This plane shares the basic layout of later Lockheed designs. It could be considered the first bi-modal turbo/ramjet aircraft. The turbo/ramjet SR-71 was the culmination of this research. Ramjet powered craft were achieving speeds that parallel the UFO sightings of the time. Kenneth Arnold in 1947 estimated that the UFO he witnessed was traveling over 1500 mph. Ramjets were traveling at 1600 mph at this time. The explosions that people were witnessing in 1947 were sonic booms. Given the fact that ramjets are only effective at speeds over Mach-3. We could be looking at a plane traveling Mach-3 in 1948. The plane was also most likely remotely piloted for the first flights until it was determined safe for manned flight. The technology to remotely pilot planes using television was developed in Operation APHRODITE .
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Aphrodite
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Arnold_UFO_sighting
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