The SR-91 Aurora, a name that has always elicited intrigue and rumor, is purported by many to be a highly classified American hypersonic reconnaissance aircraft with specified abilities at velocities over Mach 5. The project said to have been initiated in the 1980s or 1990s as the potential successor to the SR-71 Blackbird, has been full of mystery right from its inception, with no credible proof for its existence.
A May 2006 British Ministry of Defence report hinted at USAF plans to develop a Mach 4-6 supersonic vehicle; however, no concrete evidence has emerged. Some have speculated that the Aurora program was ultimately scrapped in favor of much stealthier unmanned aerial vehicles and reconnaissance satellites, which offer similar capability with much less risk involved.
The question remains: Has the US Air Force been hiding a hypersonic, Mach 6-capable aircraft? A growing body of evidence suggests that the answer could be in the affirmative. One of the most intriguing pieces of evidence is the sighting by oil exploration engineer Chris Gibson of a triangular aircraft over the North Sea in August 1989. Then there’s the series of “skyquakes” heard over Los Angeles since early 1990, usually traced back to the secretive Groom Lake (Area 51) installation in Nevada.
The name “Aurora” was revealed in an apparent slip by a censor in the 1985 Pentagon budget request, where it was listed below the SR-71 Blackbird and U-2. Whether this was genuinely the name for the project is not known, as this would probably have been changed after such a disclosure.
Additional evidence for the existence of the SR-91 Aurora comes in the form of the effortless retirement of the SR-71 Blackbird. On March 6, 1990, an SR-71 smashed the official airspeed record from Los Angeles to Washington’s Dulles Airport, marking the end of its operational career. Officially, the SR-71 was retired to save costs, but the lack of opposition from the USAF and the discouragement of congressional attempts to revive the program reeked of something more. Aurora could be the missing link explaining the silent closure of the SR-71 program.
Such a radical aircraft is ultra-expensive to test and logistically nightmarish. It requires, for one thing, a secret test site. The probable test site of Aurora is Groom Dry Lake in Nevada. The base has a six-mile-long runway necessary for an aircraft with an extremely high minimum flying speed, typical of a hypersonic craft.
The likely prime contractor for the SR-91 Aurora is the Lockheed Skunk Works, now the Lockheed Advanced Development Company. Financial analysts in the 1980s commented on Lockheed’s work on several large classified projects, though they were unable to identify enough to account for the company’s revenue. Skunk Works holds a remarkable record for running high-risk programs under unparalleled secrecy and for delivering on its promise with even the most challenging projects.
In 2006, aviation writer Bill Sweetman concluded that “20 years of examining budget ‘holes,’ unexplained sonic booms, and the Gibson sighting help establish the program’s initial existence.” Sweetman’s investigations found a $9-billion black hole in the Air Force operations budget, indicating some continuing activity connected with a project such as Aurora.
Further evidence includes reports of “sky quakes” over Los Angeles and hints from major defense contractors, like Lockheed Martin, about new aircraft that travel faster than the SR-71. This March, the unveiling of what is called the “Darkstar” has again spawned rumors of an operational Aurora.
A new book by Peter Merlin, “Dreamland: The Secret History of Area 51,” documents a host of military aircraft and guided missiles tested at Area 51 and other bases. In it, Merlin details the multidecade search for a stealthy successor to the U-2 and SR-71, including never-before-published specifics on the Advanced Airborne Reconnaissance System and Northrop Grumman’s RQ-180 unmanned flying wing.
It is in this context that Merlin’s documentation, through documents, statements by military officers, and resumes of test pilots, provides a comprehensive view of the aircraft tested at Area 51 since the 1970s. While some, including Ben Rich and Colonel Adelbert “Buz” Carpenter, indicate that “Aurora” was a codename for B-2 procurement funding, evidence of hypersonic air-breathing technology development during the 1980s and 1990s has kept the mystery alive.
The legendary SR-91 Aurora embodies the very epitome of secretive advances in military aviation. Whatever the case may be, whether Aurora existed or not, its legend testifies to how humankind has relentlessly striven for the advancement of technologies in reconnaissance and surveillance.