UFO or SI2

I grew up in the 70s and 80s when it seemed like there was a conspiracy theory about everything and unknown mysteries were trying to be solved by “In Search of” with Leonard Nimoy.   UFO-mania was fueled by Chariots of the Gods and other books.   These things scared the bejeebees out of me.  In fact, I remember actually trying to secretly hide behind dad’s chair as he watched some “documentary” that reportedly had footage of real aliens.  There was a time during my tweens that I didn’t even want to be outside at night.

Today, we are stargazers and enjoy looking at the night sky.

This leads me to wonder what I would have thought if I had seen this during those traumatic fear-years of my youth.

What is it?

Luckily, I knew what it was.

The Hubs is fascinated with flying and with solar power.   As soon as he heard that Solar Impulse 2 was going to end its Leg 11 flight in Tulsa, he immediately alerted me and told me to prepare for a late night.

We started tracking its flight from around Amarillo onward and at 9:30 p.m. we made the short drive to Tulsa International Airport to watch it approach and land.

It became less scary when the pilot turned on its landing lights.

We had a good spot and SI2 was kind enough to do multiple passes before it landed.

My photos do not do justice as to the wingspan of this aircraft.

You can read much more about the amazing journey of this truly innovative aircraft here.

Apparently, Leg 11 was intended to end in KC, but because of weather conditions the flight crew sought out Tulsa as a stop.  Oklahoma is known for it’s unpredictable weather.

Artwork from Solar Impulse Website.

Unbelievably, there was no wind this evening, a truly amazing occurrence around here this time of year.

I can’t believe that Tulsa is getting to play host.   How apropos, however, as Route 66, that ancient transportation route, runs through town.  Lucky for SI2 is also the fact that American Airlines had a maintenance hanger here large enough to house the craft during its four to five day stay.   Hopefully, by the time the ground crew and pilots depart, they will be able to pronounce the name of their host city. Please check out this hilarious video as the team (based in Monaco) tries to pronounce “Tulsa.”  Click here.

It was very impressive, historic, and awe inspiring to see this.

For a more professional (and much longer video with supporting stories and interviews), see below.