UPDATED: Lockheed's Skunk Works Confirms It's Their Bird (Tuesday 1:00 PM)

Let's get this out in the open. Neither you nor I are likely to learn the truth about the image of that thing that might be a plane under the white covering.

But there's this website called Open Source Geoint and it has published a satellite image of one of the most secret defense plants in the country, the Air Force's Plant 42, where a handful of the top defense companies build some of the country's most highly classified aircraft and sensors.

Plant 42 houses highly classified facilities where a number of contractors, including, most famously, Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works, do work for the military and the intelligence community.

The Skunk Works is where the U-2 spy plane and the F-117 stealth fighter were built.

The image in the satellite photo may, or may not, show the outlines of a previously unknown aircraft. My colleague Dave Majumdar, who writes Flight Global's the Dew Line, speculates that this aircraft "looks a lot like a RQ-170, but bigger..."

He postulates that it may be a P.420, a larger plane than the so-called Beast of Kandahar. [Note to those who wonder why we build things like the RQ-170. It was able to provide important help to the team that killed Osama Bin Laden without being detected by Pakistani radar.]

Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works, remarkably, issued a statement:

"Lockheed Martin Skunk Works often experiments with different shapes and materials for both manned and unmanned vehicles. What you see in the satellite image is one of those projects," said Melissa Dalton, their spokeswoman.

Dalton declined to identify the aircraft pictured, saying the "details are proprietary."

Dave, who is a bit obsessed with planes -- in a good way -- found a patent for a plane that might look like whatever is under the white protective covering in the photo. Or perhaps it's a modified RQ-170 being outfitted for more Iranian surveillance. Or maybe it's -- oh, never mind.

If you know what this image actually shows, post your comments.

Now, cue spooky music from The X Files. And remember: the truth is out there. [But we'll probably never know it!]

Note: Air Force Plant 42 (AFP 42) is a federally owned military aerospace facility under the control of the Air Force Material Command (AFMC) in Palmdale, California. Aerospace contractors at Air Force Plant 42 share a common runway complex and either lease building space from the Air Force (commonly referred to as GOCO, or Government Owned Contractor Operated), or own their own building outright.

There are eight separate production sites specially suited for advanced technology and/or "black" program projects.

Currently the most well known contractors at Plant 42 are Boeing, Lockheed Martin (home of the legendary Skunk Works), and Northrop Grumman. Plant 42 as of August 2010 has updated their operation status from GOCO (Government Owned Contractor Operated) to a DoD operated facility.

Privately run since 1954, the Air Force under the Obama administration chose to insource the contracted operations of the plant.

Now it is run by DoD resources, with Detachment 1 in command. Plant 42 was established in 1953 and then managed by the USAF in 1954.[2] Located in the southern Antelope Valley, Plant 42 is strategically located near Los Angeles area defense and aerospace contractor companies, as well as Edwards Air Force Base's high-speed test corridors used under the direction of the base's Air Force Flight Test Center (AFFTC).

It is 65 miles (105 km) from the LA Civic Center and 37 miles (60 km) from Edwards' flightline. - wikipedia