Google Earth captures US Air Force stealth bomber flying over Missouri farm

Reddit user jokes: ‘Not so stealthy now, are ya?’

A stealth bomber belonging to the US Air Force was captured on Google Earth flying over a farm in Missouri, delighting internet users.

The stealth bomber was spotted by Reddit user u/Hippowned, who shared his finding on Tuesday with followers of the /Dammthat’sinteresting subreddit.

An image from Google Earth showed the $2bn (£1.5bn) aircraft above a rural field, presumably that of a Missouri farmer, and west of Kansas City, Missouri.

Nor was it far away from the Whiteman Air Force Base, about 20 miles south of the Google Earth sighting, and where the stealth bombers are based for the US Air Force.

u/Hippowned said in a YouTube video that his finding was “hilarious”, with his channel usually hosting gardening and home content.

He told viewers: “It’s pretty funny, you’ve got a stealth bomber flying over a farmer’s house, into his field, it looks like he’s a crop-duster.”

On Reddit, the post has received more than 110,00 upvotes and in excess of 3,000 comments about the steal bomber.

“These things are eerie in the air,” one person said. “If you ever get a chance to see one at an air show, it is practically silent while it circles overhead. Plus I heard there’s a rigorous and costly post-flight inspection.”

“Was standing in line at the bank when a women started screaming ‘aliens’, [when] one of these was making a slow silent turn overhead cause of a nearby airshow,” said another user on Reddit. “Hilarious that people don’t know what their own government has in it’s arsenal.”

“More like a photo bomber,” one user joked, causing another to respond with: “Not so stealthy now, are ya?”

The US Air Force has operated the B2-stealth bomber – which reportedly has a wingspan of 172 feet – since 1993, with its first aircraft named Spirit of Missouri.

“Its low-observable, or ‘stealth,’ characteristics give it the unique ability to penetrate an enemy’s most sophisticated defenses and threaten its most valued, and heavily defended, targets,” the force says on its website.

“Its capability to penetrate air defenses and threaten effective retaliation provides a strong, effective deterrent and combat force well into the 21st century.”

A new generation of stealth bombers are in production, the US Air Force has said, and is expected to begin testing next year, according to AeroMag.