> It just makes you wonder what they would even be spying on if they were adversaries, because you could just go to san onofre beach with a set of binoculars if

> It just makes you wonder what they would even be spying on if they were adversaries, because you could just go to san onofre beach with a set of binoculars if you wanted to observe these formations coming out of camp pendleton in an even more discrete manner than some newfangled drone that the military might very well detect, because you can never be sure of the adversaries capabilities Reports of such sightings took place within restricted airspace, sometimes at sea and sometimes during training missions at sea. I imagine a close-up look at things from better vantage points could be valuable, especially if they're doing signals intelligence. I also see it as power projection and tickling the dragon's tail. Russia and China both have histories of doing similar things with jets and warships. Russia has a history of doing this with jets[1], they recently had their jets come "within 5 feet" of US Navy planes[2], as well as doing the same with their navy[3][4]. China, too[5][6][7]. > Dick waving ruins the element of surprise and also invites an arms race, that you'd be a fool to play against the US military industrial complex. Adversaries have a history of dick-waving, as does the US, and I don't think there's much of surprise in the fact that they're interested in espionage/psyops. IMO, that arms race started a long time ago, and our military puts out PR pieces about how they're using and developing drones for all types of applications. I don't think there's much risk with exposing advanced tech, either. I think Mick West did a good job at explaining the videos that are purported to show UAPs doing incredible things[8], and I don't believe those are actually highly advanced drones capable of bending the laws of physics. The point of drones is that they are cheap, disposable and easy to mass produce, so I don't think any groundbreaking advances in tech are being deployed here. Also, using drones sends the message that for every 1 drone the US detects now, they could've easily sent thousands, or more, if they wanted to. Ultimately, I think it's a mix of intelligence collecting and sending the message that they can get this close, they're watching and there's not much the US can do about it. [1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/04/14/a-strange-recent-history-of-russian-jets-buzzing-navy-ships/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/04/14... [2] https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/russian-aircraft-buzz-us-navy-patrol-planes-feet/story?id=82933378 https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/russian-aircraft-buzz-us-nav... [3] https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/russian-warship-aggressively-approached-u-s-destroyer-arabian-sea-navy-n1113501 https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/russian-warship-aggressiv... [4] https://www.npr.org/2019/06/07/730593184/u-s-navy-russian-warships-unsafe-move-nearly-caused-collision-with-cruiser https://www.npr.org/2019/06/07/730593184/u-s-navy-russian-wa... [5] https://www.politico.com/news/2022/07/14/chinese-jet-us-military-interaction-00045832 https://www.politico.com/news/2022/07/14/chinese-jet-us-mili... [6] https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/chinese-j-15-fighters-fly-directly-over-u-s-navy-destroyer-in-new-video https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/chinese-j-15-fighters-... [7] https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/02/politics/us-china-destroyers-confrontation-south-china-sea-intl/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/02/politics/us-china-destroyers-... [8] https://www.youtube.com/c/mickwest https://www.youtube.com/c/mickwest