Russia reveals wreckage of US Blackbird spyplane shot down in 1983
THE FOLLOWING IS AN APRIL FOOL’S HOAX AND IS NOT TRUE
Western observers stunned as Russian Ministry of Defence shares evidence that a US spyplane was shot down over the USSR during the Cold War. The shoot-down of the seemingly invulnerable jet, capable of flight at over 2,000mph, has not been acknowledged by either side until now.
Yesterday, at a press conference in Moscow, Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation spokesperson Alexei Obmanov shared images and documents that conclusively prove a US SR-71 Blackbird spyplane was downed close to a remote Siberian village in 1983. According to Obmanov, the aircraft was intercepted by a pair of Soviet Air Defence Forces (PVO) MiG-31 interceptors. The intruding US aircraft was tracked for 93 miles (150 km), and five radio warnings issued, before the Soviet aircraft opened fire. Three missiles were fired, with the second two hitting and destroying the American aircraft. The two aircrew successfully ejected from the aircraft. The wreckage, which was recovered from the Siberian village of Durakovo, was sent to the Gromov Flight Research Institute 25 miles (40 km) south-east of Moscow for analysis.
Cover up
According to Obmanov, a frantic diplomatic effort following the crash saw both sides agree to not publicly acknowledge the incident, an agreement that lasted 35 years. It was feared by both sides that the incident, which occurred at the height of Cold War tensions, could be potentially inflammatory. According to Ben Shearer, from the ANOITO Defence Research Institute, the deal was mutually beneficial as it also cloaked the alleged ‘Submarine 545 incident’. ‘Submarine 545’ refers to a long-denied incident of a Soviet submarine exercise that went badly wrong, and may have inadvertently released radioactive material off the coast of New York in the early 1980s (though no firm proof of the submarine incident has come to light).
The pilot and reconnaissance systems officer (who remain unnamed) of the downed SR-71 were returned to the United States in 1984 in exchange for two Soviet diplomats arrested for espionage in 1975.
According to one US source we spoke to, “This is stunning news… a Blackbird loss has never been acknowledged. As stunning as the loss itself is the mutual secrecy arrangements…I am now wondering what else is out there.” In a time of mutual distrust between Washington and Moscow it is clear that the revelation is intended to embarrass the US. The US Department of Defense has not commented on the revelation.
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I note that the SR-71 shoot-down story is published on April Fool’s day….
Nice one!
And the village “Durakovo”. Durak means fool…
Дураково IS actually a village in Kaluga Oblast, Russia, 240 kilometres (150 mi) south-east of Moscow.
That doesn’t make the story true however.
The events alleged would require a stunning number of people to have not said a word all these years. I remain skeptical. I wonder if what they have, if they have anything, are parts from a D-21. I await actual confirmation.
Oh, wait, I just saw the date; it’s still 3/31 on this side of the planet. Well played, good sirs; well played.
I’m wondering if the date of the article has anything to do with it.
April 1…
Stunning news. And I would be stunned, but I live in a country where every day is April 1.
It’s still March 31st in Los Angeles, so you almost had me going.
April 1, 2018 (although in my country, it is still March 31, and in our folklore, this kind of stuff is done at Dec 28)
Totally stunned by this news. How has no one leaked this before TODAY I just don’t know.
1st of april….
Truth is they never have.
J.K.
Best April fools story I read so far!
Who caught that the picture is an SR-71 trainer (either a -B or the -C)?
Amazing news.This SR-71 “Blackbird” is a long-range. Blackbird is still the fastest plane that has ever flown and served an important role in history as a spy plane. That is freaking brilliant.
Check the date 😉
not see a valid discussion point here as it was to be expected that Russia would down this spy plane and a MiG – 31 is certainly fast enough to stay with a SR-71 but why both sides decided to black out media for 35 years but local Russian people in Siberia knew it had happened as the wreckage fell very close to the village of Durakovo and many locals to this day have small pieces of titanium as the wreckage was widely spread. ,
Simon, check the date of the story.
Was one of the MIG-31 aircraft that shot it down in 1983 piloted by Mitchell Gant, by any chance? XXXXXD
Think about it, a MiG-31 Foxhound maxes out at Mach 2.8 and has a service ceiling WAY less than that of an SR-71. The whole point of a 71 is that it flies super-high and super-fast, so high and so fast that even AA missiles have trouble keeping up with it. Only the mythical MiG-31 Firefox could have made an intercept, and there were two of them in Craig Thomas’ book and the Clint Eastwood movie. I’m CERTAIN that’s part of the April Fools joke here. XXXXXD
Dead wrong, actually MiG-31 can attain an altitude of 123,000 ft it can also reach a speed of 3,500Km/hr
As an Air Force pilot who actually flew this aircraft operationally, I can tell you this story is bogus. We had some close calls, but we never lost a Blackbird to enemy fire.
Hi Terry, absolutely. This was an April Fool’s story 🙂 I’d love to email interview for you for the site. Would that be possible?
Then where is it???
Check the date of the article Mike 😉
April fool’s, btw, I worked on the SR-71 in the 80s and every single one is accounted for. None ever crashed or were in Russia.
Yes, correct Bill, this is indeed an April Fool. I’d love to interview you about your work on the SR-71.
Obviously none of the participants in discussion is familiar with Russian language. DURAKOVO, this being the [supposed] name of the village where the wreck of SR-71 was located, means ‘fools’ village’, this having been derived from Russian ‘durak’, meaning ‘fool’. This only goes along with the date of April 1.
Learn Russian, gentlemen! This is the language of the future.