DyessBrat89
Recruit
- 1
- Aug 3, 2018
I have not served before. My grandfather served in the Army in Australia in WWII and my father went to Air Force Academy and served in the Air force as a pilot. What I remember most was his time flying MC-130H with Combat Talon II. He had done his flight school in Texas, where he met my mother. They had me at Dyess. My father has many stories about his times serving. The ones he tells often (and I respect and love him so much I pretend I forgot about them) are usually humorous, and maybe a tad bit dark.
This is one of those:
We have all heard of drunk and/or high and/or loony people who have seen "aliens" or "UFOs" in the desert. Well this story may absolve some of those instances.
Not giving specifics, but my father had many times told me of a boredom-combating activity he and his crews used to get up to. Flying over Nevada they would find a lone vehicle out on some back country road. And stalk it. On a typical C-130 (at the time, not sure if the design has changed, and this was always explained for this story) a pair of runway lights for make-shift runway landings at night (as was the use of the C-130) would be tucked down while in flight to keep from interfering with the control of the aircraft. The controls for them to turn up or down were separate from the light controls, so they would have to be done in tandem. If you were planning on using them both at once (some of you pilots may already be choking on something you just drank or ate).
They would fly in real low and slow behind the vehicle. All exterior lights would be extinguished (yes, even the running lights). When they were just about overhead, the pilot would throw the full throttle at the same time the co-pilot would turn on the runway lights (which are still facing down) and as soon they cleared they would bank off to not be seen in the vehicles headlights.
I'm not sure how many "alien" conspiracists may have encountered this, but their delusions are valid. Courtesy of the USAF.
This is one of those:
We have all heard of drunk and/or high and/or loony people who have seen "aliens" or "UFOs" in the desert. Well this story may absolve some of those instances.
Not giving specifics, but my father had many times told me of a boredom-combating activity he and his crews used to get up to. Flying over Nevada they would find a lone vehicle out on some back country road. And stalk it. On a typical C-130 (at the time, not sure if the design has changed, and this was always explained for this story) a pair of runway lights for make-shift runway landings at night (as was the use of the C-130) would be tucked down while in flight to keep from interfering with the control of the aircraft. The controls for them to turn up or down were separate from the light controls, so they would have to be done in tandem. If you were planning on using them both at once (some of you pilots may already be choking on something you just drank or ate).
They would fly in real low and slow behind the vehicle. All exterior lights would be extinguished (yes, even the running lights). When they were just about overhead, the pilot would throw the full throttle at the same time the co-pilot would turn on the runway lights (which are still facing down) and as soon they cleared they would bank off to not be seen in the vehicles headlights.
I'm not sure how many "alien" conspiracists may have encountered this, but their delusions are valid. Courtesy of the USAF.