Malcolm wrote: ↑Mon Feb 07, 2022 4:11 pm
First of all, I don't believe a word of it. What fool would fly a still secret stealth aircraft up a valley close to the A9, on a Saturday, in daylight? That risked been seen by thousands of car drivers. RAF/RN Harriers weren't based in Scotland, and even if they were visiting Leuchars/Lossie they wouldn't have been tasked to intercept an unknown - unless they just happened to be in the area. But on a Saturday? And to be tasked by ATC would mean ATC was aware of the UFO, which means it was visible on radar - would have thought a QRA launch from Leuchars was more likely in that case. RAF Harriers never had an air to air radar, so finding a UFO would have to be done by eye. RN Sea Harriers did have a radar, but the FRS1 wasn't very good against low fliers, and the FA2 didn't come in till 1993.
However, one thing that always raised questions in my mind was Coronet Gun. This was the deployment of 12 A-10's of the 75TFS/23TFW to Sculthorpe on Friday Aug 3rd 1990. This was after the invasion of Kuwait, but before the major build up of US forces had started. I think most of us expected these aircraft to continue on down to the sand pit during/after the deployment. But no, they went home to the USA on 27th Aug. Also strange was that most TAC deployments lasted 4 weeks, but this one only lasted 3. 23TFW had 'hosted' the F-117's after the Panama raids in June 1990 - the first known operating of the type outside Nevada.
http://www.f-117a.com/Englandafb90.html
As it happens I was driving up to a wedding in Scotland (Thurso) on Aug 3rd, via Leeming, Lossie and Kinloss as you do, obviously
. Memory is it was scorchio in England, but started to rain as I approached Hadrians wall. I don't think I went to Leuchars (too far out of the way), and I don't remember seeing any Harriers at Lossie or Kinloss. Anyway, Somewhere close to Edinburgh the radio bust into life as the two cells of A-10's and their tankers passed overhead - in the cloud. I can't remember if we knew they were coming at the time or not - I think we did but since I had to be in John-O-Groats the next day not much I could do to be there.
So if I were into conspiracy theories, I could construct a scenario whereby a normal Coronet deployment was used to disguise the dragging of one or two extra 'friends' across the Atlantic who might drop out of the formation over Scotland and go to an out of the way location where they wouldn't be seen. Now normally A-10's fly slow and low, so you wouldn't try to sneak a fast/high flying thing in like that, but since we don't know what the UFO was we don't know its flight characteristics.
Do I believe any of that? Nope. But if I were writing a spy thriller it's a bit more convincing than most other scenarios. Hang on there is a black van outside with men in dark sun glasses getting out....
Malcolm,
Some really interesting points in your post. Harriers involved in any kind of search for UFOs just doesn't make sense. If it WAS a true QRA then that would have fallen to the Phantoms at Leuchars or Lossie (can't recall what was where back then), especially since to the best of my knowledge there have NEVER been any kind of Harriers based in Scotland? That's not to say there may not have been a deployment, btu even that doesn't explain the Harrier being there?
Very interesting point about Coronet Gun, which apparently followed Coronet Lariat at Sculthorpe by just a week. Of course it's possible that as it would have been pre-planned months in advance, they decided to go ahead with it anyway despite the build-up futher East? Or maybe it was decided that they could always redeploy to the sandpit if required. Or possibly something else entirely!
As regards other comments, especially about Machrihanish, I think it has long been conected with "Black Jet" lore, rightly or wrongly. The perception is that it is a barren, remote outpost unseen by anybody, whereas in reality that's not the case at all. Sure, it's a little off the beaten track, but not THAT much (as the crow flies it's only about 60 miles from Glasgow, although the drive is more than double that!), and it has Campbeltown right at the Eastern end of the runway, which has a population of several thousand people.
If the "Aurora" (as it was called back then, before we found out that name related to early B-2 funding), or any other hypersonic black jet was operating from there, plenty of people locally would have known about it. I was lucky enough to see the SR-71 fly before it was retired, and when that sort of jet blasts off in full afterburner, there is literally nothing that can decribe the noise!
"Secret" bases invite conspiracy theories, most of which are nonsense. Here's another one, which I recall "Aircraft Illustrated" misguidedly picked up and ran with back in the day...
https://www.dreamlandresort.com/trip_re ... p_020.html