Mystery Plane Flying Over Traverse City, Michigan is Driving Conspiracy People Nuts

I love a good conspiracy theory. There's nothing quite like catching "the man" doing something that they maybe shouldn't be doing. A new mystery plane flying over the Midwest, specifically a flight pattern between suburban Detroit, Flint and Traverse City in Michigan, is the source of a brand new theory that may (or may not) involve the government spying or maybe even worse.

It's important to me that my conspiracy theories come from a reliable source. In this case, it's the Stars and Stripes which is about as good as it gets in my book. Their headline is simple enough:

Mystery plane returns to Michigan airspace

You had me as soon as you say "mystery plane". So here are the basic facts along with why that's fishy. It's a Gulfstream IV operating under the tail number N515JA based on their article.

This YouTube guy summarizes a lot of the reasons why the conspiracy theory people are buzzing about this plane.

It's not just that it's been circling over the same area of Michigan over and over again, but that it's been modified with some type of potential monitoring device. That last part is just a theory, but his reasoning is sound to believe that's at least based on truth. When it comes to cameras and audio, materials used for shielding are vital to understanding what you're looking at.

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The other smoking gun (or plane?) is that the Stars and Stripes attempts at comments from the company that own the plane go unanswered. Check out these juicy details from their article:

A voicemail message left with the company was not returned and an email to the press office listed on their website was returned as undeliverable.

Nothing feeds a good conspiracy theory more than a big ole "no comment". Undeliverable emails are also a sure sign that "the man" is trying to hide something.

Is the government hiring out this plane for unauthorized surveillance on the populace or is this just another innocent plane going around in circles? The truth is out there...or maybe up there.

Editor's Note: The image accompanying this story is representative of a Gulfstream aircraft and not the actual airplane referred to in the story.