I'm going to try to write this piece without mentioning an acronym I had once promised never to use.

The Wall Street Journal has interviewed two other witnesses to the triangular mystery aircraft spotted by Dennis Kucinich in 1982. The sighting took place in Washington state near Mt. Ranier, where the "flying saucer" craze was born.

Judging from the description of the three vehicles witnessed that day, I theorize that the party saw a test of prototype UAVs, or drones. Such unmanned reconnaissance craft were little-known at the time. They are well-known nowadays, since they play a major role in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Although the early development of unmanned craft is not easy for outsiders to trace, these devices do have a long history. Marilyn Monroe, in the days before she had that name, once worked for a company producing the first mass-produced UAVs.

The Kucinich sighting took place in Graham, Washington, situated directly between Mount Ranier and McChord Air Force Base. (The mountain is some twenty miles away from the base.) The report indicates that the craft were flying toward McChord. After the flyover, Kucinich's party saw military helicopters in the area.

The UAVs that have received so much recent attention (such as the Predator) do not resemble flying triangles. But such designs are in use, and similarly-shaped prototypes may have been tested in the past. The triangular shape makes sense, since it is inherently stealthier, and stealth UAVs do exist. France's delta-winged Dassault nEUROn (pictured here) -- which was preceeded by the LOGIDUC -- strongly resembles the craft described by Kucinich's companions.

This explanation depends on the presumption that antecedents of the more exotic current UAV designs were being tested 25 years ago. Is that idea really so very hard to believe?

Kucinich may have seen a predecessor for the BQM-147A Exdrone (also called the Dragon Drone) which has been in production since the mid 1980s. As this page puts it:

Hundreds of Exdrones have been manufactured by BAI; they are among the most prevalent UAVs to be produced.

(A note the inevitable subject-switchers: My focus here is on the Kucinich sighting and nothing else. I have not attempted to offer a one-size-fits-all explanation for all strange things that have ever been seen in the sky. Do not consider this post your opportunity to discuss the general topic of You-Know-Whats. This blog ain't gonna go there -- and anyone who tries to take it there will find his comments deleted immediately. This means you, BD.)