To ask if anyone wants to talk about "the drones" ?

[MistressoftheDarkSide]

Distracting myself from my rather hideous real life, I've been poking around YouTube and am quite interested in all the apparent drone sightings mainly in the US but also apparently over here to a lesser to degree.

Obviously some of the pictures and alleged video footage are misidentified aircraft, but NJ in the US are having quite the conniption over some of what they're seeing.

I'm an open minded sceptic, but the amount if traction this is getting is intriguing.

Theories are that it's military testing of new tech, or even civilian testing, but official statements imply that TPTB don't actually know what's going on. I find that weird, given all the sophisticated tech we have for surveillance and tracking, especially given how busy airspace is in general.

Anyway just wondered if anybody else was curious about it all - or have you seen anything weird? I haven't - I'm under the flight path of our local airport and we seem to be "drone free" lol. Always wondered about "aliens" but not obsessed or anything.

Given the current state of the world, maybe I should add alien invasion to my "you couldn't make this shit up" bingo card - I have about three spots left to call "house" after some of the stuff I've been dealing with.

Anyway, have at it :

YABU - you're a tinfoil hat wearing nutter and should get out more.

YANBU - there are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio......

Well frankly I'd rather they didn't claim to be conducting military testing that they weren't. Instead they said they didn't have a definitive answer (it's hard to know what something is that doesn't actually exist!) so they've investigated and found that its a number of different disparate factors.

But but but, Russia! China! Missing nukes

It's laughable how people want to see a conspiracy I. Everything

I do think it speaks to the collective anxiety and trauma that the World has suffered in recent years, and the role of the media in that. Between Ukraine, the Middle East, Covid, Trump etc. it's been quite tumultuous so it's no wonder people are on edge. The Daily Mail alone must have predicted WW3 at least 100 time in the past 6 months!

This has been going on for about a month. By now, you'd think the US authorities would have cobbled together some sort of coherent narrative other than "we don't know but everything's fine".

Because that's what they're essentially saying, and local state officials are coming up against brick walls when they ask for answers.

It doesn't help that Congress has been discussing UAPs and hyperdimensional entities in live hearings, and recently had a classified hearing about "the drones" which was publicised but the results remained non-committal.

Most people in the areas where these things are being reported are naturally concerned about basic safety, privacy and given the constant implication of imminent WW3 that this isn't foreign incursions.

Yes, some will be mistaken identity, but if the Wright Patterson air force base has to suspend operations for a time because of military concerns, I don't think one can write it all off as "mass hysteria".

Interesting as well that on various forums there is a push back from "doubters" that becomes quite vicious at times, and immediately seeks to paint any questioner as a "nutter".

It reminds me of the couple of months before Covid was finally recognised as an issue (which I have various opinions on, but that's not a discussion I tend to have any more).

It is fact that the media is manipulated. It is a fact that "AI" tools allow the creation of disinformation with pictures etc, and that it's often difficult to distinguish reality from fantasy. It's a fact that bots and infiltration from all sorts of sources proliferate on social media, plus the military has a whole department dedicated to steering and monitoring conversations on all sorts of subjects.

While I don't expect a knock on the door for "wrong think", I do know that data gathering is the most lucrative activity on the planet, and that testing the zeitgeist, and influencing public opinion is real.

As to the drones - I'm as interested in the authorities approach to it all, as I am in what they are, if anything. Could be something, could be nothing. But dismissing it out of hand seems a bit naive.

Two things can indeed be true, you certainly can’t rule out some drones might be being flown, maybe by hobbyists, maybe for a misguided laugh..but on the quiet many experienced night sky watchers/aircraft watchers are of the opinion that we are are not being shown credible images of those drones.

OTOH it very very much does look like the MSM are consistently broadcasting and publishing images of conventional aircraft (fixed wing and rotary) and presenting them as images of drones/leaving it open to people to interpret them as drones, and that is dangerous..

If the media keep showing the general public, who in general aren’t great at aircraft recognition, images of aircraft and being told these are drones then pretty soon most of the general public will be convinced everything airborne that’s carrying lights is a drone..…I think it’s a classic example of ”repeat a lie often enough and people will believe it”…..

I'd imagine they probably know more than you do

And that's the whole point, isn't it?

Whilst there have been many drone sightings that are in fact not drones, as most of us have acknowledged, it does not mean that there are no drones.

See the remarks from the 13th and 15th December.

abcnews.go.com/US/mystery-drones-new-jersey-new-york-timeline-what-officials-said/story?id=116824178#:~:text=The%20drones%20were%20first%20spotted,November%2C%20according%20to%20witness%20accounts.

I don't think 'mass hysteria' in terms of people being idiots but rather people rightly questioning the mainstream narrative and what they're being told because the press aren't applying basic due diligence. I also think the media (and yes Daily Mail etc. I'm looking at you!) have a lot to answer for in stirring up fear where there's none to be had simply because it fuels clicks.

Having worked in the space of international negotiations etc. and in partnership with Govt for a long time I can well believe that there was a struggle to agree a definitive message. Can you imagine how many people had to clear that!? It's a nightmare 😂

That's true but there are numerous perfectly legal uses of drones, including big ones, that can explain these. Equally lots of legally owned (or otherwise drones) can be flown where they shouldn't be!

