Dark Eagles: A History of the Top Secret U.S. Aircraft

319

Crickmore, Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, 35.

320

Miller, Lockheed's Skunk Works, 139.

321

Ibid., 139, 141.

322

Ibid., 140; and private sources. In what may have been a sighting of the accidental D-21B drop of September 28, 1967, a student on his lunch break glanced up and noticed a large jet accompanied by four other, smaller aircraft. The planes were very high, 40,000 feet or more, he judged. He could barely see the shape of the large plane, while the smaller planes could be seen only because of their contrails. The group was flying west and seemed to be directly over Torrance, California, south of Los Angeles. He then noticed one of the large plane's contrails (the inner one, on the left side as he recalled later) began growing. Suddenly, the contrail 'got huge' and another contrail shot out ahead of the large plane. He estimated it was going twice as fast as the other planes. The whole formation, new object included, began a gradual turn to the northeast. They were then lost from sight. The whole event had lasted only a minute. The student, who was interested in space, thought he had seen an X-15 launch. He had seen films of X-15 launches and knew several chase planes followed the B-52 drop plane.

Unfortunately, he does not recall the date. According to one source, a D-21 launch had been made over the Los Angeles area. (This was before the Miller book was published.) The description is consistent with the large solid rocket used to boost the D-21B, but one problem is that he believes the sighting occurred during the 1966-67 school year. This is inconsistent with the known D-21B modification program. The Skunk Works is unwilling to say where the September 28, 1967, drop occurred. The lack of official confirmation, along with the witness's inability to remember the date, makes an exact identification impossible.

323

Miller, Lockheed's Skunk Works, 140.

324

Ibid., 140, 141, 199.

325

Rich and Janos, Skunk Works, 268, 269.

326

Miller, Lockheed's Skunk Works, 141.

327

Ibid., 141, 199; and Rich and Janos, Skunk Works, 269.

328

Miller, Lockheed's Skunk Works, 141.

329

Anthony M. Thornborough and Peter E. Davies, Lockheed Blackbirds (Osceola, Wis.: Motorbooks, 1988), 56, 57.

330

'Lockheed D-21,' Aerophile (March/April 1977), 106, 107.

331

Lou Drendel, SR-71 Blackbird in Action (Carrollton, Tex.: Squadron/Signal, 1982), 21.

332