UFO over Seattle

March 17, 2006 6:42 PM

Help me identify the very odd, large, possibly military plane that has been flying over Seattle for the past three days at around 6:30pm.

There's an odd bird in the air. I just saw this plane fly south across the Puget Sound that a friend tells me he's spotted the last two nights right about 6:30/dusk. It's very large (like a 727?), has swept back wings and a large tail but the distinguishing/weird characteristic is that it has some sort of pod hanging from the underbelly. Almost like an AWAC but with the radar dish on the bottom rather than the top. But the pod is more compact, maybe 1/6 of the length of the plane.

Any ideas on what the heck is going on?

posted by donovan to travel & transportation (15 comments total)

Anything like a nimrod? They do search and rescue, electronic warfare and signals intelligence.
posted by Flitcraft at 6:57 PM on March 17, 2006

Can you tell the number of engines and where they're located? 727 would have 3 at the rear, 2 in pods and one in the tailfin.

JSTARS?
Rivet Joint?

If it's either of those, it could just be Boeing doing stuff?
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 7:04 PM on March 17, 2006

RC-135 maybe. Are we talking prop or jet? How many engines?
posted by autojack at 7:08 PM on March 17, 2006

maybe EPE3?
posted by Rumple at 7:29 PM on March 17, 2006

Uh-Oh. The pod thing does sound like a popular 9/11 conspiracy theory.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 7:29 PM on March 17, 2006

Could it be the rumored mythical move along, nothin' to see here nonexistent Bl_ckst_r?
posted by rob511 at 7:29 PM on March 17, 2006

The full link just in case, I got the EPE3 number thingie wrong
posted by Rumple at 7:32 PM on March 17, 2006

Not nimrod (woah, that's a weird craft)
Not JSTARS (pod is biger in the aircraft I saw)

RC-135/Rivet Joint . . . quite possibly--the tail and wings look very similar, though the pod looks smaller (I'm kicking myself for not whipping out the camera phone)

Damn. What's it doing around here I wonder . . .
posted by donovan at 7:34 PM on March 17, 2006

Well now my fellow plane watchers dissent. They think the rivet joint definitely looks related to what we saw but on reflection the plane that we've been spotting appeared to be sleeker and have a large belly pod. Maybe 2.0?
posted by donovan at 7:37 PM on March 17, 2006

Mystery could be solved. My wife (who did not see the plane and who is also flipping me off at this moment) says simply: "Duh, it's like a Boeing weather plane or something."

I believe she's more interested in dinner than X-Files. I'll be back. ;-)
posted by donovan at 7:40 PM on March 17, 2006

Here's my guess. It's definitely a Boeing project. E-10A MC2A
posted by PROD_TPSL at 7:52 PM on March 17, 2006

For the record.... if you're interested in supersonic aircraft, and ever pay a visit to Dayton... go visit the XB-70 Valkyrie.

It's quite the bird...

Cold Wars..... good times!
posted by PROD_TPSL at 8:07 PM on March 17, 2006

Go to this page and start running down the links under "Special". Scroll down to the bottom of each such page to see photographs.

In particular, look at the EC-121.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 8:37 PM on March 17, 2006

Sounds like a B-1B to me. Is there an airshow coming up in Seattle?
posted by pmbuko at 8:56 PM on March 17, 2006

You can call the Port of Seattle and ask them. Sometimes the folks there have useful information.
Did your friend have any further information?
Might be a Russian cargo plane. I used to work at the SeaTac airport, and we'd get some peculiar looking Russian (Aeroflot) aircraft in with merchant marine charters.
posted by drstein at 6:40 PM on March 18, 2006