The US “Doomsday Plane” Just Flew Over Illinois, But It’s Fine
It's one of the most sophisticated aircraft in the world and it just flew over Illinois Wednesday night. It's the United States Doomsday plane, but no worries. It's probably fine.
For the record, the flight path of the E4-B Nightwatch (aka "Doomsday Plane") is public knowledge. No government secrets being divulged here. I keep track of it because I find it's journeys interesting. Here's the flight path shared by Flight Aware just a few minutes ago. It flew over Iowa and Illinois toward an unknown destination.
If you're not aware of what the "Doomsday Plane" is, it's the US Military's E4-B Nightwatch designed to stay in the air in the event of a worst-case scenario in world events. The official US Air Force website describes what this plane is built for:
In case of national emergency or destruction of ground command and control centers, the aircraft provides a highly survivable command, control and communications center to direct U.S. forces, execute emergency war orders and coordinate actions by civil authorities.
For the past 3 months prior to last weekend, the "Doomsday Plane" was on the ground according to Flight Aware. A few days ago, it began an around-the-world flight that included Cambodia, Indonesia, the UK and Japan. What takes it over the Midwest suddenly? No clue since I don't have government clearance (that I know of). And, no, it does not mean the end of days is upon us. It's just interesting activity for arguably the most interesting plane in the US Military's arsenal.
If you'd like to see where the "Doomsday Plane" goes next, you can follow the public records on the Flight Aware website. Duck and cover.