"Unknown"... "unidentified"... and otherwise "mysterious" projects

Stargazer

Stargazer

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In its seven years of existence, the SECRET PROJECTS forum has spawned thousands of topics. Most describe more or less identified projects, but on occasion some members find some puzzling picture or reference that they feel deserves to be shared. Very often, the identification is done by other forum members, but sometimes the mystery remains.

With the purpose of downsizing considerably the number of topics pertaining to those as-yet "orphan" projects, I have established a list of 240 topics whose title contains the words "unknown", "unidentified", "identify", "mysterious" or "mystery".

These topics are presented below by country, regardless of what sub-forum they are from. Only the topics from the "Bar" and "Aerospace" section are kept separate because they usually refer to existing aircraft/missiles/etc., not unbuilt projects.

I will browse all of the following little by little and expect all of you to do the same. If you can successfully identify a previously unknown type, please let the moderator know and the topic's title will be changed accordingly.

Thanks to you all for helping to make this forum even better than it already is!!! :)
 
Soviet projects
STILL UNIDENTIFIED
 
American projects
STILL UNIDENTIFIED
 
British projects
STILL UNIDENTIFIED
 
European projects
STILL UNIDENTIFIED
 
Various aircraft projects
STILL UNIDENTIFIED
 
Missile projects STILL UNIDENTIFIED
 
Space projects
STILL UNIDENTIFIED
 
Existing aircraft (mainly from 'Aerospace' and 'The Bar') STILL UNIDENTIFIED
 
Existing missiles, rockets and UAVs
STILL UNIDENTIFIED
 
Various STILL UNIDENTIFIED
 
About 100 topics have been "solved" so far. In actual fact, the identification had already been done in these but the topic's title had never been changed. Please take a look in the first few posts above to see the topics containing material that still needs formal identification (a designation, a manufacturer, a country, a date, etc.).

A few "bad habits" I noticed while working on these pages:
  • Vague topic titles ("Identify please", "Unknown aircraft", etc.). Those who do that don't realize there are already quite a few similarly titled topics on the forum... The fact that one doesn't know what the aircraft is doesn't mean one can't be a little more specific about it. Adding at least the country and/or the approximate date in the title, when they are known, will make further reference easier (titles such as "Unidentified US jet fighter" or "Mysterious pre-war German project" for instance, are better).
  • Exaggeration ("Mysterious", "Unknown"). In many cases the aircraft are simply unidentified or little-known, certainly not mysterious or unknown. In several instances, the type's name was even given... So please try to keep words such as these for the Nevada sightings or the stealth blimps!
  • Multiple types in one post. When there are several unknown types, especially of very different nature and/or origin, attaching them all in one single post makes further quoting and further splitting very difficult. If you feel two or three different unidentified aircraft belong in the same topic, why not create a post for each of them? In doing that, it will be easier to move the posts in question to a separate topic when there is enough information about them.
  • Wrong spelling. Not everyone can be fluent in English of course, but please make sure that at least the names of people and aircraft are written correctly. Also verify the aircraft designations before posting. A misspelt name or designation means that later searches by other members will be unfruitful (and so they might start a duplicate topic elsewhere).
  • Wrong sections. Fan artwork found on the web should NOT be in the "User artwork" section, which is specifically devoted to the work of our forum's members. Aircraft or missiles (however rare they might be) that were built and produced in a few examples should NOT be in a "Projects" section but rather in "Aerospace". Unbuilt aircraft from real engineers and companies belong in the "Early aircraft projects" and "Postwar aircraft projects" sections. However, other imaginary aircraft belong in the "Theoretical and speculative artwork" section.
  • Lost images. Unless an image found online has been attached to your post, there is always a risk that the page where you found it might one day disappear or change its URL. It's always good to link the original source, but adding the pics in the post is a guarantee that future reference will remain possible (I found several topics where one can't even see what everybody is talking about...).
  • Proliferation of new topics. It is best to create a new topic only if there is enough information to share or if the subject is likely to stir an interesting discussion. Posting a poorly-scanned, stamp-sized and ill-identified aircraft and begin a topic with it is not a good idea in general. The best solution is to identify a generic topic (such as "Various US VTOL projects", "Unknown McDonnell fighter designs" or "Unidentified missiles") and add your find to them. If enough information emerges, it will always be possible to split the relevant posts and start a topic of its own.
Our fellow member pometablava almost said it all back in 2006:
http://www.secretprojects.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,15796.0.html

HOPE THIS HELPS!!! :D :D :D
 
Stargazer,


you forget the biggest mystery in the site,the Grumman FV-14 oblique wing fighter aircraft;


http://www.secretprojects.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,3170.msg25570.html#msg25570
 
hesham said:
you forget the biggest mystery in the site,the Grumman FV-14 oblique wing fighter aircraft
Click to expand...

hesham, the topic is not about mysterious projects, but about topics that CONTAIN the word "mysterious" in their title!
 

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