Droning On And On
It must be a slow news month. That's the obvious explanation. But then "obvious explanations" aren't exactly newsworthy, or maybe just not entertaining enough, perhaps. It's much more fun to present all kinds of wild theories, isn't it? Which, again, is the obvious explanation for why the mainstream media keeps (pun definitely intended) droning on and on.
The story began last month in New Jersey, which was rather famously the setting for the Orson Welles 1938 radio adaptation of the H.G. Wells classic The War Of The Worlds. Alien spaceships had landed in the Garden State, and mankind was only saved in the end by the seasonal flu. A great story, a chilling adaptation of it, and a whole lot of people totally freaked out when they heard it (many of whom missed the introduction where it was explained that this was a fictional broadcast). It probably didn't help that it aired on Hallowe'en.
In any case, almost nine decades later, a swarm of people began reporting unusual drone activity in the skies over New Jersey. Cellphone videos were posted to social media. And then the national media picked up the story and ran with it.
Which still hasn't abated, astonishingly enough, even though there really isn't much new to say about what's going on other than: "Nobody really knows what's going on." You'd think that would mean the story would eventually die down on its own as the media moved on to some other distraction, but this one seems to have some staying power.
As I said, it must be a slow month for news.
Now look -- I hate to be a spoilsport and rain all over everyone's drone excitement, I really do. I'd love to hear solid evidence that aliens are visiting humanity and that we're not alone in the universe, but somehow don't really expect this outburst of hysteria is apt to produce such a thing.
Think hysteria is too strong a word? Well, we've already had one Republican member of Congress state that he thinks there's an "Iranian mothership" somewhere off the coast launching drones at American soil. He appears to be basing this suspicion on... well... nothing more than his overactive imagination.
Panics about lights or objects in the sky are nothing new, of course. The flying saucer craze of the 1950s came and went, and pop culture sometimes revives the subject (and the reports of such objects) every so often (in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Close Encounters Of The Third Kind and E.T. had a big impact). Once the idea of unidentified flying objects (or as the military likes to now call them, "Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena") is planted in the public's consciousness, everyone starts looking up and every light in the sky is suspect.
That's not to say that something weird may be happening, of course. But the more-mundane explanation is that some drone activity (probably totally benign) in New Jersey was noticed by some people, they reported it (and/or took videos of it), and then the whole thing took on a life of its own. Whatever the original explanation was, what almost certainly happened next were two parallel things: (1) more people started looking up, and: (2) more people decided it was a dandy time to take their drone out for a jaunt, just to feed the panic and join in on the fun.
As with any eyewitness reports -- especially of objects in the sky -- much of it is likely explained by routine activity. A whole bunch of the drone sightings seem to have occurred on the flight paths to landing at nearby airports -- where you'd expect to see low-flying objects, even at night. Planes and helicopters have flashing lights on them, after all, and judging distance and size when observing from the ground is a tough thing for anyone without training to accurately do.
And then there's human nature. How many teenagers decided to freak their town out by flying their hobby drones at night? The answer to that is unknown, but I'd bet the farm it isn't "zero." Or how many mischief-minded adults decided to do the same thing? The copycat aspect is probably a powerful motivator, especially seeing as how the drone sightings quickly spread and have now been reported as far away as western Ohio. How many of these folks filmed their own drones and then uploaded the video to social media to get in on the fun?
We're now in full-blown panic mode over the whole thing. Government officials have even suggested that maybe shooting these objects down might be the solution. How long is it going to take before some trigger-happy sheriff's deputy starts blasting away at one? On the national level, politicians are either clamoring for answers or claiming the government already knows full well what is going on. This has now risen to the level of both Donald Trump and the sitting president commenting on the subject.
The more-likely answer is that the government and the military don't really have a clear picture of what is going on out there. For the most part, drones are not tracked by radar, since most of them are too small and fly too low and slow to be detected (radar systems also routinely ignore "blips" that mostly turn out to be birds or flocks of birds). Even if the public thinks it'd be an easy job to track every object in the skies (due to watching science-fiction shows where all it takes is a flick of a switch to get real-time satellite imagery of just about anything anywhere), it really isn't all that easy to do.
The media has gone along for the ride, so to speak. They've been hyping the story far beyond its actual news value -- most breathless updates now are of the "nobody really knows" type of commentary, with lots of hints of what it could be... maybe. In other words, most of the news coverage has been pure fact-free sensationalism, nothing more. Which we'll probably get some more of tonight, since President Joe Biden actually made an offhand comment or two about the whole frenzy.
I do realize it's a lot more fun to ignore Occam's razor and wildly speculate. Flying saucer crazes are cyclic -- there's always going to be another one sooner or later. As long as everyone doesn't get all trigger-happy out there, it's all mostly harmless good fun. Sooner or later, the media will get bored with the whole story and move on, and people will calm down a bit and come back out of panic mode.
