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Couple of interesting twitter threads on this from Tyler (The Drive). He suggests this has been coming/happening for some time. https://twitter.com/aviation_in

by erentz 4y ago

Couple of interesting twitter threads on this from Tyler (The Drive). He suggests this has been coming/happening for some time. https://twitter.com/aviation_intel/status/1624149864178401282 https://twitter.com/aviation_intel/status/162414986417840128... Also that we are seeing a lot more now because we have turned down/off the filters on the radars. Which means also we can expect a lot more false positives. https://twitter.com/aviation_intel/status/1624614661986611201 https://twitter.com/aviation_intel/status/162461466198661120...

georgeg23 4y ago
The Drive also covered the SpaceX stuff which recently turned into StarShield https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/23733/spacex-exec-says-company-would-launch-a-weapon-into-space-in-defense-of-this-country https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/23733/spacex-exec-says...
throwawaycities 4y ago
> Which means also we can expect a lot more false positives. Perhaps we can, but clearly we can expect to find actual UAVs corresponding to these radar signals. If these UAVs that have been shot down were domestic research balloons or some other aircraft exempt from FAA regulation, then we can expect a party to come forward and publicly acknowledge ownership/control of the UAV. However, based on the descriptions of the object over Alaska it seems very likely there are indeed unmanned drones being operated by foreign governments and not domestic weather/research balloons or FAA compliant unregistered domestic aircraft.
- janoc 4y ago
  >and not domestic weather/research balloons ... Keep in mind that not only US or Canada launches weather balloons. These things are well capable of flying huge distances, including across the oceans. There has been one launched by amateur radio operators a few years ago that has circumnavigated the globe - and that's not at all a rare feat. See e.g.: https://qrp-labs.com/circumnavigators.html https://qrp-labs.com/circumnavigators.html So no need to go all conspirationalist about "unmanned drones operated by foreign governments" just yet. Especially given the distances and altitudes these things were found flying at - a heavier than air device would need a ton of fuel and energy to fly that high and that far, so a "drone" that at the same time doesn't look like an aircraft is rather unlikely.
  - anon7725 4y ago
    I was under the impression that weather balloons fly well above the max altitude of commercial airliners (60k ft). It seems significant that the last 3 “objects” have been encountered at typical airliner altitudes (40k ft or under)
  - willis936 4y ago
    Of course those balloons enter airspace with the permission of the sovereign state. If no permission is sought and granted then it's fair game for the sovereign state to do whatever they please with them. It is not a tinfoil hat theory to point out that a balloon that is not playing by weather balloon rules is not a weather balloon. Route planning hasn't suddenly gotten more difficult in the past week. https://youtu.be/P43wVDiZs8k https://youtu.be/P43wVDiZs8k
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
heavyset_go 4y ago
I figure we're hearing about it to quell any fear or paranoia about domestic airspace being entered now that it's a well-known thing.
Guthur 4y ago
I'd be very surprised if this is new. The only new aspect is that you are being told about it. Which is unfortunately probably not a good sign. At best it will be only used to justify the purchase of some expensive "hi tech" boondoggle to counter these... balloons.
bombcar 4y ago
> Which means also we can expect a lot more false positives. This may be true, but it's awful hard to get visual confirmation and then shoot down a false positive.
haimez 4y ago
His article on the matter from 2021 is quiet helpful in understanding what’s (probably) going on here: https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/40054/adversary-drones-are-spying-on-the-u-s-and-the-pentagon-acts-like-theyre-ufos https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/40054/adversary-drones...
- moffkalast 4y ago
  Ok the fact that they found an actual patent for the cube in the sphere UFO is just hilarious. This whole thing is just genius on so many levels. Exploit the stigma about aliens by constructing small drones and make them appear wacky beyond belief to guarantee they'll go unreported. Exploit the radar filters for small and slow moving craft with motionless soft balloons. And it worked brilliantly.
  - mgdlbp 4y ago
    Secret government projects involving combat with mysterious floating octahedra from the coast? Where have I seen this before?
- tomohawk 4y ago
  It seems like the government is way better at disinformation than it is about demonstrating competence. Like most governments in history. For the platinum plated price, we should expect more, though. > I believe that those in power who snicker about credible reports of strange objects in the sky and stymie research into them, including access to classified data, have become a threat to national security themselves. Their lack of imagination, curiosity, and creativity appears to have built a near-perfect vacuum that our enemies could exploit and likely have exploited to an astonishing degree.
Rury 4y ago
Seems like an interesting problem to deal with, and one which will only get tougher as our skies get more populated with things.
mritchie712 4y ago
> asleep at the wheel with this threat the DoD has been That's easy to say, but does anyone know how many objects appear when you drop the filter? Yes, the military has a huge budget, but it's not unlimited. My guess is when you lower the filter you're met with so many objects that you couldn't possibly address them all with the resources you have available. Imagine you have 10 resources to deploy and a screen with 100 objects to investigate. You lower the filter and there are now a million objects to investigate. It's not hard to understand why the filters were in place and saying they were "asleep" is silly. There have probably been people at the DoD asking for more resources ($) to remove the filters for years.

