Look! Up in The Sky! It’s a Bird! It’s a Plane!
It’s Government Gaslighting Us (Again)!
Assuming that you haven’t been living under a rock for the last few weeks, I’m sure you’ve heard about the drones that have been sighted around New Jersey.
What started as a local Philadelphia story became international news. Every night since mid-November swarms of “SUV-sized” drones have been sighted in central New Jersey.
The response from government is exactly what we’ve come to expect.
“Authorities say they do not know who is behind the drones”
“The Pentagon insists the drones do not represent a threat from abroad”
“…the drones are not of foreign origin…”
“…the aircraft are not U.S. military drones”
“…the drones do not pose a threat.”
So, let’s get this straight. “They” don’t know who’s flying them, don’t know where they’re coming from or what they’re doing, but they know that they’re not a threat.
Huh?
Reminds me of another story…
Or, how about the embarrassing 2023 Chinese balloon incident that made the feckless U.S. government look impotent due to its inability to forcefully deal with a potential threat.
Now we have our own Admiral John Kirby, White House National Security Council spokesman demonstrating his inability to give the public a straight answer:
December 12, 2024: “We have not been able to, and neither have state and local law enforcement authorities, corroborate any of the reported visual sightings. Upon review of available imagery, it appears many of the reports of sightings are actually manned aircraft that are being operated lawfully.”
December 12, 2024: Kirby’s statement directly contradicts the statement that Picatinny Arsenal Military Research Center, Morris County, New Jersey released on Tuesday: "Picatinny, where some of the initial reports of unusual drone activity began last month, has recorded 11 confirmed sightings over the facility since Nov. 13 and seven reports that either could not be confirmed or turned out to be airplanes, Lt. Col. Craig Bonham II said in a news release."
December 16, 2024: Kirby emphasized that, according to American service assessments, the observed drones include commercial, hobbyist, and police drones and civilian aircraft.
So, according to the U.S. government, you should believe them and the thousands of citizens, police officials and military service members who have seen the drones first-hand should not believe their own lying eyes.
Another little factoid; according to the FAA:
You can’t fly within the controlled airspace around an airport without FAA authorization; over designated national security sensitive facilities; and certain military bases, infrastructure and national landmarks; or in airspace covered by Temporary Flight Restrictions
If you want to fly at night, you must have a drone pilot certificate and your drone must be equipped with required lights
A drone pilot needs a waiver to fly more than one drone at the same time
So, the FAA has all these drone rules that, apparently, the drones are violating but they can’t do anything about them?
Do you think maybe there’s something going on here? Here’s a map of the eastern U.S. with all the reported sightings. (Military bases are in gray.)
So, it’s not some drunk crackpot or Karen (no offense if your name is Karen) with nothing better to do who are reporting these drones. And it’s probably not your drone enthusiast neighbor or his drone club. Nor is it police activity since the police are reporting these drones.
Folks are getting video and it’s a big news event.
* * *
In the absence of credible information, human nature is to find other possible explanations for certain events. Who killed JFK? Area 51? You get the idea. Well, since our government can’t give us a believable answer, drone conspiracy theories are popping up.
Here’s the video of the CEO of a military drone company, expressing his learned opinion that the drones are searching for a nuclear device of some kind:
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In the absence of truth, crazy theories abound. Here’s one by radio host, filmmaker, book author and archeological dig expert Steve Quayle who is telling the public to brace themselves for the evil deeds that will be done to try to keep President Elect Donald Trump from taking office.
But Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., told reporters Saturday that foreign actors shouldn't be ruled out. "The elusive maneuvering of these drones suggests a major military power sophistication that begs the question whether they have been deployed to test our defense capabilities — or worse — by violent dictatorships, perhaps maybe Russia, or China, or Iran, or North Korea," Smith said.
Smith’s concerns were echoed by Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., who called for increased government transparency and said he was worried it's allowing potential "misinformation to spread, or at least fear. We should know what's going on over our skies."
* * *
So, let’s get this straight. The U.S. spends $800+ billion a year on our military and they have no idea what these drones are? Apparently, U.S. law severely limits how the US military can respond to these mysterious drones. WHAT? Homeland Security claims ‘We Are Limited in Our Authorities’ to Incapacitate Drones.
If they were Chinese, Iranian or Russian bombers we couldn’t defend ourselves and shoot them down? How is this different? Unless the government knows exactly what they are.
Seriously.
This whole episode makes the government look totally inept.
Or, either they’re incompetent and they don’t know what’s going on or, they know everything but think we’re stupid. Or both.
Either way they’ve given us yet one more reason to not trust them or believe a word they say.
* * *
THIS JUST IN! As I’m just about to publish this week’s blog article, they’ve identified what’s going on with the drones. Here’s a picture of the drone culprit:
Uber Eats