The me that nobody knows...

"This is one of those rabbit hole experiences. Go on the internet and poke around. Lots of theories, lots of speculations, very few facts." 

I am now going to conflate two people from much different worlds. The first is former Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld. In 2002, he announced there was $2.3T of DOD budget which was either missing, or unaccounted for. Let that sink in for just a second. That statement left a lot of jaws dropping on the floor. BTW- the number was trillion and not billion.

Next I will bring in the spy Edward Snowden. In the massive dump of classified information he put on the internet, there was many references to "black programs". So what does the $2.3T and Snowden's reference to "black programs" have in common? Maybe nothing - maybe quite a bit.

For years now, there have been rumors the government was doing things militarily as well as clandestinely for our security services, which were "off the books". Expensive things, like developing the follow-on to the SR-71 (the Mach 6, SR-72).

Others think the rumored Aurora is the follow-on instead of the SR-72, and has been flying for years. Others think we have developed something even sexier than the Sr-72 or the Aurora with a craft like the TR-3B. That platform is rumored to have the next generation propulsion. How fast? You would not want to know. 

Still others think the DOD has used the funding to create a series of underground bases. Believe it or else, they are referred to as D.U.M.B. (Deep Underground Military Bases). I guess if I were a military planner, I might have chosen a different name. In any event, some whistle blowers have come forward and told tales of their time stationed in a D.U.M.B. Many have said these bases pepper the desert southwest (as well as some other places), and are connected by a series of tunnels which use high speed electric trains to move people and supplies.

Then of course, is my favorite. There are the rumors that the military has been doing much more in space than NASA has. Many launches from Vandenberg AFB over the past decades, with the result being a permanent space force. Now this is where it gets rich.

Once President Trump was briefed on this, he wanted to take the space force out of the shadows and put it in the spotlight. According to some of the theorists, we have been back to the moon many times since the 1970's, have some structures built there, and have even been to Mars. Stay tuned to this one - it might just have legs.

If I can personify myself just for a minute, as a black program, this is what I would say - "This is the me nobody knows". If the things I listed were real, urban legend, or just plain BS - I don't know. But I to know this - there is a "black budget" to each spending bill, each year. And from working in the DOD procurement arena, I do know there are ways to shift funds around. In other words, over the years, I could see how $2.3T could "disappear".

One final thing. In the early 1970's, while serving in the Navy and working on SAP (Special Access Program) programs, there was one which was so secret, it was "off the books". In fact, it was so Top Secret (code word), that the section supervisors kept a loaded .45 right inside the access door. Even though surrounded by other TS programs in its location, to enter those spaces without the proper clearance could have been lethal.

This is one of those rabbit hole experiences. Go on the internet and poke around. Lots of theories, lots of speculations, very few facts. I am not like some who have had a conspiracy show. I like to have some more solid facts than just "maybes". But this one is fun for sure to investigate. I know I am not done yet.