Article content continued

Photo by U.S. NAVY / Handout / AFP

“To get out of this, I’m gonna go like down and to the right,” the pilot said, according to the transcript. “And we’ll come back up over the top and try to take a look at it.”

They were concerned that part of their artwork would dissipate before they got a chance to review it. Little did they know that it was the opposite that would land them in hot water.

The contrails lingered longer than expected, prompting officers in the partner jet to admire their sky penis. “Your artwork is amazing,” the lieutenant commander EWO in the other jet radioed to them.

“Glad you guys noticed,” the pilot replied.

However, the sky drawing still hadn’t dissipated, which began to worry the artists.The pilot later wrote that he tried to scribble it out by flying through it, but failed.

Defeated and running low on fuel, they returned the jet to Whidbey Island. However, the damage was done. The deputy commodore of the Electronic Attack Wing Pacific emailed pictures of the sky penis to the executive officer (XO) who confronted the pilot and EWO.

This was a really bad decision by some really good guys in a really good squadron

“They both apologized and were at once remorseful,” the XO wrote in a summary. According to the investigation, the pilot admitted that he deleted whatever photos he had taken of his art piece out of shame as well as to prevent any accidental spread.

Within hours the photos were circulated through to the Office of the Naval Chief in Washington as a warning of the media fire to come. The Navy issued an immediate apology to residents for the “unacceptable obscene trails” and assured them that they had reprimanded the pilots in question. “I impressed upon them that this immature act was counter to our culture which values treating everyone with dignity and respect,” wrote Vice Admiral Mike Shoemaker in a letter to the superintendent of the Okanogan School District.