Record crowds attend F-35 scoping meeting

Some of those attending the hearing viewed a video presentation on the F-35 fifth-generation fighter.

Record crowds packed into the Hacker Middle School gymnasium for a first-hand look at the Air Force's next generation fighter program during a public open house Friday evening.

The meeting concluded a series of 20 similar public forums held in communities in Utah, Vermont, South Carolina and Florida under consideration to receive the Air Force's joint strike fighter program.

Attendance at Friday's open house more than doubled the largest crowd figures set during a meeting in Westover, S.C., earlier this month. The Air Force recorded 164 people at the meeting in Mountain Home with more than 140 guests packing into the middle school gym within the first hour.

For more information on this and other stories, pick up a copy of the Feb. 24 edition of the Mountain Home News.