Thermal Image Near Area 51 Shows Unidentified Aircraft With Possible Links to F-47 Program
A thermal video recorded near Groom Lake captured an unidentified aircraft with a double-arrowhead forward fuselage. The footage has drawn comparisons to a 1983 stealth fighter concept known as the DP-21.
news.google.comA thermal video posted by the Project Fear YouTube channel shows an unidentified aircraft flying near the Groom Lake test facility. The image quality is limited by consumer-grade thermal equipment, but the forward fuselage displays a distinct double-arrowhead profile.
The aircraft appears in footage released this week. Observers have noted similarities between the visible shape and a 1983 design called the DP-21, also known as the Christmas Tree fighter.
Cummings created the DP-21 while serving as Chief Configurator for Northrop’s Advanced Tactical Fighter program. The concept used four highly swept surfaces to achieve a four-spike radar signature similar to the B-2 bomber. Cummings stated that the aircraft was unstable beyond 10 degrees angle of attack at the time of its design.
He added that modern flight control systems could manage stability at higher angles.
Cummings said the DP-21 image has been public for years and could have influenced later designs, though he described any link as speculation. He also noted that Boeing’s X-36 and Bird of Prey demonstrators likely shaped elements of the F-47. The same thermal footage shows large canard foreplanes and lambda-type wings with camber and wingtip droop.
These features appear in some official renderings of the F-47. Cummings told The War Zone that a four-spike configuration for the F-47 would be technically impressive if achieved.
