With a coastline that borders two of the world's most controversial and highly surveilled oceans, the Philippines is frequently the site of military activity, especially from the Chinese and the Americans. Landscape photographer Michael Fugnit captured an image of what appears to be a stealthy flying wing aircraft with diamond-shaped fuselage and slender wings, a centralized exhaust duct, possibly featuring twin engines, and a ventral bulge on September 2nd.

A localite who got a good look of the flight said, “During his early morning rise in Santa Magdalena to catch the perfect sunrise, he noticed an aircraft flying overhead at a good clip. The image he took appeared to show something that is unlike any normal commercial aircraft or military planes that are regularly circling the region”.

The image cannot be authenticated at this time, although we gave it a cursory look in Photoshop and found nothing unusual. It is only prudent to emphasize that the factual status of the photograph is subject to change, although there is no reason to believe the photographer fabricated it. Our team is using a variety of tools to examine the image further, and we are seeking the opinion of other photo experts, elaborated the sources.

 At first glance, the aircraft depicted looks very much like the one seen in the supposed sighting of the so-called RQ-180 Sentinel high-altitude, long-endurance, very low-observable drone from last November. The RQ-180, is thought to be in very limited operation at this time as it continues with its clandestine development. Flying the aircraft in this area of the world would make sense because it is precisely the type of environment it was designed to operate in, but it could also just be transiting to another location, including back to the United States. 

According to reports, the aircraft is thought to operate out of Area 51 in Nevada and Edwards Air Force Base in California on extremely long-duration missions, but it is also possible that Diego Garcia, a small island in the Indian Ocean, will be another location to operate as it expands operations. Special facilities supporting the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, can also be used to support the RQ-180.

The locale is also known for its use to support clandestine aircraft activities. Andersen Air Force Base on Guam is another potential operating location, but that is likely too high-profile for this stage of the aircraft's development.   

Here, the most significant discrepancy is the timeframe. About three hours and fifteen minutes after the supposed taking of the image, the intercept came to an end. Stealthy reconnaissance aircraft tend to linger in the area after they've taken pictures - that's basically why they're built to do so.

Additionally, the altitude for a HALE asset would be too low, but if this were a tactical platform, it might be possible. Furthermore, a stealth aircraft like this would probably have electronic warfare systems to help it protect itself against radar detection, so it would likely have been impossible to establish a solid altitude, if radar was able to detect it at all. 

Image Source: Reddit