Flying under the Radar

So, what does it mean when a plane keeps flying around in a circle over your city, and it's night time and a lot of people are asleep, and it's not showing up on the radar? 

Is it a spy plane conducting surveillance, or is it dumping a chemical warfare agent on the unsuspecting populous, spreading an infectious agent, a new variant of the flu, as so many are subconsciously programmed to expect to get sick around the holidays? 

It's been going on for a few hours now. I went outside with my binoculars, and confirmed that there is in fact a plane flying around in circles. The engine is loud, and sounds like a single engine plane, but it's flying at a much higher altitude than normal, and with a wide wingspan. 

So, it's flying under the radar, which means it's either military, or illegal. Or as my mother says, maybe both. 

This is not the first time this has happened, but it has not happened in awhile, so just thought I'd make note of it. 

Updated: January 30th, 2026

So, I finally identified the plane. It was flying over during the daytime today and I recognized the sound of it, so I looked it up on the radar and this time it came up on the radar. It's a C-130J Super Hercules military transport plane, also used for refueling, combat operations, and reconnaissance. Just like the last time it was flying around in a circular path over the city for hours, just going around in circles. 

This is what it looks like. 

Comments: It has a very distinct sound and kind of sounds like a smaller plane but it's actually pretty big, and as of 2019 was valued around $73 million USD.