American mystery 5 1 region
In 1950s and 1960s, the 5 1 area was the core area of the Oxcart Project. The goal of this project was to develop a successor aircraft to replace the famous U-2 spy reconnaissance plane.
According to the design index, the oxcart plane should be able to perform secret investigation and intelligence gathering tasks over the Soviet Union without being discovered. But it didn't take long for the staff in 5 1 district to realize that even in the testing stage, they had to try to avoid the omnipresent Soviet eyes and ears.
Catch me in zone 5 1 if you dare.
The staff in Zone 5 1 found that Soviet reconnaissance satellites, which they called "garbage bins", regularly flew over Nevada for reconnaissance.
According to T.D. Barnes, a former supersonic aircraft expert in Zone 5 1, American intelligence agencies began to provide some skills for Zone 5 1 in order to win the international catch me if you can. At that time, Bornes was still engaged in electronic warfare here.
Since the confidentiality period promised to the CIA has expired, Bornes can disclose some information to the outside world. He said: "At the routine security meeting every morning, they will provide us with a list of Soviet satellites in orbit, and we will also know the exact transit time of these satellites." "It's like the weather forecast," he told National Geographic. "We will even be told that this is an infrared satellite or something that flew at a certain time."
The prototype of ox cart is often hung high on the top of a column, and its stealth performance is tested with the help of radar tester. The experiment was conducted outdoors, and such exposure aroused great interest of Soviet spy satellites.
"This is really a game of hide and seek. If the plane is being tested outdoors and there are Soviet satellites flying at this time, we will quickly push the plane into the hangar and hide it. "
Jim Freedman, a former material buyer in the 5 1 area, added: "This situation makes all the work very difficult, and everything is very difficult."
He said: "In order to carry out the work, you have to use a crane to lift the plane to the top of the column, then push it out of the hangar and go outside for testing, but soon you have to push it back into the hangar, then push it out, and then push it back ... This is very tossing."
Shadow of 5 1 area
But it turns out that even this repeated hide-and-seek is not enough. CIA spies soon learned that the Soviet Union had obtained the draft of the ox cart, which they obtained by using infrared reconnaissance satellites.
This is because in the hot desert, the plane hanging at the top of the column will cover the land below, forming a shadow area, and the temperature of this shadow area is lower than the surrounding sand. Even if the plane is removed, this temperature shadow can still be detected by infrared rays.
"It's like a parking space," Bornes told National Geographic. When all the cars have left, you can still easily know how many cars have just stopped here because of the temperature difference on the ground. "
In order to counter the Soviet infrared spy satellite, the staff in Zone 5 1 began to make highly realistic "planes" with simple materials such as cardboard and put them outdoors to create the illusion of shadows to confuse the Soviet orbital investigation.
According to Bornes, "We really played infrared satellites!"
Lead the times and die young.
Due to a large number of successful and effective countermeasures, the Soviet Union has not been able to figure out the mystery of the follow-up model of this U-2 reconnaissance plane until the mid-1960s, when American officials took the initiative to disclose this project.
However, during the 2850 top secret test flight of this project, there were indeed countless people who witnessed the appearance of an odd-looking aircraft in the sky, and its flight speed could exceed Mach 3. The identity of these titanium alloy monsters is a mystery, and even flight controllers and commercial airliner pilots can't identify them. This fact further increases the alien rumors related to the 5 1 area.
But in the end, all the efforts finally paid off. Engineers in the 5 1 area designed the A- 12 aircraft. This is considered by some people to be the first stealth plane designed by human beings.
A- 12 can fly at a speed of 3220 kilometers per hour, and it only takes 70 minutes to fly over the whole North American continent. At the same time of flying at high speed, it can also carry out high-resolution photographic reconnaissance and distinguish objects the size of footprints on the ground from an altitude of more than 27,000 meters.
However, according to David Robarge, a CIA historian, this state-of-the-art reconnaissance plane was never really used for aerial reconnaissance of the Soviet Union. Just as A- 12 has completed various tests and has the ability to perform tasks, the US Air Force has begun to develop its successor model: SR-7 1 Blackbird reconnaissance plane.
Later, due to financial pressure and fierce competition between the CIA and the US Air Force, A- 12, one of the greatest creations in 5 1 District, announced its retirement at 1968 after only serving for one year. (morning breeze)