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Fans at Monday’s San Francisco 49ers game caught a glimpse of more than just the team’s 23-17 win over the Washington Commanders — as a government plane tied to top-secret spy missions conducted a flyover of Levi’s Stadium, according to eagle-eyed viewers.
Lockheed Martin’s U-2 aircraft, also known as the “Dragon Lady,” made a rare appearance at the game, the Beale Air Force Base confirmed to multiple media outlets. The same aircraft previously flew over an Oakland A’s game in 2024.
The U-2 aircraft is an elite spy plane that was created for the Cold War and is able to fly over 400 mph at an altitude of more than 70,000 feet.
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According to military aircraft trackers, the U-2 – tail number 80-1099 – had returned to Beale Air Force Base, based in California, on October 13 after being deployed to RAF Fairford in the UK earlier this year.
That airbase in the UK was recently the target of a planned attack, given its prominent role in America’s campaign against Iran.
“The military flyover conducted at Levi’s Stadium on October 19 was a coordinated, pre-planned mission executed in partnership with the San Francisco 49ers,” a spokesperson for the 9th Reconnaissance Wing Public Affairs Office told The California Post.
“These events serve as a key component of our community outreach program, allowing the public to connect with military personnel and capabilities. Additionally, they provide our aircrews with invaluable, time-sensitive training in precision timing, navigation, and operations in complex, high-density civilian airspace.”
The spy planes have conducted serious spy missions throughout its history, with photographs captured of Soviet offensive nuclear missiles in Cuba and its capabilities used in missions in Korea and the Middle East.
According to the Air Force, the fleet of U-2s are based in Beale but are rotated to operational detachments worldwide.
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