Late
last week, a curious alert appeared in the Federal Aviation Administration's
database of Notices to Airman, or NOTAMs, which, among other things, alerts
aviators to chunks of airspace that are temporarily off-limits. The details
strongly point to the comings or goings of a high-flying aircraft between
either Area 51,
also known as Groom Lake, or the Tonopah Test Range
Airport, two of the U.S. military's most closely-guarded flight test
facilities, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest of San Francisco,
California.
The
NOTAM, which was first pointed out by users of the Dreamlandresort.com message board, was
issued on March 12, 2021, but was only active between 5:45 PM and 8:15 PM local
time the following day. This is a very odd time when military aviation training
and test activity is usually at a minimum. The notice outlined a path 20 nautical
miles wide and 426 miles long at an altitude between Flight Level 450 and
Flight Level 600, or 45,000 to 60,000 feet. The exact route, defined by a
series of named waypoints, can be plotted using tools available on the
website ForeFlight, as seen below.
FOREFLIGHT
A look at the entire route as defined in the NOTAM
If one starts in the west, the route
consists of a stretch 104 nautical miles long between the Pacific Ocean and the
waters southwest of San Francisco. The next leg runs 54 miles south to an area
just west of Monterey, California, before turning inland over a relatively
sparsely populated route across California and into western Nevada for the
remaining portions.
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The
flight path ends right at the edge of a parcel of restricted military airspace
in Nevada referred to as R-4807A, which is part of the U.S. Air Force's
sprawling Nevada Test and
Training Range. To the north of R-4807A is R-4809, where Tonopah Test Range
(TTR) and its associated airport lie.
To it south is R-4808N, inside which sits R-4808A, also known as
"The Box." That is the heavily restricted airspace
around Area 51.
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