OT: Thread About Nothing (part # who cares)

[guitarguyvic]

I think know what you mean, but IMO it's all the same when you boil it down. The notes are different but the song remains the same. Or, maybe I'm just coping with the world around us and this is a truly unique time in our world.

Anyway. Yesterday our foster baby went back to her mom. My wife is very sad, but that's the nature of the beast. We have twin toddlers in our care, so we're not empty nesters right now.

I’m not saying it’s any worse than any other time in history. But the tech and related potential scope and scale are unlike anything that’s ever existed. And the willful nature of modern ignorance despite having more resources to be educated than at any other time in human existence is unique and very dystopian.

Sorry about the foster baby. Sounds like you’re doing a wonderful thing.

 

[HBK27]

I’m sorry no disrespect to the recent posters claiming they’ve seen these things themselves but it’s pretty obvious that like 95% of the sightings are BS and there’s a decent chance you’re just mistaken as well. Or maybe you did see drones but guess what…there are thousands of registered drones now ranging from hobbyists to police departments to corporations to the military etc. so you could easily be seeing drones that are perfectly lawful.

This whole episode epitomizes our modern culture. Hysteria, paranoia, and ignorance rule the day.

LOL...sounds like the official government response..."nothing to see here".

What makes it obvious that 95% of these sightings are BS? Some bad videos online that look like a plane?

How is it that so many NJ politicians on both sides are saying that they've seen them first hand - often times, while going out with local law enforcement? How do you think this became such a national story in the first place?

I understand that once this did become a big story, everybody suddenly starts looking up in the sky for drones and you have a lot of people that start confusing planes, helicopters and any lights in the sky for drones and the amount of false sightings go way up. That still doesn't explain how the story grew in the first place. Quite frankly, the local and national media were way behind in reporting on this topic.

I live right in the area where many of the initial sightings originated. Saw how people locally were discussing seeing the drones night after night (though Thanksgiving there were no sightings) - again, well before any news had picked up on anything. Didn't see anything remotely unusual myself until one night maybe a week or two after hearing about them when one of my sons came home after being at the school behind our house with a friend and said there were a bunch of drones in the sky. Went to my backyard and saw them myself - they were out there for a while, so had plenty of time to grab several videos (just checked my phone and the videos were over a 10 minute span) and check the lights again flight radar 24. I've also lived there for 7 years, so I am quite familiar with how much flight traffic we get in that area and it's clear there were a number of drones hanging around for quite some time that evening. I took several videos, but didn't report the sightings or post any of them publicly - I had been hearing so many reports night after night by that point, that there didn't seem to be any need to report them.

These aren't hobby drones as they can't just stay in the air that long. Local police departments seem to know nothing about what's going on and maybe they are lawful, but then what's the explanation for 6 drones hovering around my neighborhood (not to mention all the other sightings)? You really are just regurgitating the government propaganda on this just about perfectly.

I really have no clue what is going on with these drones, but something is happening even when you factor in all the mistaken sightings. Not really paranoid about what's going on - just more curious at this point.

These are just a couple of public accounts of first hand sightings of the drones in NJ, from a journalist, incoming Senator and former Governor.

 

[TheUnseenHand]

Eh, I’m not really going to get into it here as I’m sure I’ll be banned, but when I say culture I’m talking about a lot more than just the typical human nature that’s been on display for millennia.

I don't necessarily agree with that. This kind of information, and misinformation, is just far, far more available and consumable than it has ever been. So the ignorance and human nature are just more visible and in your face than they ever have been. At least, that is my opinion of it. Take that for whatever it's worth

 

[njdevils1982]

holy shit talk about stupidity.....just take one down and the answer will be had.

 

[guitarguyvic]

LOL...sounds like the official government response..."nothing to see here".

What makes it obvious that 95% of these sightings are BS? Some bad videos online that look like a plane?

How is it that so many NJ politicians on both sides are saying that they've seen them first hand - often times, while going out with local law enforcement? How do you think this became such a national story in the first place?

I understand that once this did become a big story, everybody suddenly starts looking up in the sky for drones and you have a lot of people that start confusing planes, helicopters and any lights in the sky for drones and the amount of false sightings go way up. That still doesn't explain how the story grew in the first place. Quite frankly, the local and national media were way behind in reporting on this topic.

I live right in the area where many of the initial sightings originated. Saw how people locally were discussing seeing the drones night after night (though Thanksgiving there were no sightings) - again, well before any news had picked up on anything. Didn't see anything remotely unusual myself until one night maybe a week or two after hearing about them when one of my sons came home after being at the school behind our house with a friend and said there were a bunch of drones in the sky. Went to my backyard and saw them myself - they were out there for a while, so had plenty of time to grab several videos (just checked my phone and the videos were over a 10 minute span) and check the lights again flight radar 24. I've also lived there for 7 years, so I am quite familiar with how much flight traffic we get in that area and it's clear there were a number of drones hanging around for quite some time that evening. I took several videos, but didn't report the sightings or post any of them publicly - I had been hearing so many reports night after night by that point, that there didn't seem to be any need to report them.

These aren't hobby drones as they can't just stay in the air that long. Local police departments seem to know nothing about what's going on and maybe they are lawful, but then what's the explanation for 6 drones hovering around my neighborhood (not to mention all the other sightings)? You really are just regurgitating the government propaganda on this just about perfectly.

