Mystery Military 757(?) on 9-9-03 shakes up town not far from Shanksville

[RamboLiberal]

Thought I'd post this for your comment. This appeared in Pittsburgh Post Gazette. What struck me is no one is owning up to this plane. Does the military even fly 757's? Connellsville is not that far from Shanksville as the crow flys. It's possible that Flight 93 could've passed over 2 years ago - hard to tell from maps I've seen of Flt 93's path. And I can't figure out where a 757 would be doing touch n' go's in that area. There may be an airport down there I'm not aware of with enough runway, but I sure don't know of. FAA said it took off from Youngstown/Warren Ohio and landed at McGuire AFB in NJ, but McGuire is denying. And wasn't Flt 93 a 757?

I've put a Mapquest link below - you can see Somerset (on right, Shanksville lies just outside Somerset) is on a direct line with Connellsville.

Anyone?

http://www.post-gazette.com/localnews/20030910plane0910p6.asp

Wednesday, September 10, 2003

By Mark Belko, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

This much has been established: It was a military airplane that was doing low-flying maneuvers over the Connellsville area on Monday.

But just where the Boeing 757 is based, nobody seemed to know.

The airplane created quite a stir in the Connellsville area Monday evening. Fayette County 911 reported more than 30 calls from people who saw the plane, which had its landing gear down.

"They saw the plane and basically wanted to know what was going on," said Guy Napolillo, Fayette County 911 coordinator. "It was very low and the landing gears were down."

http://mq-mapgend.websys.aol.com/mqmapgend?MQMapGenRequest=FDR2dmwjDE%3byt29%26FDJnci4Jkqj%2cMMCJ%3aHOEvq%3bw729zy%3a%29z1s5ft%3a%26%40%24%3a%26%40r%3al4z%3al61%3aTD%15JFE%3aHOHQJ%3bw729zy%3a%29z1s5ft%3a%26%40%24%3a%26%40%24x9%40

[Pale_Rider]

1. Probably preparing to move Saudis around ...

... and strange that at a minimum there should have been tail markings. Also maybe Bush or Cheney are taking flying lessons?

Yes, the military flies 757s or C-32As for government officials. I believe Air Force Two is a 757.

http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/military/c-32a/c32ainfo.html

[Old and In the Way]

2. Interesting...I wonder if they were testing hypotheses or

reconfirming their excuses for 9/11/01? Maybe they are simulating the 'event" to test their story?

[Robb]

3. There are

There are quite a few reconnaissance, SIGINT assets that look just like boring old commercial aircraft, from a distance. This became the paradigm for the recce biz in the late 80's -- look like everything else up there, and blend in better.

You know, as opposed to "look like a freaky black Star Wars plane".

I don't agree with the philosophy, but there it is.