A "black program"

The general populace in the United States had long believed that the U.S. Government was suppressing information about what people were seeing in the skies. People also suspected that the government might have collected artifacts from wrecks within the continental U.S., at a minimum. In fact, it was true. Since 1947, when the first wreckage had been collected, a concerted effort was made to collect similar wrecks, when they were found and to hide that fact. A long-running "black project" was underway to study and to utilize what was found. Prototypes were built, but they were constructed and tested under the most secret conditions. One of the prime contractors was an aeronautical company that had formerly designed and built complete aircraft, but had gotten out of that business, as the aviation market shrank. They seemed like a good company to employ, because they were out of the main stream of aviation development. They had a huge complex in Texas, and a lot of spare manufacturing capacity. By the early 2000's, the Government apparently felt emboldened and started to fly their new craft in the night skies to the southwest of Dallas. Startled observers described what they saw as being "a mile long and a half mile wide", but the actual craft was considerably smaller than that, although it was very large. The test pilots and crews stayed close to the ground to avoid radar and to avoid commercial and general aviation. They liked to fly on the weekends, as there was generally a lower level of activity on the air and on the ground. The long winter nights were welcome cover. The crews delighted in playing with their running lights to give the started residents a good show, and they attracted a great deal of attention and wonderment.