Either that, or aliens will land on the National Mall and emerge to reveal themselves to humankind, of course. Hey, it could happen... right?
-- Chris Weigant
Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant
I admit I've been ignoring this story for the past week or two. There seems to be no news actually associated with the entire thing.
I like your note that this seems to be a cyclical thing involving flying saucers, with another panic every thirty years or so.
The bright light on the horizon--and it was big, bright and beautiful--was Venus the morning star, closer to Earth than it had been for a few centuries. I looked for it early every morning. Spectacular, and a more understandable mistake, really, than filming yourself pointing to the constellation Orion. Some of the moving ones turned out to be ingenious kids and their copycats--it seems you can create a hot air balloon with household items including candles and freak out your neighbours. In my part of So Cal, the police generally phoned Cal Tech to check on student pranks first whenever the public reported something wierd.
Sorry, somehow lost the first part of this in posting.
I was referencing a scare in the early 70s, when lots of early risers reported a big bright light on the horizon to the police, and there was a spate of 'UFO' sightings of large objects with lights moving at high speeds in residential areas.
It's not really a slow news cycle..
The problem for ya'all is that there is simply no news that fits ya'all's Subjective Reality of PTDS and Trump/America hate.. :D
For example, The Hill has a great article on why Headboard Harris actually lost the election..
The article starts out in a place ya'all should be VERY familiar with.. :D
As Democrats debate their next steps and Vice President Kamala Harris contemplates her political future, a fundamental question arises: Did Harris ever truly have a chance to win?
Increasingly, it seems that the answer is no.
Headboard Harris NEVER really had a chance to win..
Now, where have ya'all heard THAT before??? :D OH yea, that's right.. Here in Weigantia...
Ya'all's SUBJECTIVE REALITY (IE ya'all's "truth") simply couldn't compete with my OBJECTIVE REALITY (the actual FACTS) that Headboard Harris simply could not win.. It was a factual (IE OBJECTIVE REALITY) point that Harris simply could not have won.. It was impossible..
Had ya'all simply acknowledged this objective reality.. this FACT.. Ya'all wouldn't be ingesting so much crow and sour grapes in the here and now.. :D
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Now, to address some old business...
Liz,
JL,
}}}}Biggest Government Waste - the Hunter Biden investigation.{{{{{
You meant the Trump investigations, right?
Of course that's what JL means..
I mean it's OBVIOUS to anyone with more than 2 brain cells to rub together that all the lawfare persecutions against President ELECT Trump were not only very VERY expensive in terms of outright cash outlay...
But they were ALSO very VERY expensive in terms of the political campaign..
All the lawfare persecutions against a completely innocent man cost Democrats a LOT in the sense, they were giving President Trump all the FREE and AWESOME media exposure that is possible to give..
Democrats proved to Americans day after day that President Trump was not only completely and unequivocally INNOCENT of all criminal charges and accusations, but the Democrat lawfare persecutions ALSO cemented in the minds of the VAST MAJORITY of American voters that President Trump was on THEIR side.. That President Trump was fighting for Everyday Patriotic Americans..
So, yes. The Democrats lawfare persecutions against President Trump was the biggest government waste because it brought about the very thing that Democrats were trying to prevent.. :D
While it's OBJECTIVE REALITY (IE FACT) that Harris would have lost anyways, it might have been closer of a race if Democrats had not used lawfare to persecute an innocent man...
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Russ,
Your IGNORANCE and lies are STILL astounding..
For the last time: I have never claimed to have been employed as a law enforcement officer at any time! That is your lie! I worked for years as an E911 call receiver.
You DO realize that E911 operators are part and parcel to law enforcement agencies, right??
You DO realize that E911 operators are considered FIRST RESPONDERS, right?? As a matter of fact, E911 Operators are the FIRST of the FIRST RESPONDERS..
Of course you are ignorant of that.. Because you never worked in any LEO agency and, even if you did, you were shit-canned for being too incompetent..
I am married to the Chief of Police for my town who has over 20 years in law enforcement. You are a disgrace!
Says the scumbag who had this alleged "hubby" :eyeroll: run my name thru NCIS checks to try and dig up dirt on me because I was always kicking your ass here in Weigantia..
Talk about being a disgrace.. If even what you claim is factually accurate, which you have never proven to be factually accurate, your actions and your dirty cop's actions prove how much of a disgrace you scumbags really are..
Do you know what “commissioned” even means??? It means that whoever wants you to work for them is willing to pay for educating you so that you may meet their training requirements.
Your LEO IGNORANCE STILL continues to amaze me...
