An investigation by the Navy into two lieutenants who drew a penis in the sky with jet streams obtained by the Navy Times detailed the conversation the two pilots had as they drew the genitalia in the blue sky of Washington state in 2017.
The Navy Times reports how the since-viral moment was orchestrated by two junior officers who communicated with each other extensively throughout the process, according to a copy of the Navy’s investigation it obtained.
“Draw a giant penis,” the electronic warfare officer (EWO) first suggested to the pilot he shared the cockpit with. “That would be awesome.”
{mosads}“What did you do on your flight?” the pilot joked, according to a transcription of the in-flight video recording. “Oh, we turned dinosaurs into sky penises.”
“You should totally try to draw a penis,” the EWO responded.
“I could definitely draw one, that would be easy,” the pilot said. “I could basically draw a figure eight and turn around and come back. I’m gonna go down, grab some speed and hopefully get out of the contrail layer so they’re not connected to each other.”
The investigation then detailed the back-and-forth between the pilot and the EWO as the male genitalia in the sky was being constructed.
The pilot, who was not identified in the investigation, then realized the image he drew would remain in the air longer than he initially expected.
“Soon after, I realized the extent of our actions,” the pilot in a later statement. “That the contrails were remaining longer than predicted.”
The phallic image was first reported by a local news outlet after a mother took pictures of the jet stream lingering in the sky and complained about it.
The investigation found that commanders from the squadron located in western Washington at the Whidbey Island Naval Air Station alerted leadership in Washington, D.C., that the incident was soon to attract media attention.
“Aircrew maneuvered an EA-18G aircraft in a pattern that resulted in contrails depicting an obscene symbol when viewed from the ground,” an alert sent from the squadron read. “Media attention is expected.”
Ultimately, the two lieutenants received “non-punitive letters of instruction” for the incident after Navy officials reviewed their prior behavior and determined they should be allowed to continue to fly.
“They 100 percent need to be held accountable, but if they are allowed to continue in naval aviation this is not a mistake they will repeat,” the squadron’s executive officer wrote. “Minus the current circumstances, they have never given me a reason to doubt their trustworthiness or their resolve to be officers in the Navy.”