Shortly after CIA Director John Ratcliffe made a secret, announced visit to Russia this week, a fleet of the Navy’s “doomsday planes” was seen flying over the West Coast and the central United States.
Hours after an Air Force Boeing C-17A Globemaster III touched down at Vnukovo International Airport in Moscow, flight trackers identified five Boeing E-6 Mercury aircraft, referred to as “doomsday planes” due to their ability to withstand a nuclear attack.
One plane with the hex number AEA92D was detected by FlightRadar24 over the Colorado-Wyoming area. It was traveling at about 374 mph at nearly 24,000 feet. At 30,000 feet, a second aircraft, AE7D28, passed across Kansas and Oklahoma in the central United States. The third, AEABAB, was observed at 35,000 feet over Missouri and Arkansas. The fourth doomsday plane, AF4019, was observed flying at about 9,500 feet close to the Texas-Oklahoma border. The identification of the fifth one, AF1BB0, was reportedly unconfirmed, according to the Daily Mail, although it was believed to be a fifth E-6 Mercury.
The Kremlin initially said that it had no information about the Boeing C-17A Globemaster III landing at the Vnukovo International Airport. Later, it confirmed that the CIA director did have talks with Russian intelligence officials, though he did not meet President Vladimir Putin.
So far, American officials have not commented on the doomsday planes, nor announced military exercises. Also, no official explanation was given for the Globemaster III’s passengers, cargo, or mission to Russia.
More recent sightings of the Navy’s ‘doomsday planes’
Last year, a doomsday plane mysteriously vanished from radar systems over the Atlantic Ocean. The U.S. Navy Boeing E-6B Mercury departed Naval Air Station Patuxent River in St. Mary’s County, Maryland. At first, it appeared to follow a routine southeast path over the Chesapeake Bay and passed the Norfolk naval complex. However, about 60 miles east of the Virginia Capes, the plane’s public transponder went dark.
Then, this past May, a United States Navy doomsday plane was seen in the skies over California. Observers saw it flying over Fresno, California, just a couple of months after spotters also saw it at the Los Angeles International Airport.
There are only sixteen specially designed “doomsday planes.” They are sometimes called the “Pentagon of the Sky” because the President, the Secretary of Defense, and U.S. Strategic Command typically use the Boeing E-6B Mercury as a nuclear command platform and strategic operations station. The Navy claims that the aircraft “provides survivable, reliable and endurable airborne Nuclear Command, Control, and Communications.” Because it uses analog rather than digital technology, the aircraft can withstand strong electromagnetic pulses.