Thought calling them conspiracy nuts was enough, no I don't believe it but they genuinely do. If I get told again that some random spouting crap on YouTube is more reliable than msm I'll scream.

Perfectly legal uses would have made a very swift explanation possible.

In case you didn't read the remarks I directed you to:

"Multiple" instances of drones are reported entering airspace at Naval Weapons Station Earle in New Jersey.

"While no direct threats to the installation have been identified, we can confirm multiple instances of unidentified drones entering the airspace above Naval Weapons Station Earle," Bill Addison, public affairs officer for the naval station, says in a statement to ABC News. "The base remains prepared to respond to any potential risks, leveraging robust security measures and advanced detection capabilities."

@FOJN

From @Igotjelly

The Pentagon have confirmed that the drones are not military assets and the FBI, Dept of Homeland Security, Dept of Defense and FAA have issued a joint statement to say that they have identified nothing anomalous and that "Having closely examined the technical data and tips from concerned citizens, we assess that the sightings to date include a combination of lawful commercial drones hobbyist drones, and law enforcement drones, as well as manned fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and stars mistakenly reported as drones,"

I have seen it said that out of approximately 5000 reports at that point, 100 have been analysed.

If hobbyist drones were so common at night, surely it wouldn't be such an issue suddenly.

Also reports have been made in the UK and in other locations worldwide.

One NJ law enforcement officer reported 50 off the coast.

Wasn't it that only 100 had been considered to be credible out of the thousands that have been reported?

As soon as something is a big issue A) you suddenly see it everywhere and B) more idiots are inclined to use their own (in this instance drones) to carry out stupid actions. C) Lots of the hobbyists with their own drones are now out looking for the 'bad' drones.

In response to @FOJN, that same base has said that this is not a new issue and that drone activity has been ongoing for many years (see Defense Insider).

Its also interesting timing with the media seeing as legislation on the use of drones is currently in the works.

The legislation angle is interesting - a bit of a sledgehammer approach to cracking a nut perhaps?

@MistressoftheDarkSide

By now, you'd think the US authorities would have cobbled together some sort of coherent narrative other than "we don't know but everything's fine".

I still strongly expect that’s down to politicians being risk averse/not showing leadership/not willing to stick their necks out by possibly offending their electorate or the media.

Just cut me some slack for a minute and go with my theory (which is as valid as any other) that all this might at the most, certainly in NJ, have been started by a few people playing around with drones at night..the story snowballed and then some in the media fueled it with continuing images…

If that is what really is happened ask yourself is any politician going to turn around, grasp the nettle and state:

“a few people were mistaken with initial sightings. Unfortunately the media became involved and either accidentally or deliberately fooled most of the general public into misinterpreting what they were seeing”?

Can you imagine the sh….storm in the media and the public if a politician actually said that?

I think as long as guns/lasers don’t start getting uses against aircraft the pollies are going to sit on the fence with a really safe answer of “don’t know”…there’s no mileage for anyone in the outgoing administration to really dig into this, they are going to leave it to the incomers to sort out.

I do think there are convincing arguments for some UAP phenomena to potentially be otherworldly or extra-terrestrial in origin. So I always think the extra-terrestrial theory is a possibility. Whether it applies in this case, I suppose no one can say.

It's certainly not unreasonable to wonder about it, though. At the moment, there doesn't seem to be any clear information on their provenance.

As someone who got "alien invasion" signed off on a Business Continuity/Disaster recovery plan once, I remain relaxed.

That being said, I can personally guarantee that is the one thing these are not. Whatever they are.

If I was an alien and saw the state of this place, and the human race, I'd be like "fuck that for an idea"

That's entirely feasible of course.

I think part of the issue is people suddenly wondering exactly what sort of development is going on on the military and private sector fronts, and what that might mean for both modern warfare capability and domestic surveillance.

It's not something we tend to think about in our relatively peaceful corners of the world really. The pushing of AI as the likely solution to so many human problems means we are being propelled at high speed into a brave new world which the majority of people don't have the time to look into because day to day life takes precedence.

There's a humorous song about that very idea, sung by Ella Fitzgerald. 'Two Little Men in a Flying Saucer' - they find this planet so bizarre that they decide to fly right off.

Maybe this is part of the thing. Following Ukraine as closely as I do I feel like I'm constantly thinking about new tech and the use of drones and it's impact on current, future and hybrid warfare. Personally I'm far more worried about Russian and Chinese influence operations (see current discussions about TikTok) than I am about random drone sightings. Hybrid warfare is very real and it isn't being properly addressed in any way shape or form. It's just that drones are easier for people to identify (or think they can identify) than the far more nefarious and successful methods our adversaries really use.

That's brilliant thank you 😊

Nothing new under the sun eh ? 😁

Occam's razor
a) They aren't Russian/Chinese cos they would have been shot down. US certainly has the capacity.
b) They aren't secret US experiments because they would be more sly about it and avoid doing Russia/China's job for them by whipping up panic.
c) This guy is non MSM and has lots of experience with UFO vids thinks that all the NJ vids are explainable as not large drones, https://x.com/MickWest/status/1868463148388536413

Makes me think it's basically a mass panic, which the authorities are not good at dealing with. This isn't saying that people are stupid, it's a psychological phenomenon for which there is precedent:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mass_panic_cases
The "ghost rockets" on that list is particularly relevant.