Insight

Written by Condorman - 7 June 2024

Insight from a senior level aerospace engineer

There have been reports of unusual Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) sighted and recorded by an F-22 pilot based at Eglin Air Force Base in the Florida panhandle.

These reports were first made public by Matt Gaetz, U.S. representative for Florida's 1st congressional district.

During a House Oversight Subcommittee hearing last summer, Rep. Gaetz revealed details of a trip he took to Eglin Air Force Base in February 2023. Details of that visit can be found here.

His group, including Reps. Tim Burchett (TN) and Anna Paulina Luna (FL), were initially denied access to the information, but after pressing on, they were finally granted access to one of the flight crew and one image. This is Rep. Gaetz’s description of the encounter:

“They were out on a test mission that day over the Gulf of Mexico and when you’re on a test mission, you’re supposed to have clear airspace, not supposed to be anything that shows up.
“And they saw a sequence of four craft in a clear diamond formation for which there is a radar sequence that I and I alone have observed in the United States Congress.
“One of the pilots goes to check out that diamond formation and sees a large floating, what I can only describe as an orb, again, like I said, not of any human capability that I’m aware of.
“And when he approached, he said that his radar went down, he said that his FLIR system malfunctioned, and that he had to manually take this image from one of the lenses and it was not automatic, automated in collection as you would typically see in a test mission.”

Since then we have learned additional information. The pilot’s sketch of the craft and other information was released via a FOIA request by X user Abbas and published by John Greenwald on March 6, 2024.

Journalist Micah Hanks wrote an extensive recap of the incident and the subsequent release of data by the Air Force in UAP Incident Over the Gulf of Mexico Revealed by U.S. Congressman Confirmed in Newly Declassified Files and Images.

You can see the pilot’s sketch below.

Here are some additional details:

Pilot obtained a radar lock on four unidentified objects
Pilot obtained an image of one of the UAPs, the only one with which he or she made visual contact (UAP-1)
As the F-22 closed in within 4,000 feet of UAP-1, the aircraft’s radar malfunctioned
UAP-1 had a rounded, gray bottom section with a reddish orange illuminated slot, and an upper section resembling a three-dimensional cone with gunmetal gray segmented panels
UAP-1 was at an altitude of 16,000 feet, while two of the other objects detected on radar were at 17,000 and 18,000 feet. The fourth object was lost from radar.
Airspeeds for the objects were not recorded (or not released)
There was blurry air below the rounded section with no visible smoke
Size is not mentioned but the object is likened to an Apollo space capsule. The Apollo command module is 11 feet long and the combined command module and service module is 36 feet long.

This FOIA document prompted AARO to release a Blue Book style ‘swamp gas’ explanation of the object as a likely commercial lighting balloon, ignoring the pilot’s report of a diamond formation (though the report does admit the existence of the formation on radar data) and sensor interference.

AARO’s report contained two additional images of the UAP. The first one is infrared and the second is electro-optical, as seen below.

If it was truly a lightning balloon, one would expect the infrared and electro-optical images to look similar. They obviously do not but others have already discredited the report so I will focus on how these vehicles may fly.

Active Flow Control Technology

There is a technology known as active flow control that creates aerodynamic effects by using actuators to blow or suck air.

Actuators can be used to enhance flow over a wing and prevent boundary layer separation at high angles of attack.

They can also be used as a synthetic jet. And they can be used to control an aircraft, replacing flaps and vertical/horizontal tails. Take a look at the latest fighter designs and you won’t see any tails.

Plasma actuators are a special type of actuators that blow air through an electrohydrodynamic interaction with ionized air, which results in ionic wind.

Plasma actuators correspond very nicely with the observed characteristics of UAP-1 and may be the source of propulsion and control. There are several types of plasma actuators but there are two that are a very good fit for the cool panelled cone and the hot rounded bottom.

Dielectric Barrier Discharge (DBD) plasma actuators generate partially ionized air known as low-temperature plasma because it remains cool.

They are designed with two electrodes separated by a dielectric material, as shown in the illustration below.

A high AC voltage will lead to the formation of a low-temperature plasma between the electrodes. This electrical discharge ionizes the surrounding air, bringing airflow from the upper electrode to the lower one, creating ionic wind.

