Unusual planes were seen circling over the Bay Area as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference descended on downtown San Francisco Saturday, causing residents to speculate whether they were transporting world leaders to the annual summit.
People reported seeing one smaller plane following a larger aircraft as they soared over the bay. However, the timing of the aerial sighting was just a coincidence — a spokesperson for United Airlines confirmed with SFGATE the planes were part of a choreographed shoot, with the smaller plane filming the larger one for promotional footage. The planes took off around noon at San Francisco International Airport and flew around for six hours before landing back at the same airport.
APEC will take place until Nov. 17, mainly near Moscone Center and Yerba Buena Gardens, and is expected to be attended by more than 20,000 people, including U.S. President Joe Biden, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, Filipino President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. It’s not clear when Biden will arrive, but he’s expected to meet Xi face-to-face for the first time in a year on Wednesday, Reuters reported. The conversation could last for hours, involving teams of officials from both Beijing and Washington as the two are expected to discuss global issues ranging from the Israel-Hamas war, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, North Korea’s ties with Russia, fentanyl, artificial intelligence, as well as “fair” trade and economic relations, senior Biden administration officials told Reuters.