The North American X-15, a
rocket-powered research aircraft, bridged the gap between manned
flight in the atmosphere and space flight. After its initial test
flights in 1959, the X-15 became the first winged aircraft to
attain hypersonic velocities of Mach 4, 5, and 6 (four to six times
the speed of sound) and to operate at altitudes well above 30,500
meters (100,000 feet).
The X-15 was carried to an altitude of
12,000 meters (40,000 feet) under the wing of a Boeing B-52 bomber.
During one test, it attained an altitude of over 108 kilometers (67
miles), flying so high that it functioned more as a spacecraft than
an airplane. In 1967 it reached Mach 6.72 (7,297 kilometers or
4,534 miles per hour).
The X-15 was designed to explore the problems of flight at very
high speeds and altitudes. The X-15 and other research aircraft
contributed to the advancement of aerospace technology.
The X-15 program was a joint effort of
NASA, the USAF, and the U.S. Navy. NASA had technical control of
the program and did the conceptual design of the aircraft. The USAF
and the Navy funded the design and construction and managed those
phases of the program. Three aircraft were constructed, and two
B-52s were modified to carry the X-15 under the right wing, between
the fuselage and the inboard engine.
The Birth of the X-19
In the wake of the X-15 program, came further designs. The
successes and failures to follow are not as well known. Further
planes, the X-16, X-17, and X-18 never made it off the drawing
board. However, the X-19, a hypersonic rocket fueled cargo plane,
did make it thru the design stage, and a working prototype was
constructed in a non-descript building posing as a printing company
with the cover name Hano Business Forms. The building still stands
to this day, just south of the city of Mount Olive on Historic Rt.
66.
The X-19 was intended to be a high
speed delivery system between the various parts of the globe when
standard couriers just were not fast enough.
On it’s one and only test flight, the
prototype X-19 lifted off from a once secret airbase near Mount
Olive, IL in the summer of 1965, and crashed. The government,
embarrassed over the failures of the X series of planes shut down
the funding, and the X-19 was essentially forgotten as one of the
many failures in Aviation History…or was it…
Many rumors have surfaced over the
years that the real purpose of the X-19 was something more than was
ever revealed. The “Mount Olive Incident” has spawned conspiracy
theories to equal those of the JFK assassination and the Roswell
Crash.
The lead designer on the X-19 was a
man named George Caching. Caching had spent 9 years bringing the
X-19 from thought, thru design, and finally working prototype.
Caching oversaw every aspect on the construction and testing of the
X-19 and had great confidence in the design.
Caching's Confession
In a startling turn of events, Caching, in a death bed confession
the Summer of 2005, revealed to his family the many secrets that
kept him away all that time nearly 40 years ago. He though it was
important that someone finally know the truth. After 40 years of
silence. Caching spoke of the real truth behind the X-19, and its
failure.
In a signed and sworn statement in the
final moments of his life, Caching wrote this final
note:
It was my life’s ambition
for the X-19 to be a success. I never foresaw the failure that had
become my most important project. I believed in the purpose of
X-19, and what it’s mission would be. The X-19 was designed as a
cargo plane, but it also had the ability to travel both forward and
backward in time. Yes, TIME TRAVEL IS POSSIBLE. Therefore,
an individual could live through a tragic world event, and then
send the X-19 back thru time to our nations leaders in enough time
for them to stop it. It would have been a most powerful weapon. One
that would ensure the safety and strength of this great country
forever. However in the wrong hands, it could be the ruination of
us all.
After the disappearance of
the plane, my superiors in government forced me to destroy all
evidence of it’s existence. They knew that if the technology were
ever to be found again, it would bring horrible ruination to the
space time continuum. I had hoped to revisit the concept some day.
But family and other work took me away, and sadly illness has taken
me before I could complete my life’s work.
It was built around
technology known as the “Flux Capacitor” developed by a Doctor
Emmett Brown. Brown was my colleague, a brilliant man, but as odd
as anyone I have ever known.
What you all need to know
is, the X-19 never crashed. Prior to the test flight of the X-19, I
instructed Brown to set the X-19 to take off, and return to us 40
minutes into the future. But the bumbling fool set the thing for 40
years into the future. With no choices left, Brown and I then faked
a plane crash on the airbase. Assuring that the plane, the
experimental cargo, and most importantly, the flux capacitor
technology would be lost until 2005, long after we would all be
gone. Brown disappeared in 1985. I never found a trace of him
again. But guilt has eaten me alive as an old man, the truth must
come out.
The Air Force, buying the
plane crash that we concocted, fell for the ruse and gave up on the
project. But the X-19 will return from where it came, the secret
airbase, 40 years from the day it left us. Please find the X-19
before it falls in wrong hands.
With Regrets, Geo.
Caching