Odd looking planes

[guykuo]

Here is one for you. Two planes, but with forward and rearward light beams. I could not figure it out, but one of the veterans thought it might be a mid-air refuel.

What do you guys think? The video is at 20X speed.

 

[guykuo]

Retired air force neighbor concurs this is a mid-air refueling. Says typically at over 25,000 feet.

 

[The Automation Guy]

I'm shocked they use bright white lights in flight like that. I would expect the front facing lights to do zero for the pilots (the light has to reflect off something to be of any benefit to the pilot), but it could be blinding for any pilot nearby. Similarly I'd expect that a bright white light out the tail of the lead aircraft would blind the pilot of an approaching plane. Also, planes would be blacked out in wartime, so I would expect them to train using nightvision for that reason as well.

It's the same reason you shouldn't use "docking" lights on a boat at night until you are actually docking. Use while boating doesn't help the driver see anything and blinds any other boater in the area.

 

[TonyR]

Hey, this was also on August 6th; from @garycrist :

For Those With Sky-Cams

The other night on the morning of the 6th of August, check you cams for a fuel dump. I caught it, but when viewed, I thought it was a STEVE. https://spaceweathergallery2.com/indiv_upload.php?upload_id=210760

ipcamtalk.com