Yet, months would pass between sighting reports. Among some believers, the suspicion grew that all was not well with the Aurora project.
After claiming that secrecy "has often been a cover" to hide problems, one journalist suggested Aurora had performance shortcomings, such as range, had suffered cost overruns, or had been designed for an obsolete nuclear war fighting mission.[794]
John Pike of the Federation of American Scientists said in December 1993, "My current theory is that they spent $10 billion to $15 billion on a very fast, very high-flying airplane." Only "one or two prototypes" of the Aurora were built, however. Plans to build several dozen production Auroras were abandoned by the NRO in 1989—90. Pike continued, "The main secret they have on the Aurora is not that it exists, but that they spent $15 billion and don't have anything to show for it."[795]
Aurora was depicted as yet another Black project that had ended in an expensive failure. Even as Aurora faded away, attacks on Black projects became more strident. The editor in chief of Popular Science wrote in the March 1994 issue that the $14.3 billion Black budget was "beyond the scru-tiny of even the most powerful congressional oversight."[796] The same issue quoted "a congressional source," described as having "the highest level of security clearance," as believing that "a mysterious technology development effort" had been under way for several years at Groom Lake. He added, "This is not a part of the official program of the U.S. government. I think this is some sort of intelligence operation, or there could be foreign money involved… It's expensive, and is immune to the oversight process. This defrauds the American government and people. You go to jail for that."[797]
The believers in Aurora express confidence the cover-up will end. "Sooner or later," one said, the "story will come out." He concluded, "Nothing thrives in the dark, except ghosts, mushrooms, and bad decisions."[798]
This is the story of Aurora, as told by some of the foremost magazines, newspapers, public interest groups, and aerospace writers. Reading through the inch-thick stack of material, one might think the case for Aurora was proven beyond a reasonable doubt — that the United States had, in fact, built a remarkable aircraft, unlike any the world has ever seen, then systematically lied about it. So one might think.
But perhaps the reader can think of another case where sightings were also made by "reliable witnesses" of remarkable vehicles, capable of speeds and maneuvers beyond those of conventional aircraft. These include 1,700-mph speeds, at a time when manned supersonic flight had not yet been achieved, and right-angle turns. These objects also showed a wide range of shapes and sizes. In that earlier case, the air force also denied the sightings were valid, saying they were of conventional objects that had been misin-terpreted. In that earlier case, the believers also accused the air force of lying, slandering witnesses, and covering up. Much time was spent examin-ing official statements for any inconsistencies. When a university study supported the air force position, it was also accused of being part of the cover-up — the air force cover-up of unidentified flying objects.
Although many people have said that they have seen or heard Aurora in flight, there is only one person who has publicly claimed to have seen Aurora close up on the ground. This person is named Robert S. Lazar. On May 1, 1993, Lazar said about Aurora:
The Aurora I did see once on the way out there, and the only reason I say it's Aurora is, I was told by Dennis in the bus. And it makes an unbelievably loud sound, and I think when I heard it I said, it sounds like the sky is tearing. From what I understand, it operates on a liquid methane powered engine. A lot of this information has gotten out in Aviation Week and Popular Science. If this in fact was Aurora, it was certainly a strange aircraft. It looks like, if you know what the old X-15 looked like — a very long slender craft with short wings on it — and a square exhaust that had little vanes in it… it's quite large. It's a really overgrown thing.[799]
Robert Lazar also claims to have seen nine captured alien flying saucers.[800]
This is not an exception — the whole Aurora story has been pushed by a tight circle of Black airplane buffs, aerospace writers, and believers in various far-out UFO-conspiracy theories.[801] One person stated, "The Aurora tales came straight out of UFO groups, and a lot of [the published] material… does too."[802] Some of those involved in spreading the "AUFOrora" stories are known to believe that the air force has "reverse engineered" the captured UFOs in order to build Aurora.[803] They also believe that the air force has perfected optical invisibility (a Romulan cloaking device), antigravity, and time dilation.
The original 1990 articles, including the "flattened diamond" Aurora, were based on the stories of an individual with no connection to the aerospace industry, but who claims that he was hired to design several disk-shaped, antigravity-powered flying saucers for a shadowy military-industrial group. He claims that he was once taken out to a test site to see the diamond-shaped Aurora. He said it had steel wheels, like a Bonneville salt flats racer, because rubber tires could not withstand the very fast takeoff speeds it required. He also stated that a smell of burned carbon comes from the aircraft. This individual also claims to have found the cure for cancer.[804]
The April 20, 1992, NBC Nightly News story on Aurora had, as one of its sources, John Lear.[805] He also took the 1978 photo at Groom Lake which showed a MiG 21. John Lear is the son of Learjet designer William Lear.
He has also flown some 160 different aircraft and holds seventeen speed records set in the Learjet. John Lear also believed that in 1972-74, a huge underground base was built at Groom Lake. This was part of a secret treaty between the U.S. government and alien beings: in exchange for advanced alien technology, the U.S. government would allow the aliens to operate freely on the earth. Lear also believes that the aliens' digestive system has atrophied and does not function. To survive, the aliens take organs from humans and cattle, mix them with hydrogen peroxide, then spread the mixture on their bodies. He also stated, "It became obvious that some, not all, but some of the nation's missing children had been used for secretions and other parts required by the aliens."[806]
The "light-in-the-sky" shown in the NBC report did not demonstrate remarkable maneuverability "like a flying saucer," as the report put it. It just seemed to hang in the night sky. It was the landing light of one of the 737s used to bring workers to Groom Lake each morning. It arrives at 4:45 A.M. every weekday. The UFO believers call it "Old Faithful" and consider it a captured flying saucer, flown by a human pilot.
The XB-70 Aurora sightings also have problems. The landing at the Helendale Airport is impossible for so large an aircraft. An airport directory lists it as having two runways, one 3,800 feet long, while the other is 5,300 feet long. Both of them are dirt runways. These runways are too short and, being dirt, would not be able to support so large an aircraft. The field also has no lights, tower, navigation aids, or instrument landing systems. The only fuel is Shell 80, 100LL, and Autogas. Liquid methane is not listed.[807]
795
Shawn Pogatchnik, "Magazine says U.S. is flying new spy plane,"
797
Stuart F. Brown, "Searching for the Secrets of Groom Lake,"
799
800
Bill Hamilton, "Aliens in Dreamland,"
802
Computer Message, Subject: AUFOrora, From: JoelC23358, America Online, 93-09-11, 17:13:21 EDT.
803
Private source; and Computer Message, Subject: UFOs at Groom, From: Stealth C, America Online, 93-08-13, 23:08:22 EDT. The complete message reads: "Some UFOlogists theorize that the debris from an alien spacecraft that crashed near Roswell, New Mexico, in 1947 is what they are working on at Area 51 (Unit S-4). Supposedly the USAF (in 1947 the AAF) recovered the debris and the bodies of aliens near Corona, New Mexico, in July 1947. It is possible that the USAF are trying to 'reverse engineer' the Roswell spacecraft and what people are seeing are examples of man-made copies of alien craft. However it is also possible what they are seeing is conventional (unconventional looking) secret stealth prototype aircrafts of earthly origin. Any comments?"
804
Private source. The author had received copies of this person's saucer designs long before they were published.
807