Stunned onlookers have looked up to the skies in the US and spotted a strange plane larger than an American football field flying overhead. In a series of dramatic videos that surfaced on Reddit, eagle-eyed observers filmed an enormous aircraft, likened to that which you might expect in a “science fiction novel”, soaring through the skies of California.

Yet, the origin of the vast plane is likely something more grounded in reality, but remains equally fascinating nonetheless, suggest aviation fans who captured the flying marvel on film. Indeed, they believe that it’s an experimental aircraft designed by Mojave Desert-based aerospace firm Stratolaunch.

Known as the ‘Stratolaunch Roc’ and dubbed the world’s largest plane, the aircraft’s appearance resembles two planes fused together, with an enormous 385-foot wingspan that exceeds the length of a US football field, writes San Francisco news website SFGate

It derives its curious name from a colossal bird of prey from Middle Eastern folklore that appears in the Arabian Nights. It also features six Boeing 747 engines and a whopping takeoff weight of 1.3 million pounds.

It’s wouldn’t be the first time that the Roc has made headlines, though, as a previous CBBC Newsround report from 2023 shared details about a test flight in which it soared for six continuous hours over the desert.

The outlet reported at the time that the aircraft was intended to be utilised as a “moving launch pad for satellites”, as well as for what it described as other “things” heading up into space.

Another one of the Roc’s uses is carrying the Talon-A2, a hypersonic plane that can reach 3,800mph and circumnavigate the globe in an astounding time of less than seven hours.

In May, reports emerged that the technological marvel had completed successful test flights, one in December 2024 and another in March 2025, according to the US Department of Defense (recently rebranded the Department of War).

Zachary Krevor, the CEO of Stratolaunch, said: “I am in awe of what this team has achieved.

“We’ve executed four incredible Talon-A flights, completed twenty-four Roc flights to date, flew two new supersonic and hypersonic airplanes in a single year, and we are firmly on the path to making hypersonic flight test services a reality.”

The Talon-A2 can reach speeds exceeding the speed of sound by more than five times, according to the Sun. Meanwhile, a simulation of the aircraft’s flight displayed it being shot into the sky by its carrier.

In other aviation news, another experimental aircraft dubbed the X-59 took its first flight in October from the famed Skunk Works facility (part of Lockheed Martin) in California.

Its flight reportedly saw it cruise for approximately one hour prior to its landing at Edwards Air Force Base, a distance of about 85 miles.