On Astros case, it seems that what we're talking about is nothing more than a wing like speck in the distance, apparently observed through some binoculars a few times. I didn't see any mention of radar contact or clear observation from nearby. So here's my 2 bits worth:
Triangulation would have been possible if all the data was accurate, however the video illustrations exaggerate both the size and speed of the unknown aircraft.
If the witnesses' observations were inaccurate, the data wouldn't have been accurate. You are, again, seriously neglecting the human factor involved in assessing such a sighting.
And I use the word "aircraft" here because it had aircraft like qualities, and objects with aircraft like qualities do not conform to USAF reporting guidelines for UFOs.
That's just as silly as any argument you've made yet in your continued effort to magically (and/or dishonestly) define or semantically manipulate alien craft into existence. You use the term "aircraft", but you don't have the slightest idea what it was. Your arguments have shown that you're prone to making lousy guesses. It could just as easily have been a witch or an alien craft. You have absolutely nothing to go on that would tell you otherwise.
It also did not behave like something alien to our technology or civilization.
You can't possibly know that. Since no alien craft has ever been encountered, since there is no evidence to suggest that any such thing even exists, you can't possibly know if an alien craft might fly exactly like a little J3 Piper Cub. Truth is,
you do not know.
Its appearance was that of a flying wing [...]
Kelly Johnson didn't have superhuman vision power any more than you do. He couldn't have made out the shape of a 200 foot wide thing at 25 miles... or 40+ miles. He would have been lucky to even see it at all with his eyes, and binoculars would have only made it into a blurry little speck.
[...] and it made no instantaneous high speed maneuvers nor did it exhibit any other performance characteristics that we can be certain were beyond the technology of the day. Therefore apart from the impression it made on the witnesses, I wouldn't say that it couldn't be explained by aircraft technology of that time.
So you're saying the witnesses who thought it might be some kind of alien craft were wrong? Really? Witnesses who think something they see is an alien craft might be wrong?
The YB-35 and YB-49 both had wingspans of 172 feet and the top speed of the YB-49 was almost 500 MPH, plenty enough to outrun a WV-2. The apparent hovering may have been a result of the aircraft coming directly toward the observers on the ground. I see that illuson out my window here daily.
Apply that same line of thinking to your own alleged alien craft sighting, and you just
might be catching on to what this critical thinking stuff is all about. Or does your special pleading fallacy make your unidentified thing an alien craft while Kelly Johnson's isn't? And how do you know an alien craft isn't shaped like a giant wing, have a wingspan of 172 feet, and otherwise exhibit flight characteristics exactly like that of a Northrop flying wing?
When the airborne observers headed toward the unknown aircraft, it then headed away from them and departed the area.
... or dissipated if it was a cloud.
Gound observers say it took about 90 seconds to disappear from view. Supposing it went into a full power evasive maneuver, as appears to be the case, and considering that it was already quite distant, a thin black aircraft another 11 or 12 miles out could easily seem to disappear from view. The flying wings were also some of the first attempts at RADAR stealth, so not being detected by them may not be so unusual.
A cloud wouldn't have made much of a blip on a radar screen, would it? And a cloud dissipating in a minute and a half isn't unusual at all. I saw it happen just today.
Probable Conclusion: A flying wing type aircraft similar to the YB-49.
So you're second guessing the USAF? When do we take your word for something over that of the Air Force, and when should we accept the Air Force's assessment as being better than yours?
Oh, here are a couple of reality check questions for you to ignore: How do you know an alien craft doesn't have flight characteristics exactly like a Cessna 336? How do you know that most times people believe they have seen a Cessna 336 it wasn't really an alien craft?
