A handful of elite airmen from the United States Air Force's 596th Bomb Squadron were awoken by the sound of a blaring alert siren on the dawn of January 16, 1991. After months of training for a highly secretive mission they were not even fully informed about, the mysterious endeavor suddenly became real.

As a result of the Iraqi leadership's August 1990 invasion of Kuwait, 57 aviators aboard seven B-52 Stratofortresses carrying a highly secretive new American weapon were about to embark on the longest aerial sortie ever conducted to that day.

It was dark, rainy, and with high winds when Operation Senior Surprise was launched, and it would take exhaustive efforts to keep the iconic B-52s aloft.

After 15 hours of arduous conditions above the Atlantic and into the Middle East, the airmen now faced an even more daunting challenge: to deploy the new weapon accurately and hit all their desired targets…

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Join Dark Skies as we explore the world of aviation with cinematic short documentaries featuring the biggest and fastest airplanes ever built, top-secret military projects, and classified missions with hidden untold true stories. Including US, German, and Soviet warplanes, along with aircraft developments that took place during World War I, World War 2, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Cold War, the Gulf War, and special operations mission in between.

As images and footage of actual events are not always available, Dark Skies sometimes utilizes similar historical images and footage for dramatic effect and soundtracks for emotional impact. We do our best to keep it as visually accurate as possible.

All content on Dark Skies is researched, produced, and presented in historical context for educational purposes. We are history enthusiasts and are not always experts in some areas, so please don't hesitate to reach out to us with corrections, additional information, or new ideas.