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Secret military aircraft possibly exposed on TikTok

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An OPSEC violation has once again made a case for why using TikTok should be a punishable offense in the military, this time after someone revealed some US stealth technology testing going on and posted it to the Chinese government-affiliated platform. (warisboring.com) עוד...

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ADXbear
ADXbear 56
I tell ya.. I've worked in many TS facilities in Palmdale/ Edwards.. cell phone should be banned from all.. issue a non recordable cell phone each day to employees at the entrance guard shaking exchange for your phone.. anyone caught with a regular cell phone inside a restricted area is gone.. any materials found on phone would determine possible federal charges..

Release of these photos and videos can be devastating to our country's protection..
MurrayBeard
Murray Beard 14
My son did an internship at the unclassified portion of Y-12 when he was working on his MS in nuclear engineering. Possession of any type of recoding device or camera on premises was an immediate termination offense, along with confiscation of the device.
user3956
user3956 9
My dad just recently retired from a defense contractor. Absolutely no phones were allowed past the employee locker area or whatever it was called. You basically knew if you tried to call before he was off of his shift or at his lunch time, you could not get through to him. I thought this was SOP for every facility where it made sense?
ghstark
Greg S 26
I don't think people appreciate how much expense and effort is undertaken to prevent secret visuals from getting out. If something is openly displayed on a flatbed trailer, even in the middle of the most heavily guarded facilities, it's *NOT* a secret. Have you ever heard of photo-reconnoissance satellites?

This story is ridiculous.
wfahey415
William Fahey 6
azaxman
Dan Alexander 41
If this component was so "top secret" then why is it being transported in the open and not tarped, covered or in a container? This is a nothing burger story. JMHO
Cleffer
Cleffer 6
Since the picture was taken at the Helendale Radar Cross Section Facility, don't you think the possibility exists that it could have been covered prior to transportation off base? Maybe it just had not been done yet.
ghstark
Greg S 20
If the visual of the component is secret then it can never be uncovered in an open area or an area that can viewed optically. Even windows are properly screened or covered.
georgewilhelmsen
George Wilhelmsen 3
It's at a radar testing facility, where the device is mounted on a pedestal, and subjected to radar from various sources. It's how we test our systems / aircraft for their radar signature. If you can see it on radar, you can shoot it, so we work to make the radar signature as small as possible. Note: This is public domain information, found on TV. Nothing secret being discussed here.

Once you get there, the cover has to come off (since it could affect the signature) and the device is lifted and mounted on the pedestal for testing.
Lizzard
Eddie Moran 3
In daylight? Come on. I’m sure some electrons have night jobs.
georgewilhelmsen
George Wilhelmsen 2
When you are lifting an expensive and heavy component to place and bolt it high on a pedestal, it’s generally done in daylight conditions for safety.

Plus, they expect people to follow the rules - no photography.
lynx318
lynx318 1
Wouldn't that be photons for daylight?

[This comment has been downvoted. Show anyway.]

lynx318
lynx318 1
Lin-Butt-Blaster strikes again.
KicksOnRoute66
Roger Anderson -3
*Yawn* - don't you get tired talking through your behind all day?
djames225
djames225 1
Calling an "a**" a "behind" was very polite, Rogre, , but I think even their "a**" could talk better than they do.
a1brainiac
a1brainiac 10
The Internet and cell phones....were the beginning of the end of human society
EMK69
EMK69 9
I'm assuming the individual who wrote the article is not familiar with the Military and our UCMJ. There are numerous articles in the UCMJ that an individual who violated OPSEC can be charged with. IF in fact this is considered TS the military will handle it. I'm sure the Command investigation that follows will determine what, and if, any violations occurred.
yatesd
yatesd 4
If they are military at all. Could be a civilian or contractor. Espionage act applies then.
georgewilhelmsen
George Wilhelmsen 4
This is maddening.

I know someone who works on TS materials. He has to check in his cel phone when he arrives at work, and can pick it up when he leaves.

Why isn't this consistent?
skylab72
skylab72 0
It is consistent! There is nothing classified in those pictures. Take a braeth.
Mike101361
Lloyd Sharp 3
This should be investigated, and if a breech of security happened--
The guilty party (or parties) are hauled off to prison.
merletanner
Merle Tanner 3
The person or persons involved in this incident should be prosecuted.
GreggB57
Gregg Bender 7
Seems to me that whoever took this video should be prosecuted. They should have known better, whether they had a clearance or not.
For the record, I had a Top Secret clearance at one time.
csosdny
Thomas King 7
Yeah, like they’re going to tote around a super secret aircraft on a flatbed truck for the world to see without even a 100 dollar tarp over it. Unless they wanted it to be seen?
n7777r
Derek Vaughn 2
It's a movie prop....nothing to see here..
jbreedon
Jonathan Breedon 2
It’s a canopy for a new pavilion! Nothing to see here… move along now! Lol
ko25701
ko25701 2
If they moved something Top Secret in the daytime with non credentialed people nearby, it's on the brass who decided to move it. Of course anyone who photograph it if it drove by on a trailer. The photographer was probably a contract labor guy with nothing to lose.
PhthaloType
Matt Hernandez 2
"An OPSEC violation has once again made a case for why using TikTok should be a punishable offense in the military"

OPSEC has a specific meaning of safeguarding current or upcoming military operations. Too often people use it as a catch-all phrase when talking about securing anything. By definition it only pertains to unclassified information, as national security information is a whole different beast.

We don't know that this is a "secret military aircraft." Like others have posted, the fact that someone took a picture and posted it is more reason to believe it's not. And that person is most likely not military anyway, since this was at a Lockheed testing facility and not a military installation.

