American Notes ESPIONAGE

When the Pentagon announced last December that it was retiring the famed Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, it explained that satellites can do what the high- flying (100,000 ft.), 3,000-m.p.h. spy plane did and at less cost. But was the real reason that an even faster snooper is being developed in the Nevada desert? The 1986 defense budget contained a mysterious reference to the "Aurora" project. Now a prototype of the aircraft is reported to be rocking the desert with shock waves during test flights. Rumors say the Lockheed plane may be unmanned and can fly at speeds greater than Mach 6 (4,100 m.p.h.) -- fast enough to cross the Pacific in less than two hours. Neither the Air Force nor Lockheed will confirm its existence.