The Mysterious Drones
Occam’s razor says that the simplest explanation is normally the best. It’s a solid approach. This is from a few days ago:
So, a simple explanation is that some of those sightings are duplicates. Of course, that only decreases the total, it doesn’t invalidate that there were things in the sky.
But were they drones? And more importantly, were they nefarious?
Senator Andy Kim has a thread on Twitter, from a few days ago, where he went out with local law enforcement to look at the things in the sky. And then, he followed up the next day with this thread, which starts with:
After going out with police to observe reports of possible drones, I was with the help of civilian pilots and others able to do deeper analysis and concluded that most of the possible drone sightings that were pointed out to me were almost certainly planes. Let me explain: THREAD.
In case you don’t know the Senator, he’s the junior Senator from New Jersey, as of last month. Prior, he was a Congressman from New Jersey. You may have seen this photo of him from the night of January 6th, cleaning up. Source.
Senator Kim is smart, conscientious, and thoughtful. It was interesting to read both of his threads, and learn how he came to the conclusion he did: that they were mostly planes. I trust his analysis.
I look at this whole drone thing and am pretty sure that it will turn out to be a giant nothing burger. A combination of planes, helicopters, personal and commercial drones: not a preliminary scouting fleet from a nefarious country.
Face it, there are lots of drones around. From the FAA, as of 1 October 2024:
And that doesn’t include unregistered drones, many from hobbyists. So OF COURSE there are drones flying around. Drones help search for lost people, they collect weather data, they do some great photography. In North Carolina, drones have delivered food over 100,000 times. It wouldn’t surprise me to come outside one morning, and be facing a drone that has a sign on it that says: “We’ve been trying to reach you about your car’s extended warranty.”
And yes, of course, there are military drones. And military planes, helicopters, satellites, and things so stealthful you don’t even realize they’re around.
I am unsurprised that people are freaking out. Many people (hopefully not most, and definitely not YOU) believe weird or irrational things because of confirmation bias, social pressure (“sheeple”) and mostly because they lack critical thinking skills1.
In 1938, Orson Welles broadcast War of the Worlds, on the radio, and people panicked that the earth was being invaded by Martians. Here’s the recording - if you don’t know about it, listen and think about how you would have felt.
Some people believe that the drones are actually being sent by aliens. (The ones from outer space, not how MAGA heads refer to undocumented immigrants.) This is interesting to me. On the one hand, it strikes me as impossible that we are the only sentient beings in the whole wide universe. On the other hand, I don’t know why they’d want to come here, as if they CAN get here, their tech is obviously more advanced than ours, and likely they do engage in critical thinking, and we’re not that interesting to a more advanced society.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m a huge fan of Babylon 5, a space station used by beings from many worlds. It was the first series I ever watched where each planet had its own developed culture. I would also love to see tribbles. Below is a screen grab from the original Star Trek: Captain Kirk with tribbles2.
I’m objectively doubtful about aliens, and I don’t believe the US government has been hiding aliens from the US population for years. People who believe that also believe we never landed on the moon, climate change is a hoax, the earth is flat, and other discounted conspiracy theories.
As usual, the government could do a better job of communicating the information they do have. But since they don’t, idiots like Jeff Van Drew will continue to babble on about Iranian mother ships off the shore of New Jersey. Here’s a link - I read it so you don’t have to.
I’m willing to be wrong. What do you think?
This lack of critical thinking skills is why we have so many elected Rethuglicans. Sigh.
If you are a Star Trek fan, and want to engage in the “who is the Captain’s Captain?” discussion that’s been going on for decades, please use the comments.
My mom turned 14 a couple of weeks before War of the Worlds aired. She listened to the broadcast, and it never occurred to her that it could be real. In fact, she told us that there were occasional advisories during the broadcast that it was fictional. I must have inherited her skepticism and tendency not to panic. I drove from Devon to Coatesville and back Friday night during the hours that people reported seeing drones in that area, and all I saw was a plane that looked like it was headed to G. O. Carlson Airport. Maybe the drones are only visible to believers.
My sense is that these things in the sky are a combination of planes, small ones mostly, everyday drones -- some working and some just for fun, and military tests. Now that I see the map, I can say with almost no certainty that the ones over Monmouth County are probably shooting B-roll for the Bruce Springsteen biopic, Deliver Us from Nowhere, which is currently filming all over that area. Also, a lot of celebs are probably flying in and out of the area for their parts in the film.
Is someone in our government or media trying to scare us into submission for some reason? I will listen to Chrissy Houlahan that this is nothing to worry about until she tells us otherwise.
Loved the line about the extended warranty. Starting with late January we will be hearing a lot more from the Q people (they are the real queers).