This article sounds like it was written by one of these brand-new, super gung-ho Airmen to whom I have to explain that not everything is a state secret. And that whole "using TikTok should be a punishable offense" line... Get real.
s0uthsider
Thomas Agrednerp 2
Swamp gas and birds and weather balloons. Move along.
thecohorts
Matt LaMay 2
Looking at the photo and the surroundings, it is a safe bet that the video was shot by a contractor that was working on the construction project that is in the foreground. I would assume that the article in question was not too secret, or else those contractors would be nowhere near it. Especially with any type of device that can record!
melvynjamieson
melvyn jamieson 2
Treason.
Mel.j.
njc
Nick Cannata 2
Looks like swamp gas to me!
eliotshulman
Eliot F Shulman 3
What a total shock! Anyone remember Trump outlawing tik tok from USA!
The communists need full access to everything……so now they have it….courtesy of the Bidenistas and Joe-Bama.
Congrats to us on our resourceful management of our government.

Expect much more of the same….we asked for it…
df1sp
HP Baumeister -2
OMG - another one of these blind disciples…
First: this photo was meant to get out. Any platform would have done the job. I have never used TikTok, nor will I, but they did not take the picture!
Second: a US court rejected tRumps stupidity. But you probably don’t like (or respect) US courts if they disagree with your „leader“. Just like your hero.
Third: there is so much „stuff“ in this article that does not make any sense, I strongly suggest to leave this matter to the pros!
ed7778
Dennis Stockton 1
When the Obama Regime came to power, U.S. courts became Roland-Freisler courts.
daveheins
david heins 1
Maybe the Russians could hack TickTock out of existence and we would all be better off
Yazoo
Yazoo 1
Sometimes top secret things are out in the open. What make it top secret is knowing that it's a secret. Remember "Hunt For Red October"? There was a lot of classified material in that book all obtained via unclassified sources. (ie Janes, Aviation Week, etc)
augerin
Dave Mathes 1
....ok, let's set the record straight...this is nothing more than a large, mis-shapened paper plate on a not really so big trailer...
Geldridge
Gary Eldridge 1
Looks like something set up to be LEAKED out. Possibly fake but intended to be leaked to scare somebody.
paulandrewwolff
Paul Wolff 1
I remember in the late 70's, a friend that buys a lot of surplus stuff got this wooden crate, we opened in and it had a nickel cast of a plane body and a wing for a wind tunnel. Turns out, it was an SR71...
skylab72
skylab72 1
pthompso99
Paula Thompson 1
I also worked as an unclassfied intern, at Y12, from 9167-1972. I did not know that picture taking was wrong. I took a picture of my adviser, and I learned fast. I was not punished.
kevincousins1
Kevin Cousins 1
Way things are going anything could help
Buck33
John Buckley 1
ADXbear has a great fix ~ Palmdale/Edwards should heed the advice. No excuses!
lynx318
lynx318 1
It's a mocked up component, not a whole craft for radar testing. This is like comparing a shadow puppet of a torso to the next master Jedi full reveal in Star Wars movies.
brianrush
Brian Rushfeldt 1
i believe it is a flying saucer from outer limits captured and being studied.
bidrec
Richard Haas 1
When I was in the military I was stationed in Southern Spain. There was a packaged pastry that included an aviation "trading card". It was sold off base. One of the airplanes in the set was an SR-71 Blackbird. This was in 1977.
eLaReF
eLaReF 10
The SR-71 had appeared at the 1974 Farnborough Air Show, so wasn't exactly a secret by 1977
https://www.flickr.com/photos/elaref/48699069487/in/album-72157671391537745/
A6SEA
Bill Butler 2
I was there. Got a couple photos of that wonder of the upper atmosphere. 1983 was receiving photos from an SR-71 on USS Dwight D Eisenhower of the attack at Beirut. What a machine!
crchall
Chuck Chall 6
I used to watch the SR 71 fly out of Kadena, Okinawa in 1970. The end of the runway went right by the main road to Naha. Anybody could have taken all the pictures they wanted.
ko25701
ko25701 2
By 1970, the SR71 was well known by everyone. Early 60s was kept under wraps.
tharin4prez
Tee Thomas -1
So FlightAware acknowledges this could be an OPSEC violation, yet instead of just telling the story behind the possible breach they're instead perpetuating the possible breach by posting pic & links to other internet posts of the possible breach.
Umm, nothing wrong with that ... right?
quinn01
quinn01 2
No, there’s nothing at all wrong with that. The cat’s already out of the bag, so to speak. Any nefarious state actors already have what they want, they’re not going to be casually browsing FlightAware and suddenly find a link to *another* site that they weren’t aware of.
ajwebb0404
ajwebb0404 -8
If the US is so concerned about their "secret military technology", why did they abandon some of their weapons and AIRCRAFT in Afghanistan? Afghanistan is literally "The Communists" next door neighbor. I wouldn't be surprised if one day we read in the headlines that the USAF F-35 got shot down by an ENEMY F-35.
paulandrewwolff
Paul Wolff 1
They have no parts or maintenance people to keep them up. Most of the stealthy stuff is relayed back and fourth to a base or flying control center. They can fly fast, but that's about it.
tomasz2013
tomasz dabrowski -1
We did NOT abandon any of our equipment.
What was left was what we bought for the Afghan military. And we didnt leave that as much as the Afghan armed forces abandoned them.
They flew out maybe half their helicopters and planes.
I thought the first part of your comment was ridiculous, but the second comment on the F-35 is BEYOND ridiculous.

[This comment has been downvoted. Show anyway.]

lynx318
lynx318 2
Stop trying to politicise things. That's just trolling.
21voyageur
21voyageur 4
And your theory behind that brilliant statement is ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
jeliop
John Eliopoulos -1
Death by hanging.

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