"I was obviously pretty excited when I saw it," Anders Otteson told The War Zone after being shown a thermal clip he says shows an aircraft over Groom Lake.
Project Fear’s still image and the June teaser
On June 3 the Project Fear YouTube channel published a thermal still and promoted it as a teaser for a longer video "that will be released tomorrow," captioning the post, "A craft the public has never seen before." The War Zone reports that the still was presented as a nighttime capture of an aircraft flying over the Groom Lake facility, commonly known as Area 51. TWZ contacted the Air Force to establish the image’s veracity; the Air Force declined to comment.
Anders Otteson, Uncanny Expeditions, and the sensor claim
TWZ confirmed with Anders Otteson of the Uncanny Expeditions YouTube channel that Project Fear consulted him for advice on observation gear. Otteson said he recommended the InfiRay HCH50R thermal camera and that Project Fear used that model. He told TWZ he accompanied Project Fear for early filming and pointed them to known vantage points south of Rachel, Nevada, but that he was not present at the actual sighting. According to Otteson, the clip was captured roughly two months before he was shown it and was shared with him immediately afterward. He reiterated on r/area51 that, in his opinion, the footage is genuine.
Shape, thermal signature, and links to the F-47 and demonstrators
The thermal image, as described by TWZ, shows an exotic, double-arrowhead planform viewed from below: aft-set lambda-type wings with camber and wingtip droop, very large canard foreplanes, a broad nose, a tapered fuselage before the wing roots, and a sawtooth-type trailing edge. TWZ notes these features align superficially with public depictions of Boeing’s F-47 sixth-generation stealth fighter, which Boeing won as part of the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) competition. TWZ reports that the F-47 is in early production for the U.S. Air Force, that its first example is under construction in St. Louis, and that its first flight is expected in 2028.
Demonstrators, X-planes, and other possible origins
TWZ places the image in the broader context of demonstrator activity. DARPA and the Air Force previously confirmed two X-planes were built for the Aerospace Innovation Initiative and first flew in 2019 and 2022; Frank Kendall, when he was Secretary of the Air Force, spoke publicly about "X-planes" in the plural. TWZ notes that Boeing and Lockheed both built demonstrators and that as many as three NGAD demonstrators may have been completed, with Northrop Grumman having dropped out around 2023. TWZ also raises an alternative: the thermal signature could represent an uncrewed combat air vehicle (UCAV) or another classified test asset rather than a crewed F-47 production prototype, while saying the aircraft’s complexity makes a simple, unrelated drone less likely.
What this means for the U.S. Air Force, Boeing, and area observers
- U.S. Air Force: TWZ reports the service declined to comment on the image. Separately, the article notes demonstrators tied to NGAD have flown and that operational programs and classified test activity are ongoing at Groom Lake and elsewhere.
- Boeing: TWZ speculates that Boeing’s demonstrator may be conducting continued test work as the F-47 enters engineering and manufacturing development (EMD), and that demonstrator flights could be used for risk reduction while EMD continues.
- Area observers and videographers: TWZ documents a shrinking public window into Groom Lake, noting the Tikaboo Peak observation point has been closed off in a recent land grab by the USAF, and highlights that public insight into base activity is becoming harder even as online channels publish thermal and infrared footage.
Analysts and enthusiasts will get a near-term data point when Project Fear’s promised video is published; until then, the public record comprises the June 3 still, Otteson’s confirmation of the camera model used, prior thermal footage Otteson captured in January, and the established history of NGAD demonstrators and X-planes noted by DARPA and the Air Force. TWZ’s outreach to the Air Force was declined, leaving the clip’s provenance officially unconfirmed.
Source: TWZ — Is This A Glimpse Of The Aircraft That Gave Birth To The F-47?
