Mysterious Next-Gen Aircraft Allegedly Spotted Near Area 51

theaviationist.com
A thermal image captured near Area 51 allegedly shows a previously unseen next-generation aircraft design with cranked-kite wings and canards, which is now spurring many theories online.

Groom Lake, better known as Area 51, has always attracted interest among aviation enthusiasts because of the advanced X-plane programs it hosted in the past and the ones it could possibly host nowadays. A new thermal image captured in the area nearby might now have captured one of those current X-planes.

The image was shared online by the Project Fear YouTube channel on June 3, 2026, meant as a teaser for the full video, eventually released on June 5. The image has immediately started spurring online many theories, with some people questioning whether the image is a fake.

However, the authenticity of the image and the related footage was confirmed to us by Anders Otteson, the man behind the popular Uncanny Expeditions YouTube channel that we have featured multiple times here at The Aviationist. Earlier this year, Otteson captured thermal imagery of a sharply triangular, “Dorito-shaped” aircraft operating in the restricted airspace surrounding Area 51.

In a private message to The Aviationist, Otteson vouched for Project Fear and the authenticity of the image they posted:

“Here’s what I can say on it: This was an amazing capture! I met up with the team who recorded this to show them some potential spotting locations around the Area 51 perimeter after introducing them to the gear I often use for night sky monitoring – in this case thermal imaging cameras. We did not see anything particularly noteworthy that week, but a few days later, I get a call asking if I can take a look at something they’d captured on the thermal imager. As soon as they sent the footage over, I knew we were looking at something very interesting that has not been captured before.”

Otteson provided further details while replying to comments on Reddit in the r/area51 subreddit, where he also acknowledged that the footage is not recent:

“The footage is genuine and a copy has been sitting in a folder on my computer for months, but to be clear my only involvement in this channel was an advisory role. I told them what equipment to buy and gave them general recommendations. I did go out with them but was not there at the time this clip was captured, though I was sent it immediately afterwards. I posted about this because I noticed some people calling it fake due to coming from a “paranormal” channel and wanted to clear that up. It is indeed real and shot on an InfiRay HCH50r thermal, the same model I own.”

The image

The Project Fear team posted on their social media channel the image of the mysterious aircraft to announce the upcoming release of their new video. The screengrab, straight from the thermal camera – as it can be seen also by the user interface overlay, was accompanied by the cryptic caption “A craft the public has never seen before.”

Indeed, the shape we see in the image does not belong to any publicly known aircraft design. The aircraft appears to have a possibly tailless design, with cranked-kite wings and large canards.

The sawtooth trailing edge might point to a twin engine design, although at a first glance an exhaust signature can’t be seen. Looking more closely, a small hint at what could be the outline of two exhaust streams can be seen, although at this point it would be purely speculative given the quality of the image.

Speaking about the quality, some commenters expressed doubts about the level of detail provided by the thermal camera. In order to clarify some of the doubts, the Project Fear team provided a list of the gear they used, which included an InfiRay 10 micron thermal scope, a Sony FX3 camera with a PVS-14 white phosphor night vision device attached, and another FX3 with a normal lens.

Otteson also explained to us that the aircraft was quite close to the observation point, allowing an increased quality compared to similar shots at high altitude:

“For successful thermal imagery, aircraft have to be relatively close to the viewer, and this aircraft that flew by was low enough that the canards were clearly visible along with the planform.”

Some doubts were mentioned in the comments regarding the absence of a visible exhaust plume, using it as evidence of the image being fake or showing new advanced thermal management technologies. Otteson posted as comparison an image of a fighter jet captured in similar conditions, which similarly did not show the exhaust plume.

As a further explanation, another user said that the thermal device might do some automated image processing internally, which might have removed the exhaust. The wavelength might be another reason for the missing exhaust.

The video

Here’s the video. The mysterious aircraft appears at around the 49-minute mark.

The theories

As we mentioned earlier, many theories were posted online after the image was posted. The prevailing one is that the mysterious aircraft might be related to the U.S. Air Force’s Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program and the F-47 6th generation aircraft.

The theory is based on the resemblance of this aircraft to the two renderings provided so far by Boeing and the Air Force, which similarly show a pointy aircraft with canards. It should be noted that Boeing already edited those images, with further edits added by the service before release to avoid providing too many details to foreign intelligence.

