People are saying jaw-dropping footage shows a fighter jet 'activating its cloaking device' - and the real explanation is just as impressive.
The F-22 Raptor (full name the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor) is arguably one of the most advanced fighter jets ever created, but are sadly no longer made.
The groundbreaking air vessels were created for the United States Air Force, and its production ceased in 2011.
There are still over 180 F-22s in service with the Air Force as of November 2023 but, as they're no longer being made, it's expected that all F-22s will retire from service by 2030.
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The main reason they stop being made was reportedly down to the aircraft's high operating costs. It's said that it costs a staggering $68,000 an hour to run, as per The National Interest.
Why does it cost so much, I hear you ask? Well, the impressive aircraft can hit speeds of 1,500 mph - 2.2 times the speed of sound - and burns around 5,000 pounds of fuel every hour.
In the moments running up to a F-22 breaking the sound barrier, it creates what's known as a vapor cone, which some people online have compared to a 'cloaking device'.
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An amazing video shared by photographer and videographer Mark Fingar on social media shows the moment an F-22 nears to breaking the sound barrier and is engulfed by a vapor cone, making it difficult to see to the naked eye.
Eventually the cone drops off and the fighter jet remerges like a phoenix rising from the ashes.
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The clip was shared in recent days and has left social-media users floored.
Sharing the video on X, one person quipped: "Mark Fingar captured an F-22 Raptor activating its cloaking device."
Meanwhile, someone else compared it to something out of a Harry Potter movie.
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"It's how they play peekaboo in the clouds," joked another.
As to what is actually happening, vapor cones occur because of condensed water that can sometimes form around an object moving at high speed through moist air.
When localized air pressure around an object like an F-22 Raptor drops, so does the temperature. Then, if the temperature drops below saturation temperature (the temperature for a corresponding saturation pressure at which a liquid boils into its vapor phase), a cloud will form.
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The change in temperature can also cause a shockwave.
Rod Irvine, the chairman of the Royal Aeronautical Society’s aerodynamics group, explained to the BBC: "If you see a vapor cone, you’ve got a shockwave, because you’ve got a change in pressure and temperature."
Irvine added: "The aircraft isn’t necessarily travelling faster than the speed of sound, but the air travelling over the wing is accelerated and locally breaks the sound barrier."
Mind blown? Me too.
Topics: News, Military, Technology, Social Media