Plasma synthetic jet actuators, also known as sparkjet actuators, use a pulsed arc/spark discharge to create a high-pressure plasma at high temperature that is expelled from a chamber in the form of a synthetic jet.

The illustration below shows how a synthetic jet may work.

The plasma chamber has two openings which can be opened and sealed quickly. Air is pumped in through the top opening into a chamber with the bottom opening sealed.

The top opening is then sealed and an electrical discharge between two electrodes raises the pressure and temperature of the actuator chamber via arc heating.

The bottom opening is now opened (the top remains closed) and high-pressure ionized air is expelled outward as a synthetic plasma jet.

This jet would look like ‘blurry air’ to an observer. The cycle then repeats itself. To be used as an effective propulsion system, the cycle would need to occur many thousands of times per second.

Vehicle Design

The two types of plasma actuators can now be integrated into a viable flight vehicle.

The cone section of the vehicle is essentially a variable geometry inlet.

The interior of the flat segmented panels has several rows of DBD actuators to create an active downward flow toward the main chamber, essentially sucking air inside as depicted below.

The panels can move like flower petals and widen or narrow the opening of the inlet depending on the altitude and flight conditions.

At higher altitudes the panels will open wider resembling an inverted cone, with an elastic skin between them maintaining the shape. And at lower altitudes they will narrow to account for the higher air density.

UAP-1 was observed in this state. The illustration below shows what the vehicle would look like at higher altitudes as the cone widens to increase airflow.

The bottom chamber is the main body of the vehicle. It contains the payload and the sparkjet actuators that provide the synthetic jets for thrust and control of the vehicle.

The main jet would be expelled at the bottom and a few slots on the sides would act as control thrusters for attitude and maneuvering control. See the illustration below.

As I described earlier, the plasma chamber would fill with air pumped in by the DBD actuators in the slotted inlet while the main jet port was closed.

The inlet is then sealed and several sparkjets raise the pressure and temperature of the plasma chamber surrounding the payload via arc heating.

The bottom jet port is now opened (the inlet port remains closed) and high-pressure ionized air is expelled outward as a synthetic plasma jet.

If the vehicle needs attitude, pitch, or other adjustments, ports on the sides can also be opened independently to provide control thrust. The cycle then repeats itself numerous times per second.

Model Comparison To Observations

The model compares highly favorably to the pilot’s description and the released images.

The pilot’s sketch describes a red/orange slot and blurry air at the bottom. The red/orange slot fits the description of one of the control thrusters opening and discharging hot plasma. And the blurry air is consistent with a hot plasma synthetic jet at the bottom. The pilot did not observe the red/orange color in the bottom of the vehicle because they described a side view.
The electro-optical image appears to have been taken from under the vehicle and does show a bright spot where the main jet should be, also confirming the model.
And, lastly, the infrared image with the cool cone and the hot bottom section fits very well with the model. The DBD actuators in the cone produce low-temperature plasma and appear cold in the image. And the sparkjet actuators produce hot plasma that would heat the chamber surface and appear as hot on the image. The sharp delineation between cold and hot surfaces is caused by the seal that closes off the inlet before the sparkjet discharges, so no hot air can get to the inlet.

Origin?

I am certain the vehicles are unmanned, especially considering the size and how hot the chamber around the payload section is.

The plasma actuator technology I described is real and has been used for actual active flow control applications.

However, moving that much air to use as the main propulsion system for a sizable vehicle would require a tremendous amount of power that would be nearly impossible to fit inside the structure with current technology.

The computing power required to calculate the thousands of adjustments per second for the main synthetic jet and the control thrusters is immense and would also be nearly impossible to fit inside the structure.

Though the computations could be performed outside the vehicle and transmitted to it.

The four vehicles were in the F-22’s operating area without any warning to the pilots. That would contradict any suggestion that they are operated by the Air Force and/or based at Eglin AFB.

So where did these vehicles come from and who is operating them?

Your guess is as good as mine.

About The Author

Condorman, who wishes to remain anonymous, is a senior level aerospace engineer who has worked in the defense industry for over 30 years designing advanced technology.