the impossible fighter “Christmas tree”
In the summer of 1955, Nevadans began reporting strange objects flying at impossible heights. Decades later, declassified CIA documents revealed that a large part of those supposed UFOs were actually secret prototypes that were tested at Groom Lake, the facility that would become known worldwide as Area 51. A blurry image and a forgotten idea. It all started a few days ago with a thermal capture taken near Groom Lake, the facility better known as Area 51. The image showed an oddly shaped aircraft, apparently tailless, with large front canards and unconventional wings. The video quality makes it impossible to identify with certainty what exactly it is, but it was enough to trigger a avalanche of theories. The most striking thing is that the silhouette has led several specialists to rescue an idea that seemed buried for more than forty years: an experimental stealth fighter concept designed in 1983 that received the informal nickname from “Christmas Tree Fighter” or Christmas tree hunting. Thermal image appeared near Area 51 The return of the impossible fighter plane. That 1983 design was created by Darold Cummings, one of the engineers who would later participate in the development of the YF-23. At the time, Northrop was looking for radical ways to build a fighter jet with an extremely reduced radar signature. cummings proposed the DP-21an aircraft with such extreme geometry that many considered it impossible to fly. Its configuration sought to achieve a highly coveted feature in stealth design: a structure of only four large main radar reflections, something similar to what was achieved by the B-2 bomber. The problem was that the flight control technology of the 1980s couldn’t safely handle a device so unstable. That’s why the concept was shelved as a technical curiosity rather than a real project. “Christmas tree” fighter project Why has a photo aroused so much interest? The aircraft observed near Area 51 presents some features that vaguely remember to that DP-21. Particularly noteworthy is the shape of the front section, which in certain images seems to draw a kind of double arrowhead. The absence of traditional tail surfaces, the presence of large canards and a general distribution of wings and fuselage that departs from conventional designs also coincide. Nobody claims that it is a direct evolution of the Cummings projectbut the comparison is inevitable because the image seems to recover aerodynamic solutions that for decades were considered too complex or risky to become an operational aircraft. The clues point to the F-47. The dominant theory is that the aircraft could be related to the technological demonstrators of the NGAD program, from which the future F-47 United States. The general shapes match several elements visible in the few official designs published so far: large canards, very set back wings, absence of vertical stabilizers and a configuration optimized for stealth. Furthermore, some researchers have pointed out that the silhouette appears to have been hidden in plain sight for years. An official patch from the office responsible for the F-47 included a stylized figure that, upon closer inspection, striking similarities with the device captured in the thermal image. It wouldn’t be the first time a top-secret program leaves seemingly innocent visual clues. on insignia and emblems internal. Decades of hidden experiments. The possible aircraft also appears to draw influences from other experimental programs developed by Boeing and its predecessors. Among them the X-36 stands outa tailless demonstrator designed to explore new forms of maneuverability, and the Bird of Preyone of the most secret projects of the nineties. Both opted for extremely unconventional configurations and to reduce the radar signature as much as possible. They remembered on TWZ that the technologies tested in those programs never really disappeared, but continued to evolve within classified projects. The catch obtained near Area 51 could be the first public evidence of how far that evolution has come. An unsolved mystery. The reality is that no one outside the most restricted circles of the Pentagon knows what exactly it shows the recording. It could be an F-47 demonstrator, a prototype related to the future F/A-XX naval fighter, a Northrop Grumman project, or even a completely different experimental platform. The only thing evident is that the image has achieved something unusual: bring an idea to the foreground born in 1983 which many considered a footnote in aviation history. Forty years later, the supposed “Christmas tree hunt” is relevant again because a shadow caught in the Nevada desert sky seems to suggest that some of the strangest ideas of the past may have finally found the technology needed to become a reality. Image | X, DAROLD CUMMINGS In Xataka | In September, an unidentified aircraft crashed very close to Area 51. The real mystery began right after In Xataka | The US has just achieved the “holy grail” of air combat: an F-35 not only detects the enemy, but also gets rid of it on its own.
