NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #31/NN_1992_31.iso/spool/sci/space/18108

Internet Message Format | 1992-12-23 | 1.6 KB

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Subject: Aurora
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Date: 23 Dec 92 14:59:38 GMT
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Many thanks to you all who answered, privately or on sci.space,
about the definition of "chase planes". I sort of understand that:
- in aeronautic American, "to chase" means "to fly along with",
- in plain American, "to chase" is kinder and gentler than "to hunt".
As "chasser" means "to hunt" in French, I misunderstood the word
"chasing" in the AW&ST article. I really thought it meant "hunting".
Once again I apologize.

So, contrary to what I thought, this April 1991 sighting, reported
in AW&ST, August 24, 1992, is perhaps the most serious of the handful
of sightings reported in this article: daytime, comparison possible
with a known plane (the F-16). But was it Aurora? It was not flying
at Mach 6-8, since an F-16 was flying along with it. It was a large,
"primarily delta-shaped" aircraft, "dwarfing an F-16 chasing it". A
B-2 is large, "primarily delta-shaped", and can easily dwarf an F-16
(Wing span: B-2 172 ft, F-16 31 ft). Could it be a B-2? The observer
quoted in the article (only one observer ?) said it was light colored:
the B-2 is dark, but with reflections of the sun and objects at high
altitude, it is sometimes difficult to judge safely.

J. Pharabod