F-47 in productionOfficial artists rendering of the Boeing F-47. (Image Credit: U.S. Air Force graphic)

In the past, we reported here at The Aviationist about X-planes which were flown by both Boeing and Lockheed Martin as a risk reduction ahead of the NGAD selection. The current status and location of these X-planes was not disclosed, although it is possible they might still be active today and they are likely based at Groom Lake’s Area 51.

This appears to be also the opinion of Otteson upon reviewing the footage. In fact, he told us the aircraft “bares a striking resemblance to speculative renders of the 6th Gen F47.” He further added “I told them that this is likely the first public sighting of the 6th Gen NGAD tech demonstrator, a precursor to the production F47.”

Someone noticed an interestingly resemblance to the X-36 tailless. Aviation journalist Bill Sweetman, commenting on the rendering of the F-47 said: “There are aspects of the artwork that call to mind the work of the late Alan Wiechman, who joined McDonnell Douglas… in the mid-1980s and headed the company’s stealth work until his retirement in 2014. His work included the X-36 tailless prototype… His obituary in 2023 noted that he had ‘most recently’ been an adviser on stealth to the USAF Rapid Capabilities Office.” 

Here’s a description of the X-36 that you can find of the website of the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force:

In the mid-1990s, NASA and the Boeing (then McDonnell Douglas) “Phantom Works” built two unmanned X-36 Tailless Fighter Agility Research Aircraft to develop technology for a maneuverable, tailless fighter. The X-36s were about a quarter of the size of a potential future fighter.

Though two were built, only the museum’s X-36 actually flew. The first X-36 flight occurred in May 1997, and the flight test program met or exceeded all of the project’s goals — a remarkable achievement.

The next year, the USAF’s Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) used the museum’s X-36 to test its RESTORE (Reconfigurable Control for Tailless Fighter Aircraft) software. AFRL developed this software to save a tailless fighter in case its control system was damaged or malfunctioned. In December 1998, the X-36 made two successful RESTORE flights.

In any case, if you look at the planform of the X-36, the resemblance with the aircraft spotted by Project Fear is evident.

The X-36 prototype. (Image credit: U.S. Air Force) (Image Credit: U.S. Air Force)

Another leading theory linked the mysterious aircraft to the Chinese J-20 stealth fighter. The commenters hypothesized the aircraft could be a mockup meant to simulate the Chinese fighter in either training or a testing environment, something reminiscent of the Have Doughnut and Constant Peg programs.

While the shape of the two aircraft present some similarities, there are also substantial differences. Some notable ones are the wing planform and the tail section, with the latter immediately showing as the J-20 presents two tail booms alongside two engine nozzles, instead of the double sawtooth of the unknown aircraft.

A J-20 flying overhead during the 2018 iteration of the Zhuhai Air Show, displaying its internal weapons bays with a full load of air-to-air missiles. (Image Credit: Telegram/Sina Weibo)

A third funny theory, that we mention because it was noticed in the comments after the screengrab was first published by Project Fear, would link the aircraft to a legendary jet, the F-19 stealth fighter that became quite popular in the 1980s thanks to model kits and videogames. The F-19 was an imaginary stealth fighter created by John Andrews, which became so famous that the public identified it as the real F-117 Nighthawk, which at the time was known to exist but it was not yet officially shown to the public.

Here too there are some similarities and differences. In fact, while the general shape is somewhat similar, we can notably notice the F-19’s lack of canards and the rounded wings.

F-19 renderings by Mads Bangso for the book “The Stealth Fighter” (Image Credit: Mads Bangso)

It is possible we will never know officially which aircraft was sighted in that image. Either way, it still provides an interesting glimpse in the world of the X-planes and advanced research and development, out of the limelight, where work is ongoing to bring online the fighter jets of the future.

Another aspect worth highlighting is that the chances of the mysterious aircraft being spotted without Area 51 personnel being aware that someone was camping nearby, and potentially able to catch a glimpse of it, appear to be rather slim. According to those familiar with the desert around the base, it is almost impossible to move across the area without being detected, and all the known “spotting locations” are reportedly surrounded by sensors capable of detecting photographers or curious onlookers well before a test flight is launched.

This raises even more questions: was the aircraft exposed because of a mix of luck and mistakes, or was it deliberately shown to tease the progress of a U.S. next-generation aircraft program and flex muscles against peer adversaries?

Thanks to the Project Fear team for allowing us to use their image!
Also thanks to Anders Otteson for the heads up and the additional information! Check out the Uncanny Expeditions YouTube channel for more of his work.