* Originally By: Martin R. Albright * Originally To: David Scott * Originally Re: Black Helicopter update * Original Area: PR_NET * Forwarded by : Blue Wave v2.12 DS>What's going on with the Black Helicopters? The US Army has been using black helicopters for years. They are norally Blackhawks, Chinooks, and in some cases, Apaches. The black ones usually belong to the 160th Special Ops Aviation Regiment (SOAR) at Ft Campbell. They are equipped with advanced night-vision flying equipment allowing them to fly at very low altitudes, high speeds, with no lights. They DO have markings, but the markings are in "black-on-black" and are very hard to see unless you are right next to them. They are painted black to serve as camouflage at night, and they train all over the US. The US Customs Service also uses black-painted Blackhawks, but they would not have a gun mounted (beleive me, if Customs were authorized to shoot down aircraft, they'd use an F-15). USCS Blackhawks usually have the word "CUSTOMS" in White on the side. Sorry to have to shoot your conspiracy theory down, but what you saw was most likely a training exercise for the 160th (or, it's National Guard sister unit, the 245th AVN Reg. out of Oklahoma). ("AHA!" you say "that's what THEY want us to think!!!") -!- SLMR 2.1a Does Janet Reno Care if Children Smoke? -!- Renegade v5-21 OS/2 ! Origin: THe JuNGLe (910)488-1954 Paul Revere Net/NC (176:400/13) -!- FMail 0.96T # Origin: Mikes Place-Mesa Arizona 602-832-4479 RECON (1:114/296.2) ! Origin: SearchNet --> FidoNet EchoGate! (114:1/0.0)