3 ms·

This is just ridiculous paranoia. Compare the quality of satellite photography a well funded nation state has access to against Mr Arnu's taken from 42km away.

This is just ridiculous paranoia. Compare the quality of satellite photography a well funded nation state has access to against Mr Arnu's taken from 42km away. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/2019-08-29_Safir_launch_failure.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/2019-08-... https://dreamlandresort.com/area51/panorama_0523.html https://dreamlandresort.com/area51/panorama_0523.html It's not an unknown problem either and the 3 letter people have decades of experience dealing with it including moveable shelters. https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/is-this-a-secret-aircraft-at-area-51-or-a-shadow-of-a-cloud https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/is-this-a-secret-aircr...

tw04 3y ago
But it’s really not. A satellite is never going to be able to get the same shots as someone ground level with a good camera. We’re also actively tracking where their satellites are at any given point in time and move things when they aren’t overhead. So to act as if an individual on the ground couldn’t get info the satellites cannot is just silly.
- throwaway589458 3y ago
  This was the case but isn't really true anymore. With the proliferation of commercial LEO imaging satellites there's pretty much always one above you. Synthetic aperture radar satellites work at night and under the clouds as well so if you're trying to hide an aircraft development program it's going to be rather difficult. edit: Radar messes with SAR as well but the government hasn't even bothered to try to shield Area 51. https://www.bellingcat.com/resources/2022/02/11/radar-interference-tracker-a-new-open-source-tool-to-locate-active-military-radar-systems/ https://www.bellingcat.com/resources/2022/02/11/radar-interf...
  - tw04 3y ago
    > With the proliferation of commercial LEO imaging satellites there's pretty much always one above you. Try buying pictures of Area 51 from one of those commercial leos and let us all know how that conversation goes. > Synthetic aperture radar satellites work at night and under the clouds as well so if you're trying to hide an aircraft development program it's going to be rather difficult. Which provide
ethanbond 3y ago
Ultimately my opinion boils down to two things: 1) I would prefer the US maintains a military advantage over all of its adversaries, and these types of programs have historically been extremely, extremely important to that. 2) I trust the military’s assessment of whether any particular images compromise those programs much, much, much more than I trust the assessment of random internet commentators or of a random guy who got sufficiently obsessed with Area 51 to move to its outskirts and start photographing it. You, I, and the blogger have no way of knowing what important pieces of information he may be filling in for our adversaries. If you don’t care about our advantage, fine, or if you are of the “information wants to be free” religious persuasion, fine — I don’t think those are commonly held views however and I don’t think they will or should shield this guy from due process.

tw04 3y ago

But it’s really not. A satellite is never going to be able to get the same shots as someone ground level with a good camera. We’re also actively tracking where their satellites are at any given point in time and move things when they aren’t overhead. So to act as if an individual on the ground couldn’t get info the satellites cannot is just silly.

throwaway589458 3y ago
This was the case but isn't really true anymore. With the proliferation of commercial LEO imaging satellites there's pretty much always one above you. Synthetic aperture radar satellites work at night and under the clouds as well so if you're trying to hide an aircraft development program it's going to be rather difficult. edit: Radar messes with SAR as well but the government hasn't even bothered to try to shield Area 51. https://www.bellingcat.com/resources/2022/02/11/radar-interference-tracker-a-new-open-source-tool-to-locate-active-military-radar-systems/ https://www.bellingcat.com/resources/2022/02/11/radar-interf...
- tw04 3y ago
  > With the proliferation of commercial LEO imaging satellites there's pretty much always one above you. Try buying pictures of Area 51 from one of those commercial leos and let us all know how that conversation goes. > Synthetic aperture radar satellites work at night and under the clouds as well so if you're trying to hide an aircraft development program it's going to be rather difficult. Which provide

ethanbond 3y ago

Ultimately my opinion boils down to two things: 1) I would prefer the US maintains a military advantage over all of its adversaries, and these types of programs have historically been extremely, extremely important to that. 2) I trust the military’s assessment of whether any particular images compromise those programs much, much, much more than I trust the assessment of random internet commentators or of a random guy who got sufficiently obsessed with Area 51 to move to its outskirts and start photographing it. You, I, and the blogger have no way of knowing what important pieces of information he may be filling in for our adversaries. If you don’t care about our advantage, fine, or if you are of the “information wants to be free” religious persuasion, fine — I don’t think those are commonly held views however and I don’t think they will or should shield this guy from due process.