OK... I just didn't really believe this when I saw it -- thought it might be faked, so I checked with my friend who is career military pilot. Here's the scoop:

"Yes, that was real. What they did was pull the nose of the airplane really steep then kept the wings level and smoothly pushed the nose back down--like going over the top on a roller coaster. That creates a slight negative g force simulating weightlessness. NASA flys a similar parabolic arc in a big jet to train astronauts.

My students used to be required to practice a similar maneuver in the T-45 and I would make my pencil fly around "


So there you go... from the horse's (or pilot's) mouth!
Jes