What you describe is not COMMISSION but is actually called CERTIFIED....
Which doesn't change the FACT that LEOs are SWORN.. Not COMMISSIONED..
Yer ignorance knows no depths..
Well that makes perfect sense! Seeing how you had absolutely ZERO experience in law enforcement, you would not have listed anything
What part of I simply put ALL of my 2 and a half decades of LEO experience on my resume and I passed both my background checks AND Polygraph with flying colors.. do you fail to comprehend???
Face reality, Russ.. You were caught in a whole mess of lies and now you show up once a week after getting shitcanned for incompetence and having to work at McDonalds and try to vainly save face..
Every one of your other scumbag friends have left Weigantia... Why don't you take the hint and leave as well.. :eyeroll:
You are an idiot! How do you answer E911 calls on the road? You are not trained in law enforcement!
Actually, I am.. I had received my POST (Peace Officer Standards of Training) certification when I first worked as an LEO.
Of course, it's expired so yes I will have to go thru the Academy again, once my COMM obligation is met.. But that's a mere formality.
Within the next year, I'll be a *SWORN* police officer again... :D
Face the OBJECTIVE REALITY, Russ.. Yer nothing but a failed cop groupie who was too stoopid to be a REAL cop...
Just a scumbag failure all the way around..
"Live with that.."
-Commander Jo Galloway, A FEW GOOD MEN
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JL,
the only thing you've proven is that you (still) don't know what you don't know. objective reality is the world as it would exist if there were no humans to say what anything means. what you guys in the Trump camp have (in fact) done is taken the language of objectivity and applied it subjectively, to make it appear as if everything were what used to be called "subjective," essentially redefining what "is" is, in your own mind.
everybody else here just sort of rolls their eyes and presumes you're trying to "win" but i know different. I have some very smart friends who have chosen to inhabit your universe, and who are significantly better than you are at defending it. human rules change, but no matter how clever they are, they can't change the laws of physics, and it's disheartening to see them (and you) try.
"Mr. Madison, what you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul"
-Principal, BILLY MADISON
:D
I am guess you were 3 sheets to the win, or high as a kite, when you posted the above, so I am not going to even bother trying to interpret what you really meant..
Suffice it to say, the FACTS... The objective reality stands..
Ya'all were WRONG on EVERY call ya'all ever made with regards to Headboard Harris and her UBER NUCLEAR ROUT SHELLACKING that was her 2024 campaign..
Ya'all's SUBJECTIVE REALITY that Harris could actually win the election was proven completely and utterly false by the FACTS.... the objective reality... of the reality of the here and now...
Subjective Reality = your "truth"...
Objective Reality = the FACTS....
I know, I know.. You Democrats just LOVE to change the definitions of words to fit your agendas.. Ya'all always have loved to do that.. Ya'all always will love to do that..
But Americans aren't buying Democrat BS anymore.. They are not being taken in by ya'all's Trump/America hate and PTDS..
It's a brave new world and there's a new sheriff in town... :D
I have some very smart friends who have chosen to inhabit your universe, and who are significantly better than you are at defending it.
Yes, yes, JL... You have a LOT of support in email.. :D :eyeroll:
Of course, if this were factually accurate, the ONLY rational response would be to get these imaginary friends here in Weigantia and let them tell me themselves how big of President ELECTTrump supporters they really are.. :D
Reminds me of the time Russ claimed to have a "friend" who said I was an incel even though I have been married to the same beautiful woman for going on 50 years now... :D
If Russ REALLY had that "friend" she must be pretty stoopid and ignorant (typical Democrat) to not know what the definition of 'incel' is.. :D
BBBBWWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
In any case, the FACTS are clear.. Headboard Harris never had a chance to actually win the election. Her own campaign leaders has stated this for the record as the objective reality. At NO TIME during the election was Headboard Harris ***EVER*** polling above President Trump...
MOVING ON... :D
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As far as the current commentary..
This is the most STOOPIDEST thing ever to come out of the Basement Biden administration..
And considering the stoopidity of the Basement Biden administration, this does say a LOT... :D
"These things are not a threat. We have no idea what they are, but they are not a threat.."
-Basement Biden Administration
If Basement Biden is ignorance about what they are, how can they determine that they are not a threat??
:eyeroll:
This is simply another example of the senility and dementia-riddled actions of the Basement Biden Administration..
Obviously Basement Biden is too dementia riddled and senile to be in charge any more...
I can't wait til President Trump takes the office again. THEN we are going to find out how bad things really were during The Senile Years of the Basement Biden administration..
As far as the phenomena themselves.. I had 3 things on my bucket list...
1. First Contact
2. Global Warming exposed as a hoax
3. Becoming a sworn LEO again
The 2nd has happened.. The 3rd will happen within the next year...
