Intriguing Aircraft Lures Eyes to the Sky in Central Iowa

All eyes were focused on low-flying "mysterious" aircraft in Des Moines this week that turned out to be nothing but a routine training exercise.

It may happen more frequently than we know, but it's an awesome sight when it's right from your own backyard. According to KCCI, many residents did see it Tuesday and curiously wondered what was going on.

A U.S. Air Force spokesperson told KCCI it was an aircraft from Tinker Air Force base in Oklahoma City. The USAF 552nd air control wing was conducting readiness and agility testing but the low-flying nature of the flight concerned residents. The Air Force confirmed they were not running radar from the aircraft.

They published Thursday they have completed the exercise called "Agile Thunder 22-02"

A website devoted to the 552nd Air Control Wing described the operation :

This was the largest generation and employment exercise in the last 20 years, where we incorporated the complexities of employing Agile Combat support elements, utilized multi-capable airmen, and executed dynamic force employment concepts of the E-3G DRAGON

It is not clear whether the Des Moines flight was related to this operation.

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