Air Force officials in Europe said Tuesday that recent contrails over Germany that some internet denizens believed were sky penis renderings meant to rival the Navy’s past feats were not intentional, and were simply mission-related contrails.
“Our pilots were conducting their normal flight patterns, which are based on planned tactics frequently involving circles and straight lines,” 52nd Fighter Wing spokeswoman Capt. Andrea Valencia said in an email.
The weather rendered the contrails visible from the ground, “and simply showed the patterns that our pilots do on a day to day basis,” she said.
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“The contrails were not intended to signal anything to anyone on the ground,” Valencia said. “The pattern and multitude was not an intentional act.”
Military and veteran internet predictably exploded last week when the photos emerged.
The Air Force renderings were not as definitive as the Navy effort that got two EA-18G Growler aviators disciplined last year, when they drew a cleaner, clearer contrail portrayal over Washington State.
Geoff is the managing editor of Military Times, but he still loves writing stories. He covered Iraq and Afghanistan extensively and was a reporter at the Chicago Tribune. He welcomes any and all kinds of tips at geoffz@militarytimes.com.
