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Tom Veltri

Retired U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel who served as an SR-71 Blackbird Reconnaissance Systems Officer, known for the 1987 Baltic emergency in which Swedish Viggens escorted his crippled aircraft.

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APPEARANCES

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PODCASTS

Sep 29, 2026

The Old Fly Guy Network

The Old Fly Guy Network

SR-71 MAYDAY ?- The Swedish Fighters That Saved Them

Sep 29 · 30m

Old Fly GuyHOST

4:56

What you had to work with.

Tom VeltriGUEST

4:57

Yeah.

Tom VeltriGUEST

4:58

And as I got closer, I'm looking at it.

Tom VeltriGUEST

5:01

I go, those aren't Soviet aircraft.

Tom VeltriGUEST

5:03

They're Swedish Viggins.

Tom VeltriGUEST

5:06

So two Swedish Viggins pull up on our wing, and we sort of just looked at them, gave them a thumbs up, and they escorted, we didn't ever talk to them or anything, and they escorted us out of the Baltic.

Tom VeltriGUEST

5:21

Now, to put it in perspective, this mission was five days after Reagan stood before the Blandenberg gates and said, Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.

Blair BozakGUEST

7:26

reaction from the Russians, too.