- The Washington Times - Friday, October 17, 2014

The Air Force’s secretive X-37B spy plane has returned to Earth after nearly two years circling the globe.

“The 30th Space Wing and our mission partners, Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office, Boeing, and our base support contractors, have put countless hours of hard work into preparing for this landing and today we were able to see the culmination of that dedication,” Col. Keith Balts, 30th Space Wing commander, said in press release Friday.

The Boeing aircraft was in the air for 674 days, but when asked by NBC News what it was doing, the network was met with a “polite but firm ’no comment’” by the Air Force.

The X-37B last entered orbit Dec. 12, 2012, and spent the next two years 180 miles above the planet, NBC reported.

The Air Force announced that its plane landed at 9:24 a.m. local time Friday at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.

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