US Air Force's 'secret' space shuttle goes missing again

Melbourne, Oct 13 (ANI): The X-37B - 'secret' space shuttle of US Air Force has gone missing again and rumours are abound that it may have landed somewhere.

The X-37B has been orbiting the Earth for 173 days since its launch on April 22 and has captured the imagination of sky-watchers, military experts and conspiracy theorists worldwide.

Some reckon its purpose is to ferry spy satellites into orbit and others, it may signal the start of the weaponisation of space.

Now, for the second time since it launched, it's disappeared and the race is on once again to find it, then offer a plausible theory about what it's up to this time.

The last time it was lost, amateur skywatcher Greg Roberts of Cape Town found it. Now it's gone missing again, failing to pass over its regular flight path on the nights of October 7 and 9, according to UniverseToday, reports News.com.au.

However, no one's been able to pick it up on a new flight path, leading to speculation that maybe this time around, the US Air Force is preparing to land its experiment.

"In all honesty, we don't know when it's coming back," US Air Force spokesman Gary Payton told reporters when it was launched.

According to the Pentagon, a second X-37B is already under construction. (ANI)