Back in 1985, during my first airwing detachment to Fallon, Nevada, my squadron participated in an exercise called "Constant Peg." C-Peg was super classified and involved American fighter crews flying 1v1 ACM mission against Soviet fighters like MiG-23s and MiG-21s. These fighters were based at Tonopah. (My pilot and I went up against a MiG-23.)
Now during the briefs before the exercise the guys flying the MiGs were very hyper about us NOT landing at Tonopah . . . ever, ever, ever . . . even though the exercise took place just north of the field. "If you have an emergency go back to Fallon," was the refrain, which struck us as a bit excessive, even considering the fact these enemy airplanes were based there.
The squadron operations officer, who went on to be a corporate test pilot, said something that made sense years later: "They're not worried about the MiGs. There's something else going on there." When we pushed him for details, he said he didn't know. He just had a hunch that C-Peg was a cover for another program.
Well, we now know that other program was the F-117 developmental test program. And after seeing firsthand the V-22's DT program for three years, I can tell you that it's a miracle that nobody found out about the Stealth jet during that time. Incredible stories have emerged about long commutes and clueless families and night ops. They did have a couple of close calls. There were reports of UFOs by local civilians that were quashed by Air Force officials.
So, again, have the folks in Texas seen something the Air Force doesn't want them to see?
Check out these eyewitnesses in this news report. They seem convinced that they saw something weird:
-- Ward
