Target practice

One small episode while on the road from Death Valley to Mt Whitney merits its own little blog post, methinks. You see, I believe I was used for target practice, probably by the US Navy - and it made me grin like an idiot the rest of the day. Allow me to explain.

I was standing a good way out from Mt Whitney on Wednesday, taking photographs as best I could and generally minding my own business. The sun was shining, the wind blowing. Not a sound could be heard nor a sight be seen pointing towards any human activity at all. Then, suddenly out of the blue skies I saw what appeared to be a white insect coming towards me at great speed. I should stress that as it came closer and I recognized it as a military airplane, it made no sound at all, probably because it was flying faster than the speed of sound.

I remember seeing it coming, very clearly, as in slow motion and thinking to myself "this is gonna make one helluva noise". It came in so very, very low and swept over me, and as soon as it had passed a mighty sonic boom shook the surrounding plain - fortunately I had already put my fingers in my ears. There was no way they didn't see me, no way they didn't know what effect they would have. And I loved them for it.

Getting my camera up, I managed to get off three pics; only then did I see the second plane. The two war birds zoomed across the hills you can see in the distance, played some cat and mouse game around them for a few seconds and then were gone - it was like watching a movie on fast forward. I was left standing by the roadside, grinning from ear to ear at this display of American military might and feeling all that much safer from knowing it was deployed to protect me and "our way of life" - and I say that without a trace of irony.

Since then I've heard several jets and military helicopters flying over and around the city of Ridgecrest. It is home to the China Lake Naval Weapons Center, where they test out new ways of bringing kaboom to the masses, and Fort Irwin is also close by. For that matter, these planes could have come from Area 51 on the Nevada side of the desert. Judging from the two tail fins I'd say they were F-18 Super Hornets, but I can't be sure.

Having experienced personally what it was like to be on the receiving end of one of those terrifying, terrible, beautiful war machines I also had a whole new appreciation of the soulrendering fear it must strike into the hearts of enemies who know that a bomb might follow the monstrous roar of the engine above their trembling, witless, turban-clad little heads.

The three pics I got off:





The second plane.