I am fascinated by the Blackstar information, and like many I have long assumed that such a program exists, or existed at one time, only to be superseded. The means used to fund a cutting edge program while maintaining its security have many implications for how we interpret what we read in the news every day.

Even though I am a space enthusiast, and a conservative, fairness requires that I ask the question: "Why aren't we upset about this leak of classified information?".  There are several possible answers to that question, none of which hold water:

1. It isn't classified info anymore.  Sorry, then I would expect "official"
sources to be releasing it, not Aviation Week.

2. It isn't critical anymore.  Sorry, Aviation Week has no more right to make that judgment than the New York Times does.

3. It is not connected to the War on Terror.  See previous answer.

Perhaps the answer is that this is not a leak, but simply informed speculation.  Perhaps a lawyer can split that hair for us.  Seems like several people in this article were recounting their experiences while working on classified projects, which sounds like "leaking" to me.

But the most likely scenario I can posit for a publication like Aviation Week, which has a sterling national security reputation, is that it has been asked by legitimate authority to leak this "stale" information to send a signal to someone about spectacular US capabilities of the past, thus to encourage speculation about what the US might be capable of today.  I wonder who that might be?

Dave Runyan   3 07 06