by erentz 4y ago

georgeg23 4y ago

The Drive also covered the SpaceX stuff which recently turned into StarShield https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/23733/spacex-exec-says-company-would-launch-a-weapon-into-space-in-defense-of-this-country https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/23733/spacex-exec-says...

throwawaycities 4y ago

> Which means also we can expect a lot more false positives. Perhaps we can, but clearly we can expect to find actual UAVs corresponding to these radar signals. If these UAVs that have been shot down were domestic research balloons or some other aircraft exempt from FAA regulation, then we can expect a party to come forward and publicly acknowledge ownership/control of the UAV. However, based on the descriptions of the object over Alaska it seems very likely there are indeed unmanned drones being operated by foreign governments and not domestic weather/research balloons or FAA compliant unregistered domestic aircraft.

janoc 4y ago
>and not domestic weather/research balloons ... Keep in mind that not only US or Canada launches weather balloons. These things are well capable of flying huge distances, including across the oceans. There has been one launched by amateur radio operators a few years ago that has circumnavigated the globe - and that's not at all a rare feat. See e.g.: https://qrp-labs.com/circumnavigators.html https://qrp-labs.com/circumnavigators.html So no need to go all conspirationalist about "unmanned drones operated by foreign governments" just yet. Especially given the distances and altitudes these things were found flying at - a heavier than air device would need a ton of fuel and energy to fly that high and that far, so a "drone" that at the same time doesn't look like an aircraft is rather unlikely.
- anon7725 4y ago
  I was under the impression that weather balloons fly well above the max altitude of commercial airliners (60k ft). It seems significant that the last 3 “objects” have been encountered at typical airliner altitudes (40k ft or under)
- willis936 4y ago
  Of course those balloons enter airspace with the permission of the sovereign state. If no permission is sought and granted then it's fair game for the sovereign state to do whatever they please with them. It is not a tinfoil hat theory to point out that a balloon that is not playing by weather balloon rules is not a weather balloon. Route planning hasn't suddenly gotten more difficult in the past week. https://youtu.be/P43wVDiZs8k https://youtu.be/P43wVDiZs8k
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

heavyset_go 4y ago

I figure we're hearing about it to quell any fear or paranoia about domestic airspace being entered now that it's a well-known thing.

Guthur 4y ago

I'd be very surprised if this is new. The only new aspect is that you are being told about it. Which is unfortunately probably not a good sign. At best it will be only used to justify the purchase of some expensive "hi tech" boondoggle to counter these... balloons.

bombcar 4y ago

> Which means also we can expect a lot more false positives. This may be true, but it's awful hard to get visual confirmation and then shoot down a false positive.

haimez 4y ago

His article on the matter from 2021 is quiet helpful in understanding what’s (probably) going on here: https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/40054/adversary-drones-are-spying-on-the-u-s-and-the-pentagon-acts-like-theyre-ufos https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/40054/adversary-drones...

moffkalast 4y ago
Ok the fact that they found an actual patent for the cube in the sphere UFO is just hilarious. This whole thing is just genius on so many levels. Exploit the stigma about aliens by constructing small drones and make them appear wacky beyond belief to guarantee they'll go unreported. Exploit the radar filters for small and slow moving craft with motionless soft balloons. And it worked brilliantly.
- mgdlbp 4y ago
  Secret government projects involving combat with mysterious floating octahedra from the coast? Where have I seen this before?
tomohawk 4y ago
It seems like the government is way better at disinformation than it is about demonstrating competence. Like most governments in history. For the platinum plated price, we should expect more, though. > I believe that those in power who snicker about credible reports of strange objects in the sky and stymie research into them, including access to classified data, have become a threat to national security themselves. Their lack of imagination, curiosity, and creativity appears to have built a near-perfect vacuum that our enemies could exploit and likely have exploited to an astonishing degree.

Rury 4y ago

Seems like an interesting problem to deal with, and one which will only get tougher as our skies get more populated with things.

mritchie712 4y ago

> asleep at the wheel with this threat the DoD has been That's easy to say, but does anyone know how many objects appear when you drop the filter? Yes, the military has a huge budget, but it's not unlimited. My guess is when you lower the filter you're met with so many objects that you couldn't possibly address them all with the resources you have available. Imagine you have 10 resources to deploy and a screen with 100 objects to investigate. You lower the filter and there are now a million objects to investigate. It's not hard to understand why the filters were in place and saying they were "asleep" is silly. There have probably been people at the DoD asking for more resources ($) to remove the filters for years.