All that's left is First Contact..
COM'ON BABY, GIMME THAT TRIFECTA!!!! :D
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So... Let's discuss how Left Wing Propaganda sites and Tech Execs are kow-towing to President ELECT Trump and surrendering to President ELECT Trump left and right.. :D
Won't that be a FUN discussion!!??? :D
Let's start off with ABC/DISNEY/STEPHANOPOWUSSIE...
Boy oh boy, did ABC and Stephenopowussie have to eat some heaping helpings of crow, eh!? :D
Especially when the FACTS (yunno... Objective Reality) had Wussy's Executive Producer telling Georgie Boy NOT to use the word "rape" at all because it was not factually accurate and would be considered defaming in a court of law...
Wussy Georgie thought he knew better and now ABC is not only 16 MILLION dollars poorer, but ABC/DISNEY is going to fund President Trump's library!!
Oh the humiliation!!! The SHAME that ABC/DISNEY is enduring.. :D
And lets heap some MORE humiliation on the Wussy and the Mouse House... They were FORCED to apologize to President Trump!!! :D
This is a POPCORN worthy event!! :D AT LEAST deserving of an entire commentary, no? :D
Sources inside ABC are reporting they are calling the Wussy "Furious George" behind his back!!!
BBBBWWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
And it gets even better!!!
Zuckerberg and Bezos have all made trips to the Winter White House to bend the knee and kiss the ring.. :D
Both have promised MILLIONS of dollars to fund President ELECT Trump's inauguration... :D
I mean, com'on!! In the dictionary under INSULT TO INJURY, there is a picture of Democrats having to watch as all their supposed "allies" and "water carriers" kow tow to, bend the knee to and kiss President ELECT Trump's ring...
The abject humiliation must be too much to bear, eh?? :D
But for real patriotic Americans... It's a Popcorn Worthy event!!! :D
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And now let's touch on 3 topics..
How President ELECT Trump is the de-facto POTUS in the here and now, how President ELECT Trump totally decimated the Trudeau progressive administration of Canada and how Token DEI Headboard Has Been Hooker Harris is destined for political oblivion...
I was so glad that Harris gave that speech today because ever since Election Day, I've had such joy in my heart, to paraphrase Joe Biden. And now I was reminded once again today, watching Kamala Harris, why I have so much joy. I think everyone I talk to who's really thrilled by President Trump, and we talk about how we would feel right now if Kamala had actually won. And she reminded us again today what a total, utter disaster that would have been. But I want to go a step further, I did write a piece, which is basically describing the de-facto president, because it's clear, and if you watch day by day, President Trump both in his international relations, I mean, he may have broken Trudeau's government in the last three days because Trudeau's strongest ally resigned in disgust at how Trudeau had caved in to Trump. And literally, I think Trudeau may lose a vote of confidence in Canada.
He clearly, when he went to Notre Dame, was treated in Paris as, in fact, the president. He got a presidential welcome. He met with 82 government leaders from around the world. He kept meeting with key people and I think that President Trump is already beginning to have a direct impact. In fact, even Disney has begun to drop various woke things from their planned presentations, I think, in response to this. So this is one of the most amazing transitions I've seen as a historian. I don't remember anything that was quite this decisive in the opening weeks after an election and before inauguration.
-Newt Gingrich
Given the Presidential Vacuum that is the Basement Biden administration, it's gratifying to see President ELECT Trump take the reins of government...
It's nice to know we actually have a COMPETENT man in charge even before 20 Jan 2025... Basement Biden is obviously NOT up to the task and Democrats are too busy licking all their wounds to be ANY kind of effective leader..
Liz, this is your neck of the woods.. What's yer take on President ELECT Trump kicking the shit outta Trudeau??
Headboard Harris has made a couple speeches. One sober and one either drunk as a kite or high as a skunk...
Both of the speeches illustrated quite perfectly exactly how Americans and America dodged as HUGE bullet. Had ZERO CHARISMA Headboard Harris actually won the election!? Oh gods, the results would have been too terrible to imagine!!
If anyone has ever doubted that President ELECT Trump has learned a LOT of lessons from his first term as POTUS, the AMAZING and DECISIVE post-election per-inauguration actions of President ELECT Trump would dispel any such doubts..
President ELECT Trump is kicking Democrats ass all over the country and even beyond the borders of America...
It's a GREAT time to be a patriotic American!! :D And a very VERY bad time to be a Trump/America hater PTDS suffering Democrat... :D
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OK OK... I know ya'all are reeling... :D
I'll give ya'all a bit to recover.. :D
Fortunately for ya'all, it's my long week so I am working this 3-day weekend..
But we have a lot more fun and excitement to get to, so stay tuned... :D
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