What appears to be an F-117 Nighthawk Stealth Jet was spotted yesterday on the road south of Creech AFB, Nevada.
The above composite image was obtained by merging two screenshots from a video filmed by Randy Williams and made available to The Aviationist by Brett Wyman who first posted them on a FB group focused on Nellis AFB.
The screenshots clearly show what seems to be a (real or mock?) F-117 Nighthawk stealth jet, hidden under protective cover, on a trailer spotted on Route 95 south of Creech Air Force Base.
Although where the aircraft was being transferred is unknown it’s probably safe to assume it was collected at Tonopah Test Range. Indeed, since 2014 we have documented the flights of some F-117 Nighthawk Stealth Jets over Nevada. Last year we published a video showing two F-117s flying in July 2016, filmed from the distant hills east of Tonopah Test Range.
Back in 2014, once a few videos and photographs had already appeared online, the U.S. Air Force affirmed that the Black Jet was kept in a “Type 1000” storage at TTR which meant that the type is to be maintained until called into active service.
Desert conditions of Nevada are perfect for maintaining the stealth jets in pristine conditions (due to the low level of humidity and hence, lower probability of corrosion).
Therefore the U.S. considered the F-117 somehow useful in a current scenario so much so, they continued to fly some of the preserved jets, every now and then, in plain sight, to keep the pilots current and the aircraft airworthy and ready.
However, the 2017 defense budget retired the fleet permanently. In fact, “in accordance with the National Defense Authorization Act of 2017, passed Dec. 23, the Air Force will remove four F-117s every year to fully divest them — a process known as demilitarizing aircraft,” wrote Oriana Pawlyk recently.
According to Pawlyk, one F-117 was scheduled to be divested this year and approximately four every year thereafter.
The one spotted yesterday may have been that one, heading for the boneyard, a museum or something else. Anyway, if you know something more, let us know in the comments section or by sending us an email.
Update Nov. 15, 07:00 UTC
The Aviationist’s writer Tom Demerly and his girlfriend Jan happened to be in Nevada for Aviation Nation. He saw the F-117 under tarp as well. Here’s his recollection of the “sighting”:
We were east bound going back toward Las Vegas from the Nevada/California border after shooting photos all day at the Jedi Transition.
Both of us were tired having gotten up at 3:00 AM that morning to drive to the Jedi Transition/Star Wars Canyon near Death Valley. It gets dark early there. There is only one road in that area, and we did have a little difficulty locating that road, US-95, on the way back to the junction in Beatty leaving Death Valley, California and going back into Nevada.
Once we got on the road headed west there was no traffic. The road is sparsely travelled even during the day. It is absolutely black out there at night. Zero lights, zero power lines. Nothing, just the road. Earlier we had seen herds of donkeys, huge desert hare, fox and jackals along the road.
We stopped briefly to photograph the donkeys in the dark, pulling off the road to illuminate them with our headlights. I saw the truck with the covered load coming towards us once we got on US-95. It appeared to have at least one, maybe two vehicles following it and extra forward-facing lights.
The lights were incredibly bright, facing outward from the load, making it difficult to see what was on the trailer as we passed each other going in opposite directions. It would have been impossible to grab a quick photo because of those lights.They were not moving excessively fast, but we were headed the opposite way, so we only saw it briefly. I recall, immediately after we passed it, trying to figure out what was under the tarp.
We decided it may be an aircraft being moved somewhere for static display or some type of radar test model- or something more banal like a piece of a big sign or construction equipment, but that idea seemed odd, especially after dark on those remote roads. It wasn’t easy driving. We could not see the angle of the forward portion of the load, which would have given it away, because of the bright lights. We only briefly saw the back two-thirds of the tarp.
The back portion of the load protruded off the back of the trailer. That was the tail of the aircraft under the tarp. In retrospect, seeing these photos, it actually becomes pretty clear. As soon as my girlfriend and I saw these photos we were amazed. It actually was an F-117.
Much earlier that day, before sunrise on the way to Death Valley, we stopped briefly at a gas station directly across from Creech AFB. There are no gas stations between Creech and Beatty, so you want to tank-up before you get on that section of road. I noticed a man with a beard in his late 20s, early 30s, park a nice-looking pick-up truck at the edge of the gas station parking lot, then get in a large shuttle van with darkly tinted windows, like an airport shuttle van. He was carrying a large lunchbox. I thought he was a civilian contractor being shuttled onto Creech AFB for some type of civilian support role.
But when the shuttle van (with “Y” license plate) left the gas station parking lot going west it continued for quite some time. There is nothing out there. The shuttle made one other stop and we passed it. We could see it behind us for a while, then it disappeared. I supposed, based on the age and appearance of the man who got on the shuttle, and the fact that he noticed I noticed him, that he was working on something potentially interesting.
Thanks a lot to Brett Wyman for allowing us to use the screenshots!
Wow. Driving it down in broad daylight is pretty interesting. You’d think they’d wait until night time to do this.
We saw it moving in the dark. I think these photos were from when it was parked before it began the trip.
Thanks for the update.
Doesn’t seem the best way to transport a top-secret (still) national security asset. The only museum I would expect to see this important aircraft displayed in is the Smithsonian. And I’d expect it to be flown to Washington DC via C-5, and any ground transport done while accompanied by an armed military escort. Was that part of the screenshot (an escort) left out? What in the hell is going on here???
They’re not particularly secret. After all, the one that was shot down in Serbia was extensively shown off, so practically any possible enemy already knows any of it’s secrets.
Also, it’s not even a front line aircraft any more, it’s officially retired and probably only used for testing radar or newer stealth tech. The B-2, the F-22 are both more stealthy, and more secret, and presumably there’s some other black aircraft (or UAV) that fill’s the F-117’s old role.
Pretty much the only thing that might still be a secret, would be the composition of it’s stealth coating, and that has almost certainly been improved over the years.
My guess is they’re transporting it to a museum (there’s already four on show in the US, and of course there’s one in Serbia in bits) and the black plastic wrapping is just weather proofing.
its a decoy…very interesting photos, but…the ”aircraft” under the tarp is: a phoney, to turn attention elsewhere.
Quite the capable aircraft, who knew it could go low and slow and under wraps no less.
It’s museum bound.
Thats my guess too…
While China and Russia take their first forays into LO aircraft, we’re putting ours in a museum.
There’s four already in museums in the US, and one in bits in a museum in Serbia.
That’s what I thought. If she was operational, she would be flying and not to being transported by truck.