A United States Navy aircrew took it upon themselves to stun residents of Okanogan County, Washington when they used a military aircraft to draw an image of a giant penis in the sky on Thursday.
The navy admitted that at least one of their pilots was behind the stunt and apologized.
“US Navy aircrew, flying an F/A-18 Growler (Electronic Attack Aircraft) assigned to Electronic Attack Squadron 130 based at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Wash., flew an air pattern over Okanogan County, Washington, on Thursday, November 16, that left a condensed air trail resembling an obscene image to observers on the ground,” Navy spokesperson Lt. Cmdr. Leslie Hubbell said, according to CNN.
https://twitter.com/moliver/status/931747963046645760
“Sophomoric and immature antics of a sexual nature have no place in Naval aviation today,” Navy “Air Boss” Vice Adm. Mike Shoemaker said in a written statement, reported the news station. “This event clearly stands in stark contrast to the way our aviators and Sailors are performing with utmost professionalism, discipline and excellence from our carrier flight decks and expeditionary airfields around the world today.”
“From a Navy standpoint, we do hold our aircrew to the highest standards and this is absolutely unacceptable,” Navy Spokesman Thomas Mills told the BBC. “It has zero training value and the aircrew is being held accountable.”
While the Federal Aviation Administration said the act never posed a safety risk, they also noted that there are currently no regulations in place concerning sky art.
Onlookers who took videos and photos of the stunt complained to KREM 2, and the story is quickly going viral with varying responses, with most making a joke of the ordeal.
“The most monumental thing to happen in omak,” @anahi_torres sarcastically stated. “A penis in the sky.”
“Gotta love that the #USNAVY pilots have a sense of humor, guessing they will be in BIG trouble, but I personally LOVE it!,” @JackLawrenceXXX tweeted:
“If I traced my own penis on a pad with a pencil, it still would not come out looking as good as this Navy dudes #SkyPenis…and might I add that is one huge #penis..damn #penisenvy..and applause to the Navy dude for his amazing artistic talent when it comes to dick????,” wrote @KirkInMontreal:
@XplodingUnicorn’s reaction has garnered over 4,000 likes on Twitter at the time of publishing:
[pilot draws a penis in the sky]
Me: Was it you?
My brother in the Air Force: No.
Me: You’ve disappointed us all.
Jimmy Fallon and The Tonight Show announcer, Steve Higgins, joked about the rebellious act on The Tonight Show Friday.
This made me laugh, the navy just admitted that one of its pilots intentionally drew something inappropriate in the sky over Washington State, this is real…I mean what’s the big deal?,” Fallon said. “Everyone knows there’s four types of clouds, cirrus, cumulus, stratus and penis. The worst part was it stayed up there for over four hours and they had to call a doctor.”
“Really?” Higgins responded. “Oh my God, it was a Navy pilot…so it was drawn by a seaman…wow that’s nuts!”
“No, it’s actually more than nuts…I’m just talking about shaft!,” Fallon said back, drawing wild cheers from the crowd.
Amid the comical responses came at least one complaint from a woman who was upset about having to explain to her children what the image represented. Read on for further reactions to the scandal: