US 'doomsday plane' used never-before-seen secret flight code when making 'highly unusual' flight

Just when you think hysteria about a potential US military intervention in Iran couldn't get any worse, the US military decides to take one of its 'doomsday planes' out for a spin.

Earlier in the week flight tracking sites noted that an aircraft dubbed 'ORDER01' departed from a military base in Louisiana and landed at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, the closest base the the US capital in Washington D.C. after spending just over four hours in the air.

The jet was one of the US military's Boeing E-4B planes, known as 'Nightwatch'.

Although the aircraft better known by its much more ominous nickname of 'presidential doomsday plane'.

Equipped with a command centre to deliver military orders, built to survive a nuclear strike and able to remain in the air for around 12 hours, it's understandable why someone would see this plane in the air and potentially panic.

The plane's route was watched by many on FlightRadar (X/Flightradar)

However, it's not actually that uncommon for one of E-4B jets to be spotted in the air, as military officials will make several flights throughout the year in order to maintain their readiness. But it was the unusual flight code of 'ORDER01' which sparked intrigue among many people.

Presidential plane 'ORDER01' call sign explained

It's understood that E-4B will typically use the identifier 'ORDER6' when flying between locations, which makes the decision to use 'ORDER01' particularly intriguing.

The US government of course hasn't commented on why the call sign was changed, but it didn't go unnoticed. Armchair experts have since spent a great deal of their time unpacking a potential meaning behind the change.

Could this be a sign of Trump's impending decision on whether or not to join Israel in striking Iran or even a coded message to fellow nations?

Maybe, but it could just as equally mean nothing at all.

Donald Trump still hasn't decided about his response to the conflict (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Meanwhile, Donald Trump has given us no firm indication of his plans regarding the conflict on Israel, telling reporters: "I may do it, I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I'm going to do."

Which is certainly a departure from the campaign to end American involvement in foreign wars we saw last year.

The 79-year-old also implied that his decision to intervene in the conflict would be made in the final seconds.

"I have ideas of what to do but I haven't made a final decision," he told CNN, while the entire Juventus football team stood behind him. "I like to make the final decision one second before it's due."

Russia has since joined Iran in warning the US against joining the conflict, with Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov telling Russian news agency TASS that American intervention would be 'terrible'.