The United States military shot down a “suspicious airplane” over the Gulf of America moments before President Donald J. Trump and his entourage left the Superbowl before the fourth quarter of the Philadelphia Eagles’s blowout over the Kansas City Chiefs.
His early departure sparked online debate, with many saying that Trump, who was rooting for the Chiefs, was miffed that they were losing dismally 34-6 with little chance of bouncing back. The Chiefs rallied in the fourth quarter, scoring 16 points, but still lost 40-22, by which time Trump was back aboard Air Force One.
Our sources say Trump’s premature retreat came after he learned that a pair of F-22 Raptors performing a Combat Air Patrol over Louisiana and the Gulf destroyed a Gulfstream G550—an American business jet with an operational range of over 7,000 miles—that refused to answer radio calls and was flying without an active transponder and Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) system.
The Raptors and a KC-135 tanker were already airborne when an E-3 Sentry (AWACS) detected the Gulfstream 140 miles south of New Orleans. AWACS vectored the super-cruise Raptors to the bogey and requested they visually identify the invading aircraft. The pilots lit their cans—military jargon for afterburners—and intercepted the Gulfstream 70 miles south of Port Fourchon. It did not answer radio calls and, concerningly, had no visible FAA registry number on its fuselage or tail. The raptor pilots noted that someone had spraypainted black paint over identifiable features.
The Raptors flanked the Gulfstream and waggled their wings, an internationally recognizable message saying, “Hey, we want to communicate with you.” Whoever was flying the Gulfstream took evasive action, diving suddenly from 27,000 to 17,000 feet and maneuvering the plane erratically. At that point, the Raptors passed directly before its nose, clearly indicating they were performing an interception. Still, the G550 did not respond and returned to its original heading—toward New Orleans.
The Raptor pilots fired a burst of 20mm shells in front of the Gulfstream. However, its pilot seemed undeterred.
As the Gulfstream approached the coast, the Raptors received permission to fire—though it’s unclear at this moment who exactly authorized the shootdown—and blew the Gulfstream to smithereens.
We hope to have more details on this emerging story soon.