Haven't you guys ever watched a sci-fi film ? The plane at the back is using a holographic artifical multi-spectrum tacion emitting radar-image (HAMSTER for the group hugging brigade) to project another plane in front of them so when those pesky SAM's get launched, they blow up the holgraphic plane not the real one carrying the bombs.

All hail our holographic overlords !!!!!

I hope DARPA get the funding for the 'Flowers in Hair' gun they want to develop, or the 'Candy-thrower' (like a flame thrower but for candy-floss) project.

I can't wait for the secret 'hugs' police to arrive to give me my hug.

Oh -the helicopter shaped like a cute cloud is here..

welcome our rainbow-cloaked luuuurrrv-dispensing* overlords

* aka hubble-lens-flare-bodied phony-planes**

**aka reflection-of-the-jetfighter-flying-behind-it***

***aka someone-playing-silly-buggers-with-photoshop

I like to cater for all eventualities..... no telling who will be our overlords these days.....

The first thing I did after watching the pre-inaugural party on Sunday or Monday (whenever it was) was to come here to El Reg in search of biting commentary about the presence of not just Bono, but the whole band at the party in front of the Lincoln Memorial. And what do I see? Nada. Nada! Effing nothing! I count on you people for this! Bah.

Given the path of it's con-trails perhaps the fleet of rainbombers are based at langley?

Looks like an artifact of a pushbroom imaging sensor array on the satellite; these have a single row of CCD pixels that capture one line of the ground after another as the planet rotates beneath the spacecraft. To get colour (and infrared et cetera) multiple lines of sensors are used which are sensitive to different wavelengths. As the aircraft was presumably moving relative to the surface, multiple ghost images are captured. (There's no wikipedia article on pushbrooms, but google has far more than you ever wanted to know on the topic.)

I could of course be completely wrong about this :)

You too, huh?

Got it. Out of here.

I have soiled myself mirth-wise.

"...it's so crazy that it just might work!"

Take out all the superfluous wordage and you're left with:

"Ma fellow citizens… god… freedom… god… patriots… god… enemies… god… washington… god… founding fathers… god… evil english redcoats… god… change… god the creator… bob the builder… yes we can… god bless you, america.”

Plus ça change.

You are all wrong.

That is an Obama ordered attack plane vaporising the plane previously called Air Force One ostentatiously taking Blockhead Bush back to Texas.

The media "showing" of him arriving at Texas is clearly a fake.

Obvious, really.

Forget all this DARPA tech. Our ultimate technology against fighting countries is fast food. If the Middle East had cheap burgers and fried chicken every two blocks, do you think they'd have the energy for protests and violence? They'd all watching TV and surfing the web like the modern lazy world. How much has been spent on bullets, bombs, and airstrikes? How much would it cost to subsidize fast foot restaurants? See?

Being a footie fan in the US, I was a bit surprised at how much faith the average Premier League fan puts in the new Prez. Cries of "Bring on Obama, he'll fix everything.." when their team is losing badly are getting pretty common place now.

...on the spectral artifacting in that image. Now that you mention it, it reminds me a whole lot of one of my favorite Cassini images at:

http://ciclops.org/view/3280/Rainbow_on_the_Rings

...containing the image of Saturn and the ring plane with "opposition glow" off the rings at

http://ciclops.org/view_media/17784/Rainbow_on_the_Rings

...which is an approximate composite natural-color view shot in three rapid-fire exposures through red, green, and blue filters as the spacecraft pulled away; everything is "in register" except for the opposition glow which, because the spacecraft was travelling so fast, was exposed in three slightly different positions, creating a spectral artifact which wouldn't be visible to the hypothetical human passenger aboard Cassini.

As the rear aircraft is obviously a Hawk and the unstealthing one looks very similar, perhaps the stealth technology is British. Hawks are too small to have miracle stealthy gear added as an afterthought.

admiral kirk got lost on his way to find some humpback whales?

mines the one with the invisibility cloak

37° 5'47.71"N

76°32'32.14"W

looks like they are flying a few miles behind the other plane

ok I have been doing some tracking and found the base for the "rainbow" squadron

whats that noise.. hey you leave me alone !! is that a tazzo.......... bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzt

........................................................................

2 hours later

oh my head...

why does my ass hurt???

"E" said:

"Canada had a secret plan to carpet bomb the entire USA with BC Bud had Bush ever turned his squint northward."

I thought Canada was already doing that.