It’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s a…UFO?
Cowley County, Kansas - Residents are still talking about a mystery craft, seen being towed down US 77 on Monday.
Sitting inside Lindly's Appliance Store, Kammi Root is used to seeing large machinery towed down US 77. But what she saw Monday afternoon is something she won't soon forget.
“There was this funny sphere that went through on this big trailer and my first thought was, 'That looks like a UFO,’” said Root.
A huge 32 foot craft, wrapped in tarp, was as mysterious as the transport company who called Sheriff Don Read for help.
“They told us that it was an aircraft and that they had explored other ways to transport it but this was the best way for them to do it and they asked us not to say a whole lot about it,” said Read.
After all, the massive load's shape would certainly draw enough attention on its own.
“People were calling in saying, 'Oh they think they found a flying saucer. It looks like a flying saucer to us and we don't know for sure what it is,’” said Donetta Godsey with the Winfield Daily Courier.
For nearly an hour, officers helped maneuver the craft through Cowley County
”The biggest thing that we had to deal with was down at the roundabout we had to remove a bunch of signs and markers because the load was so long it couldn't make the corner,” said Read.
Meanwhile, onlookers struggled to wipe the shock from their faces and the questions from their minds.
”What was that funny thing that was on that trailer that looked like something from somewhere else?” said Root.
So what in the world was it? Undersheriff Bill Mueller says it was an experimental aircraft from Northrop Grumman, possibly a new unmanned drone. It still has a ways to go. Its final destination is Maryland
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Unusual Aircraft Sightings In Kansas Monday
There were lots of UFO sightings in Kansas today. It turns out, it's a very expensive piece of military equipment headed to Pax River, Maryland.
It was the talk of the town in Winfield and Augusta Monday, as the very unusual looking aircraft made its way across the country.
"It pretty much took up all four lanes," explained Kevin McClung, who owns KPM Computers on Main Street in Winfield. "What I heard, it was about 32 feet wide."
What 'it' is - is an unmanned drone aircraft built by Northrop Grumman in Palmdale, California. Here is what the finished product looks like.
A Northrop Grumman spokesperson tells us that the aircraft, in fact, is not a UFO. It's a plane that will eventually be able to provide surveillance of military targets and possibly even unmanned air strikes.
"This is really the first time a tail-less, unmanned airplane will be taking off and landing from an aircraft carrier," said Spokesperson Cyndi Wegerbauer. "This is a strike size, low-observable airplane. It's pretty unusual, pretty powerful. It will change naval aviation."
For those who saw it passing through Winfield and Augusta Monday, it caught them by surprise. McClung began snapping pictures as fast as he could.
"I stood right here and just snapped pictures. There was no time to do anything else. We just waved at the UFO driving by," he joked.
"It really did look like a UFO," said Ashley McCoskey. "It was circular and oblong like an actual UFO. It was standing on a trailer and just being pulled by a semi. It was all covered by a tarp, though."
"You can attribute it to some of its sisters like the B-2," Wegerbauer said. "It has a similar shape. That kite shape where it's without the tail. It's good for flying in difficult and turbulent air, especially out at sea."
The X47-B's final destination will be Pax River, Maryland, but we don't know exactly which aircraft carrier it'll be going to.
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