Lenticular Reentry Vehicle

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The Lenticular Reentry Vehicle, according to a November 2000 Popular Mechanics cover story, was an experimental nuclear warhead delivery system under development during the Cold War by defense contractor North American Aviation, managed out of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio.

The project was classified as secret in 1962, as describing an offensive weapons system. Popular Mechanics obtained information on the LRV from a Freedom of Information Act request after documents describing the project were declassified in 1999.

The craft was a 40-foot half-saucer with a flat rear edge. The design study documents indicate that it would have had a four-man crew and have been capable of a six-week orbital mission. Propulsion was from a rocket engine (either chemical or nuclear) and the craft would also have contained an on-board nuclear reactor for electrical power generation.

The existence of the LRV program may lend credence to the military flying saucers theory of Unidentified Flying Objects. However the flight characteristics of the LRV as described by these documents would appear to be more similar to a standard orbital space capsule of the 1960s era rather than the rapid motion and sudden velocity change characteristic of many reported UFOs.

As of the publication of the Popular Mechanics article, there has been no official confirmation as to whether the Lenticular Reentry Vehicle ever flew.