Widgets Magazine
MIGHTY MOVIES
Travis Clark

Why HBO's 'Watchmen' is not a superhero series

HBO is diving into the world of comic books.

Its upcoming TV show, "Watchmen," is inspired by the 1986 graphic novel of the same name by writer Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons, which is considered a classic deconstruction of the superhero genre.

But if you ask the show's creator, Damon Lindelof, his series isn't so much a deconstruction because "nobody has superpowers."

In his first in-depth interview for the series with Entertainment Weekly, Lindelof — who also cocreated "Lost" and HBO's "The Leftovers" — was asked how he plans to "break new ground on super anti-heroes" when other movies or TV shows like "Deadpool" and Amazon's "The Boys" have recently tackled the idea.

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MIGHTY CULTURE
2nd Lt. Kaylin Hankerson

Meet the first all-female aircrew of the Air Force's 'Combat King'

For some people, making history is not about what they're doing but instead why they're doing it.

On Sept. 6, 2019, six airmen from the 347th Rescue Group completed the HC-130J Combat King II's first flight to be operated by an all-female aircrew.

While most would be excited just to make history, this crew's "why" is less about the recognition but more about representation.

"We don't want to be noticed for being women," said Senior Airmen Rachel Bissonnette, 71st Rescue Squadron (RQS) loadmaster. "Any person who meets the bar can be an aircrew member. What we want is for the girls who think they can't do it, to know that they can."

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MIGHTY CULTURE
Sinéad Baker

US Navy confirms mysterious videos of pilots spotting UFOs are genuine

The US Navy has confirmed videos showing pilots confused by two mysterious flying objects over the US contained what it considers to be UFOs, after years of speculation since their release.

Joseph Gradisher, the Navy's spokesman for the deputy chief of naval operations for information warfare, confirmed that the Navy considered the objects in the videos to be unidentified.

"The Navy designates the objects contained in these videos as unidentified aerial phenomena," he said in a statement to The Black Vault, a civilian-run archive of government documents.

He also later gave the statement to the news outlet Vice.

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MIGHTY TACTICAL
Ryan Pickrell

The US military is testing sealift  fleet like never before

The US military is currently conducting a massive sealift stress test during which ships will flex atrophied muscles needed to fight a great power conflict.

US Transportation Command (TRANSCOM), which oversees important military logistics activities, launched the large-scale "Turbo Activiation" sealift readiness exercise on Sept. 16, 2019, the command announced in a statement Sept. 17, 2019.

While these exercises, which began in 1994, typically include only a handful of ships, the latest iteration will involve 28 vessels from the US Navy's Military Sealift Command (MSC) and TRANSCOM's Maritime Administration (MARAD) Ready Reserve Force.

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MIGHTY TACTICAL
Donna Lindner

Here's what it takes to change the 28 tires on the Air Force's largest plane

How many airmen does it take to change a cargo aircraft tire? Too many, according to J.D. Bales, Air Force Research Laboratory and Junior Force Warfighter Operations team member of the Materials and Manufacturing Directorate.

The 60th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, part of the Air Mobility Wing at Travis Air Force Base, California, who maintain the US Air Force's largest aircraft, the C-5M Super Galaxy, contacted the JFWORX team seeking assistance to increase the safety and decrease the manpower requirements of the current tire-changing process.

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MIGHTY TRENDING
Ellen Ioanes

Belgian F-16s intercept 2 Russian nuclear-capable supersonic bombers

Belgian Air Force F-16s scrambled to intercept two Russian Tu-160 Blackjack supersonic, nuclear-capable bombers, accompanied by two Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker fighters over the Baltic Sea on Sept. 17, 2019.

The Belgian Air Force has been guarding the Baltic airspace since Sept. 3, 2019, when it took over the police mission from fellow NATO member Hungary, which was supported by Spain and the UK in its mission. Four Belgian F-16s and at least 60 soldiers have been deployed to protect Baltic airspace from unwelcome incursions, according to the Belgian Ministry of Defense.

Sept. 17, 2019's interception was Belgium's first since it began its rotation over Baltic airspace, and seemingly at very close range.

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MIGHTY CULTURE
Ellen Ioanes

Russia and Poland are squabbling on Twitter over who invaded Poland in WWII

An 80-year-old conflict was revisited on Sept. 17, 2019, as the Polish Embassy in the UK commemorated the anniversary of the Soviet Union's invasion, which came two weeks after Germany invaded and started World War II.

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MIGHTY TACTICAL
Ellen Ioanes

Raytheon unveils new drone-killing missile to pack onto fighter jets

Defense industry giant Raytheon unveiled its newest weapon, the Peregrine air-to-air missile, Sept. 16, 2019.

The weapon, designed for use on fourth-and fifth-generation fighter aircraft — anything from an F-16 to an F-35 — is about 150 pounds and 6 feet long, making "the most efficient use of the real estate on a fighter aircraft," according to Mark Noyes, business development executive at Raytheon.

"Peregrine will allow U.S. and allied fighter pilots to carry more missiles into battle to maintain air dominance," Thomas Bussing, the vice president of Raytheon Advanced Missile Systems, said in a statement.

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MIGHTY TACTICAL
Ellen Ioanes

Watch F-22 pilot fly 10 incredible maneuvers in just 2 minutes

If you thought the " Top Gun: Maverick" trailer was full of death-defying stunts, it's got nothing on this hyperlapse video, taken from the cockpit of an F-22 Raptor during a performance at the Fort Lauderdale Air Show in May 2019.

In just two and a half minutes, the pilot performs ten astounding maneuvers, including a Power Loop, a Cobra, and a Tail Slide, where the pilot skims the clear turquoise water of the Atlantic, then launches suddenly into the sky before drifting back down toward the waves.

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