Aurora budget line (1985)
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🗓️ Event
Contents 8
| Date | 1985 |
|---|---|
| Topics | Government programs (topic) |
| People | Ben Rich |
| Testimony | Shellenberger testimony, p. 99 |
| Year | 1985 in UFO history |
| Timeline | 1985 on the UAP Timeline |
| Sources | 6 |
In 1985 the name Aurora appeared in a U.S. budget document as a line item for "black aircraft production", with a request of about $2.3 billion for fiscal year 1987. Reported by the press, it set off decades of speculation about a secret hypersonic spy plane.[1]
The budget line
The Los Angeles Times and later Aviation Week reported the term, and Aviation Week suggested that "Project Aurora" referred to a group of exotic aircraft rather than a single design.[1]
The legend
Many aviation enthusiasts concluded that Aurora was a hypersonic successor to the SR-71 Blackbird, which the Air Force retired in 1990. Reported evidence included a sketch by engineer Chris Gibson of a delta-shaped aircraft he said he saw refuelling from a KC-135 over the North Sea in August 1989; sonic booms recorded by U.S. Geological Survey sensors in southern California from 1991, which one former NASA expert said suggested a vehicle at about 90,000 feet and Mach 4 to 5; and a "donuts on a rope" contrail photographed over Amarillo, Texas, in March 1992. Triangular aircraft reported in the late 1980s and 1990s were also linked to it.[1]
Official explanations
Ben Rich, former head of Lockheed's Skunk Works, wrote in his 1994 memoir that Aurora was a myth: a Pentagon colonel had assigned the name to funding for the B-2 bomber design competition, and it had leaked to the press. The U.S. government has consistently denied that such an aircraft was built, and in 1992 the British Defence Secretary was told the Ministry of Defence knew of no such "black" program. A crash reported at Boscombe Down in 1994, once linked to Aurora, has more recently been attributed to a towed decoy.[1][2]
Status
No Aurora aircraft has ever been confirmed. In 2017 a Skunk Works executive said hypersonic technology was mature and that work was under way to fly an aircraft using it. The testimony includes the budget line as an example of how secret budget lines fuel speculation about hidden programs.[1]
People and topics
- U.S. Air Force — The U.S. military service that ran the official UFO projects from 1947 to 1969.
- Ben Rich — Head of Lockheed's Skunk Works from 1975 to 1991.
- Lockheed Martin — The aerospace company whose Skunk Works built the U-2, SR-71 and F-117.
On the Timeline
- Richard Niemtzow's Toulouse remarks (1985) (6 July 1985) — A retired Air Force colonel tells Vallée there is a secret government UAP project.
- National Aero-Space Plane contracts (1986) (April 1986) — Defense contractors receive contracts to develop a hypersonic single-stage-to-orbit plane.
See every 1985 event on the UAP Timeline →
References
- Aurora (aircraft) — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- Ben Rich — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- 'Pentagon seeks billions for classified plane' — CIA reading room · cia.gov · archived copy
- Aurora — Aerospaceweb · aerospaceweb.org · archived copy
- Aurora (aircraft) — Wikipedia · Wikipedia.org · archived copy
- sandboxx.us · sandboxx.us · archived copy
Further reading
- Skunk Works — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
This page was last edited on 29 October 2026. Articles are written in our own words from the sources listed under References; disputed claims are attributed to the people who made them.
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