"Andrew Gray" wrote in message
. ..

It sounds like photos I've seen of the "flying laser", though the photos
I remember looked a lot more like they had an airscoop than the ones I
can find online. Bah. How mundane.

http://www.airliners.net/Airliners_n...855&ViD=middle

This is the YAL-1A (Boeing Model 747-4G4F) airborne laser, and we see that
it doesn't seem to match the description. Probably an E-4B then, although
that has "United States of America" titles rather than USAF ones.