating is that the same behaviors that define a stealth aircraft — high speed, sudden maneuvers, low visibility — are exactly the behaviors that make something look “unidentified” to anyone outside the program.

So over the decades, UAP sightings often mirror the timeline of stealth development. As soon as humans pushed aviation beyond public knowledge, the sky started producing reports that looked extraterrestrial. In many cases, these sightings are just the public glimpsing the invisible shadows of advanced aircraft, a sort of real-life “black project theater” in the sky. It’s a mix of mystery, technology, and secrecy, and that’s why the line between UFOs and stealth aircraft has always been blurry.

 

Tic Tac sightings — now we’re talking about one of the most iconic modern UAP encounters, and it fits perfectly into this conversation about advanced aircraft and “alien tech.”

Between 2004 and 2015, U.S. Navy pilots reported multiple encounters with unidentified aerial objects off the coasts of California and the East Coast. The most famous of these are the 2004 Nimitz Carrier Strike Group encounters. Pilots saw oblong, white, smooth craft — dubbed “Tic Tacs” because of their shape — moving in ways that defied conventional physics. They hovered, accelerated instantly, and maneuvered at extreme speeds without any visible engines or control surfaces. Some pilots even reported they could track them visually for minutes, then the objects would vanish or reappear far away almost instantly.

What makes the Tic Tacs fascinating is that they resemble some theoretical “alien tech” designs. Their movements suggest inertial dampening or field propulsion — essentially a way to bypass G-force limits that would normally crush a pilot or break a conventional aircraft. They also showed no detectable heat signature, implying propulsion far beyond current combustion or jet technology. The Pentagon eventually confirmed these encounters as legitimate UAPs, releasing official videos in 2017 and 2020.

Here’s where it intersects with our discussion of stealth aircraft. Many aviation enthusiasts wonder: could some Tic Tac sightings be advanced human-made drones or black project aircraft? A secret Navy or DARPA program could theoretically build small, high-speed drones with low observability, but replicating the Tic Tac’s extreme acceleration and maneuvering with current materials and propulsion seems impossible — at least with known engineering limits. That’s why some analysts leave the “alien tech” hypothesis on the table, even if cautiously.

Connecting it to stealth aircraft design: Tic Tacs highlight what future craft could aspire to. Imagine combining a B-21 Raider’s low observability, a hypothetical F-47’s advanced avionics, and Tic Tac-style agility. You’d get a craft that’s practically invisible to radar, can maneuver in ways today’s physics seems to forbid, and could operate in heavily defended airspace. It’s exactly the kind of technology that makes both UFO researchers and aerospace engineers stare wide-eyed.

The idea that some of our most advanced aviation tech might be inspired—or even reverse-engineered—from extraterrestrial craft. 

This is a rumor that’s been around for decades, especially among black project enthusiasts, ex-military chatter, and UFO researchers.

The popular narrative is UFO crashes are retrieved in a relatively intact state, and some secretive military-scientific program begins studying their materials, propulsion, and design. Over time, these programs supposedly inspire technologies we’ve actually seen — like stealth shaping, radar-absorbent materials, advanced sensors, and even hints at unconventional propulsion. Think about it: the F-117’s faceted design, the B-2’s flying wing, and now the B-21 Raider’s sleek low-observable surfaces — all of these could have benefited from insights far beyond what public aerodynamics textbooks explained at the time.

There are also persistent rumors about engine technologies. The Tic Tac UAPs, for instance, appear to operate without conventional thrust, yet accelerate and stop on a dime. Some researchers speculate that black project engineers might have scrutinized these motion characteristics, trying to replicate them with experimental propulsion systems — like plasma drives, magneto-hydrodynamic thrust, or field-manipulating engines. DARPA and other secretive research agencies have patents that hint at concepts once thought impossible, which fuels the idea that something “alien-inspired” could be hiding behind the veil of legitimate black projects.

Even more speculative are the materials and energy systems. Reports claim UFO metals resist extreme heat, rapid acceleration, and physical stress — almost like “smart” alloys or composites. If engineers could reverse-engineer even a fraction of that, it could explain leaps in stealth coatings, high-temperature composites for hypersonic craft, and ultra-efficient energy storage. Some say the rumored F-47 next-gen fighter and unmanned Navy stealth platforms might be tapping into research that traces back, indirectly, to UAP studies.

Of course, none of this has been publicly confirmed. Most of what we know is based on eyewitness testimony, leaked reports, and speculation, which means it sits at the intersection of rumor, classified research, and the UFO lore ecosystem. But the idea that UFOs—or recovered craft—have nudged human aerospace forward isn’t just science fiction; it’s part of the narrative many whistleblowers, enthusiasts, and black project researchers have been weaving for decades.

Alright, let’s take off into speculative territory — imagining what Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Boeing, and other aerospace giants might be secretly working on over the next couple of decades, inspired by both black projects and the patterns we see in UAPs. We’ll blend engineering logic with a little educated imagination.

Lockheed Martin, for example, has always been at the cutting edge of stealth and sensor fusion. If you combine their historical work — F-117, F-22, F-35 — with rumors of reverse-engineering UAP behavior, you could imagine a next-gen fighter or optionally manned platform that’s almost a hybrid of a Tic Tac UAP and a B-21 bomber. Picture a triangular or teardrop-shaped craft that can hover, accelerate like a jet, and perform maneuvers without leaving visible contrails, all while remaining invisible to radar and even infrared sensors. Lockheed has also been exploring adaptive camouflage and metamaterials, which could make such a craft appear to vanish against the sky, or even subtly bend light around it.

Northrop Grumman might take this in a slightly different direction. They’re masters of flying wings — B-2 and B-21 — so imagine a modular flying wing that can split into multiple autonomous drones mid-flight, or a single craft whose wings morph shape dynamically for different speeds, stealth, and maneuverability. It might also use distributed propulsion or electromagnetic field manipulation to reduce G-forces, inspired by the Tic Tac sightings’ “impossible” accelerations.

Boeing and other contractors could focus on hybrid systems: manned-unmanned platforms capable of long-endurance patrols, stealthy insertion, or surveillance, again drawing inspiration from UAP agility and endurance. Maybe a carrier-based stealth drone that looks conventional but can execute instantaneous turns, vertical climbs, and extreme acceleration thanks to advanced energy storage, superconducting motors, or plasma-based propulsion.

The fascinating part is that these concepts don’t break the laws of physics — not in principle — but they push materials, propulsion, and avionics to the extreme edge of current human capability. Essentially, we’re talking about designs that mimic UAP flight characteristics without stepping into “magic tech” territory: extreme stealth, high acceleration, ultra-maneuverability, and autonomous or optionally manned operations.

-Steve Douglass