the camera on the air force's sr-71 blackbird reconnaissance jet can accurately read the license plate on your car from more than 15 miles up.

u.s. taxpayers spent us$486 million on planes for the afghanistan air force. after just 234 hours of flight time, they were sold as scrap for us$32,000.

during the cold war, the u.s. used 6 bears to test ejector seats in jets. the bears were drugged for the tests, then killed afterward so that the air force could determine the effects of ejection at supersonic speeds on their bodies.