This article by Alex Hollings originally appeared on SOFREP On the day before Thanksgiving, November 24, 1971, an appropriately well-dressed man who was around six feet tall and thought to be in his mid-40s bought a $20 airplane ticket for Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 305. The name he provided when he purchased the ticket was Dan Cooper, […]
Delta Force and Hollywood: An uneasy partnership
FeaturedThis article by Alex Hollings originally appeared on SOFREP There are distinct differences between SEAL Team 6 and Delta Force that are worthy of exploration, but in the minds of the American public, only one of these elite war fighting units is the most popular. They draw more headlines, sell more books, and use more hair gel […]
Dyatlov Pass: Did a failed Soviet missile test create one of the internet’s most pervasive mysteries?
FeaturedThis article by Alex Hollings originally appeared on SOFREP The internet has no shortage of mysteries for those inclined to chase them. Many fit neatly within genres with dedicated fan bases: true crime, Bigfoot, unexplained lights in the sky. But some are so inexplicable, so disturbing, that they worm their way into nearly every corner of […]
The new ‘Black Widow’ movie features a Cold War Soviet version of Captain America
LifestyleThis article by Alex Hollings was originally published by SOFREP When it comes to action-packed blockbusters, no one in the game has demonstrated a propensity for creating solid-to-great movies that share a single cinematic universe like Marvel has. From the early days of “Iron Man” to significant tonal shifts in movies like “Guardians of the […]
Ghost Ship in the Sky: How a WWII sub-hunting blimp crew vanished
HistoryThis article by Alex Hollings was originally published by SOFREP Stories of ghost ships adrift in the vast expanses of ocean have survived since man first took to the sea. Legends about ships like The Flying Dutchman, which was lost under the leadership of Van der Decken near the Cape of Good Hope as they […]
How are automatic weapons actually used in combat?
Military AffairsThis article by Alex Hollings was originally published by SOFREP One of the most common misconceptions about firearms you may come across involves the appropriate use, and value of, automatic weapons. If action movies and TV shows are to be believed, an automatic weapon is always the best option for a fire fight – and […]
How hypersonic drones could defeat missiles the same way the SR-71 did
Military AffairsThis article by Alex Hollings was originally published by SOFREP The SR-71 Blackbird, the fastest production aircraft to serve in any nation’s military, had over 4,000 surface-to-air and air-to-air missiles fired at it over its more than three-decades of service. Not a single one ever found its target. Longer than a hundred feet and wider […]
The Air Force’s ‘Arsenal Plane’ concept could pair F-35s with missile-laden bombers
Air ForceThis article by Alex Hollings was originally published by SOFREP For all the strengths boasted by America’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighters and F-22 Raptors, these stealthy fifth generation platforms still suffer from one significant drawback during combat operations: their relatively low magazine capacity. In order to maintain their stealthy profile, these fighters have to carry […]
What would infantry robots look like? This parody may be onto something…
LifestyleThis article by Alex Hollings was originally published by SOFREP For all its faults, YouTube has created an entire ecosystem of content creators that might have otherwise gone unnoticed (or been relegated to a few lines in movie credits), and you’d be hard pressed to find a better example than the Corridor Crew. With two […]
The CIA’s formerly classified list of jokes about the Soviet Union
HistoryThis article by Alex Hollings was originally published by SOFREP The CIA webpage is an oft under-appreciated gem in the U.S. government’s suite of dry, formal websites. There’s no formal decree that mandates government sites have to be boring, but something about the need to exude inoffensive professionalism throughout every corner of these sprawling domains […]
