Project Silver Bug / Avro VZ-9 Avrocar (1953-1961)
artifactIntelligence & Surveillance · Occult & Esoteric · Media & Managed Opposition
The US Air Force really did try to build a flying saucer in the 1950s, and it barely got off the ground.
Who they are
Project Silver Bug and its prototype, the Avro VZ-9 Avrocar (1953-1961).
What they do
It was a genuine, government-funded attempt to build a supersonic saucer-shaped aircraft that takes off straight up.
How it works
The US Air Force took over Avro Canada's saucer project in 1953 with a roughly $750,000 contract in 1955, but the prototype was a flop: it wobbled badly, only reached about 3 feet high and 35 mph (versus the promised 10,000 feet and 300 mph), and was cancelled in December 1961.
Why it matters
The engine keeps the real failed program but throws out a fake 'Silver Manta' story (which actually traces to costume jewelry). Alongside it sit documented government cover-story efforts, like a 1955 magazine leak of 'Soviet saucers' using Avro drawings and a 1953 CIA panel urging media 'debunking.' Whether any secret exotic-engine craft ever actually flew is left unresolved, and the engine names no one as the answer.
The engine's record — word for word
[Report #127] The real terrestrial flying-disc program behind the source's 'Silver Manta' code. The USAF assumed funding of Avro Canada's 'Project Y' in 1953 (designations WS-606A / Project 1794 / Project Silver Bug; ~$750k 1955 contract) for a supersonic Coanda-effect VTOL 'flying saucer.' The prototype, the Avro VZ-9 AVROCAR, was an engineering failure: severely unstable, reaching ~3 ft altitude and ~35 mph (vs 10,000 ft / 300 mph projected); cancelled Dec 1961. SUBSTRATE-VS-ANNOUNCEMENT (Div #79): the source's fabricated 'Silver Manta' (traces to consumer jewelry, not a 1952 program) is kept OUT; the real failed program is held. Documented state UFO-cover instances sit alongside it — the 1955 Look-magazine 'Soviet saucers' leak using Avro/Frost drawings, and the CIA Robertson Panel (Jan 1953) recommending mass-media 'debunking' — but whether the terrestrial exotic-propulsion lineage ever produced anything operational is UNRESOLVED; name no holder. Primary: Avro Canada VZ-9 Avrocar (Wikipedia); theblackvault.com Silver Bug docs; CIA Robertson Panel.
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