Weird flight patterns!

[TheRandomPhotographer]

So i was doing the day trip thing down at Kemah with the GF and i noticed this:



does anyone know why this aircraft would loop around multiple times?

it was looping around for hours maybe something like 4-5 hrs.

Just out of curiosity where could i get information on flight plans?

[TxPhotoShooter]

I saw the plane also from Baytown. News stated this was a high altitude plane from NASA which was taking air samples as well as testing a new instrument. NASA stated that the plane periodically does this but we just don't realize because the plane usually doesn't leave such prominent contrails. But the atmospheric conditions were just right for the results you posted.

[Dobick]

I don't know where you can get flight plans, but I spent the morning with a pilot that needed some promotional photos for some upcoming air shows. He ran through his routine using smoke and all. If the wind would have been more still, there would have been some interesting trails left from his test runs.

Is it maybe possible that someone was doing some arial surveys of the gulf?

[TXhummer2]

Nightly news reports....duh, been said. Yep, NASA flying around in "O" circles even above the tiny rainshower north of I-10.

[SCone]

Uh huh.... maybe that's what they "want" you to believe?

[TheRandomPhotographer]

Originally Posted by SCone

Uh huh.... maybe that's what they "want" you to believe?

THEY were sending subliminal messages to us!

[ka5txl]

Originally Posted by SCone

Uh huh.... maybe that's what they "want" you to believe?

It must have been those "black helicopters"

[texkam]

News stated this was a high altitude plane from NASA which was taking air samples as well as testing a new instrument.

Yep, that's their story and they're stickin' to it. And the forum's ATC has been banned so we may never know.

[ka5txl]

Originally Posted by texkam

Yep, that's their story and they're stickin' to it. And the forum's ATC has been banned so we may never know.

Well he was fired years before he was banned. Another possibilty is it could have been a refueling aircraft in a holding pattern, as there are various missions that the DOD fly's over the gulf.

[Howard Barlow]

Air NASCAR...

[David_3]

If it was supposed to be a big secret, it probably wouldn't have happened during daylight hours, overhead the county fair, where everyone could watch and film it. Or maybe they wanted the public to see it, so they would have the opportunity to deny it was anything important.


EYES TO THE SKY|Montgomery County Police Reporter


Circling plane stirs up Houstonians on 9/11 anniversary | Houston & Texas News | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle


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[LEO III]

Here you go:

FlightAware > NASA928

Let me know when you get it all figured out.

[dbphotos]

Kind of a dumb decision to run those tests on 9/11. It was sure to cause concern and cause the local 911 system to receive calls.

[Steelsun]

Detailed Flight plans don't have to be filed for every flight. You can do a station to station visual (non instrument) and there is no plan aside from the start and end, and if they are both the same (like Ellington Field), that does not help you.

It's frequently done for lessons, training, practice, etc.