BREAKING: Is the "Dorito" an electromagnetic attack aircraft? Bill Sweetman thinks so.

Is the "Dorito" an electromagnetic attack aircraft? Bill Sweetman thinks so. 

By Steve Douglass 

For aviation enthusiasts, the story of a mysterious triangular aircraft nicknamed the “Dorito” has been quietly unfolding for more than a decade. Veteran defense writer Bill Sweetman suggests that this is no ordinary plane. According to him, it could be a highly classified U.S. Air Force electromagnetic attack aircraft — a stealthy platform designed not to drop bombs, but to slip deep into enemy airspace and blind radar systems before other aircraft even arrive.

The saga starts back in 2014. Over Kansas, amateur photographer Jeff Templin spotted a single silent triangular aircraft performing sharp S-turns in the night sky. Its straight trailing edge and angular form were unlike anything conventional, hinting at a next-generation black project. Around the same time, over  Amarillo, Texas, this journalist and aviation photographer captured three unusual aircraft in formation, their boomerang-shaped trailing edges making them immediately distinguishable from B‑2 bombers. 

UK photographer Dean Muskett was there too, photographing the same flight. The dual documentation from two experienced observers gave the sighting credibility and made the Amarillo event especially notable. Analysts at the time suggested there were actually two different black aircraft projects in operation: the Texas trio and the lone Kansas triangle, each with its own shape, flight behavior, and sound signature.

Fast forward to today, and the story gains another layer with recent infrared footage from the YouTube channel Uncanny Expeditions. This latest sighting shows a similar triangular aircraft, moving stealthily through the night sky. When Sweetman connects the dots — from the Kansas triangle to the Amarillo formation and now to the Uncanny footage — a clear picture begins to emerge: these are not random anomalies or misidentified B‑2s. They seem to represent a deliberate, ongoing program, possibly aligned with a long-standing USAF concept called Penetrating Stand-In Airborne Electronic Attack. This is a platform built to enter heavily defended airspace and jam or disable enemy radar networks, essentially carving a path for other strike aircraft.

(C) Anders Otteson

The shape of the Dorito itself makes sense for this role. A clean, triangular flying wing maximizes stealth, provides internal space for electronic systems, and keeps radar returns to a minimum. This is not about flashy dogfights or bombs dropping — it’s about subtle, decisive control over the electromagnetic spectrum, quietly shaping the battlefield from the shadows.

Sweetman also draws a parallel with the Navy's A-12 program from the 1960s.  The A-12 Avenger II was a proposed U.S. Navy carrier-based stealth attack jet designed by McDonnell Douglas and General Dynamics in the late 1980s and slated to replace the A-6 Intruder. Known as the "Flying Dorito" for its triangular flying wing shape, the program was cancelled in 1991 due to severe cost overruns, technical challenges, and management issues after spending roughly $5 billion. In January 2014, the long-running litigation concluded with a settlement where the contractors agreed to pay the government $400 million total, a fraction of the $1.35 billion initially sought. Coincidentally, just after the lawsuit is when sightings of triangular aircraft sightings made a dramatic uptick. 

Concept art: A12 Avenger II

It’s worth wondering if the Dorito sightings we’re seeing now might have deeper roots in older black aircraft concepts, potentially going back to projects shelved or classified during the Cold War. One intriguing postulate is that after the Lockheed A-12 program lawsuits and patent disputes were settled, any design concepts or intellectual property that had been tied up might have been unlocked or released internally, giving engineers the green light to move forward with next-generation designs.

If those designs were “frozen” due to legal entanglements, it’s plausible that once the paperwork was cleared, elements of those concepts could have been dusted off, modernized, and incorporated into new triangular aircraft prototypes, like the ones Douglass, Muskett, Ottsen and others have documented.

This would help explain some intriguing aspects of the sightings:

• The consistency of the triangular planform across multiple sightings and decades, reminiscent of the A-12’s stealth-focused design.

• The presence of different aircraft variations — a trio over Amarillo and a lone triangle over Kansas — which could reflect different derivatives of a common conceptual family.

• The long gestation period: black projects often incubate for years before flying publicly, so something seen now could have roots in decades-old ideas.

In short, the Dorito might not just be a brand-new concept; it could be the modern evolution of triangle-based stealth designs first imagined during the A-12 era, finally made possible by modern materials, sensors, and electronic warfare requirements.

It’s speculative, but it fits the pattern: decades of triangular designs, multiple sightings, and the slow, stealthy emergence of a program that’s long been under wraps

Taken together, the pattern is compelling. From the Kansas triangle to the Amarillo formation, and now to the infrared footage from Uncanny Expeditions, the evidence paints a picture of a stealthy, sophisticated aircraft that might not drop bombs but could decisively switch off an enemy’s sensors before a fight even begins. It’s subtle, it’s secretive, and if Sweetman is right, it could be a game-changer in how the U.S. Air Force conducts modern air warfare.