27 ms·
Fwiw, the skies over Arizona were loaded with contrails today. Very unusual to see this kind of volume. All of the aircraft appeared to be heading due west in
by johnohara 6y ago
Fwiw, the skies over Arizona were loaded with contrails today. Very unusual to see this kind of volume.
All of the aircraft appeared to be heading due west in the direction of Las Vegas (Nellis AFB) and southern Cal.
The last time I witnessed this degree of activity was in early 2020, one day after the drone strike on Iranian General Soleimani. The whole sky was a crisscross mesh of expanding vapor.
In these circumstances you can easily tell the difference between commercial and military aircraft simply by their speed. Military aircraft haul ass at all altitudes, without exception.
Ironic to me that this story appeared on HN today given what I've mentioned. I'm not surprised AA reported a UFO encounter two days ago either. Southwest US skies seem to have become very busy.
- panarky 6y agoWhy would Arizona skies be a crisscross mesh of expanding vapor because a drone in Baghdad assassinated someone?
- johnohara 6y agoI interpreted it as training flights for readiness preparation. Plus, drones sorties were (are?) flown remotely out of Nellis. It is not uncommon to be driving between Las Vegas and Phoenix and have jets from Luke AFB flying training missions overhead at low altitude. A lot of helicopter training is done out here as well.
- reaperducer 6y agoI saw all that, too (I even took a picture of it and make a joke about living on a missile range), and I think you're reading too much into this. Those contrails do not indicate more aircraft. They indicate favorable conditions for the formation of contrails. And I wouldn't call it "very" unusual. It happens about every month or so, and more often at this time of year.
- johnohara 6y agoOne contrail in particular took a sharp turn from the southeast and headed directly for Vegas. Its shape is what made me look up to discover everything else going on. It has been very windy for many months, along with drought conditions, so the skies here have been clear. No monsoon to speak of either. I found it unusual given what seems to be the new "normal" of clear skies the past couple of years.
- reaperducer 6y agoYeah, the monsoon failure was a disappointment this year. But it happens. I check the humidity every day, and it's been elevated on and off for the last few weeks. But that's here at the surface. What happens at the level that jets fly is entirely different weather.
- nradov 6y agoMost military aircraft don't fly any faster than civilian airliners. In fact many of them are slower. Fighters can reach supersonic speeds in some circumstances but seldom do so outside of controlled exercise areas. You can't reliability differentiate between civilian and military aircraft just by watching contrails from the ground.
- koheripbal 6y agoMissiles, on the other hand...