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The original was posted on /r/ufos by /u/fivespeed on 2024-09-07 04:14:07+00:00.

Original Title: The X-15 hypersonic Mach 5+ and the SR-71 airbreathing Mach 3.2+ both stopped flying in the 1960s. What has happened since then? It feels like there’s a huge plot hole in the history of mankind’s quest for speed and no one seems to notice it

Are we simply not allowed to know because of classification? Yet we were allowed to know of the Nighthawk and B-2? Or did we reach an apex in aerospace development (hell, even the Concorde is 1960s tech too)… where it didn’t make fiscal sense to keep pushing the boundaries instead focusing on miniaturization of computers (the last 50+ years of tech progress one could argue) alongside the rising trend of satellite technology superseding maned flight to reach the same military objectives.

Clearly I’m not pointing to the missing elephant in the room (reverse engineering) which is why I laid out these counter arguments for discussion. I’d like to get to the bottom of this after watching a fascinating recollection of the x-planes history and getting a little tipsy.