I really have no clue what is going on with these drones, but something is happening even when you factor in all the mistaken sightings. Not really paranoid about what's going on - just more curious at this point.

These are just a couple of public accounts of first hand sightings of the drones in NJ, from a journalist, incoming Senator and former Governor.

Yes yes it’s government propaganda….except for all the government officials you cited who are saying they’ve also seen drones.

Why am I skeptical even though the police and politicians have reported concerns? Perhaps it’s because I’m looking at the same videos you are which don’t show anything conclusive other than strobes in the sky from miles away. We have the governor of Maryland reporting obvious stars in the sky as drones. Our leaders have become as ignorant as their constituents - or at minimum they have to placate the ignorance in order to survive our current culture.

Even in the rare situations where you can confirm it’s drones - there are thousands of registered. It doesn’t mean anything on its own to see them.

“Something is happening”…no not necessarily. People are obviously now paying more attention to drones in the sky than they were before. We don’t actually know if there’s anything unusual or different going on. Maybe there is, but it’s just as likely not.

 

[guitarguyvic]

I don't necessarily agree with that. This kind of information, and misinformation, is just far, far more available and consumable than it has ever been. So the ignorance and human nature are just more visible and in your face than they ever have been. At least, that is my opinion of it. Take that for whatever it's worth

The bolded is precisely what makes this different than anything we’ve ever seen before. And I don’t think we know the answer yet on how bad it can get.

 

[TheUnseenHand]

I’m not saying it’s any worse than any other time in history. But the tech and related potential scope and scale are unlike anything that’s ever existed. And the willful nature of modern ignorance despite having more resources to be educated than at any other time in human existence is unique and very dystopian.

Sorry about the foster baby. Sounds like you’re doing a wonderful thing.

Now I do agree here. It's tremendously frustrating that we have such unprecedented access to objective information about almost any topic at our fingertips and we choose to ignore it in favor of pseudo scientific, or downright false, information that affirms our preferred narratives.

I've long contested that the root of this is in the lack of true critical thinking skills. Critical thinking is not taught at any level of education. The scientific method is basically critical thinking, but that is only taught in science classes. Critical thinking should be taught at every level and applied in every single class. In the absence of these skills, we lose the ability to identify true, objective information and the ability to recognize when we are consuming only information that affirms our personal beliefs and narratives and is not in any way objective, or even true.

 

[Satans Hockey]

It's something she's wanted to do for long before we met. She's always wanted to be a mom but was never thrilled with the concept of carrying a child to term (which is too risky for her in the first place). It's hectic but rewarding. And yes, we are taking the twins to a Devils game- January 19th against Ottawa.

Stop by guest services on the lower or upper level and you can get them both free first game certificates.

 

[My3Sons]

So we've seen drones become powerful weapons. We've seen them sent over long distances to wreak havoc on foreign battlefields. It's not a surprise the US would test drone fleets performing various tasks. it's also not a surprise they won't admit it or inform us at all about it. How many nuclear tests were disclosed compared to how many there were? How much testing of stealth aircraft was done before they were acknowledged? It's always been this way. Someday after the drone fleets are used and they cannot be plausibly denied they will tell us what is going on.

 

[The Grinder]

But the only reason they would be testing these drones at night over New Jersey is to gauge the public response? As citizens we are entitled to know what’s going on. There is no excusing what the government is concealing from its public. Is it par for the course? Hell yes it is but we have a right to be informed, instead of the gov keeping mum and letting the vacuum be filled by propaganda and conspiracy.

 

[JimEIV]

Fly machines don't bother me none.

 

[HBK27]

Yes yes it’s government propaganda….except for all the government officials you cited who are saying they’ve also seen drones.

Why am I skeptical even though the police and politicians have reported concerns? Perhaps it’s because I’m looking at the same videos you are which don’t show anything conclusive other than strobes in the sky from miles away. We have the governor of Maryland reporting obvious stars in the sky as drones. Our leaders have become as ignorant as their constituents - or at minimum they have to placate the ignorance in order to survive our current culture.

Even in the rare situations where you can confirm it’s drones - there are thousands of registered. It doesn’t mean anything on its own to see them.

“Something is happening”…no not necessarily. People are obviously now paying more attention to drones in the sky than they were before. We don’t actually know if there’s anything unusual or different going on. Maybe there is, but it’s just as likely not.

Yeah, there's a big difference between a carefully crafted government response from someone like Mayorkis or Kirby versus first hand accounts from literally dozens of government officials throughout the state. You really can't equate the two.

Fine to be skeptical and I get it given a lot of the videos of single drone sightings, but I've seen many reports of people seeing multiple drones (5+) at a time. That's what I witnessed personally and what most of the local reports I've seen have stated (usually from the Ring Neighbor alerts, which were only within 5 miles of where I live) and shown in instances where they also uploaded video. Not sure how you explain that as just being nothing or not usual.

I also get that people are paying more attention now that it's a national story and the amount of incorrect sightings have grown exponentially, but how does that explain how this started in the first place? Did someone just mistakenly see something, post about it somewhere and it caught like wildfire? Early on, well before any media picked up on this, there were plenty of reports of sightings in my area.

 

[guitarguyvic]

Yeah, there's a big difference between a carefully crafted government response from someone like Mayorkis or Kirby versus first hand accounts from literally dozens of government officials throughout the state. You really can't equate the two.

Fine to be skeptical and I get it given a lot of the videos of single drone sightings, but I've seen many reports of people seeing multiple drones (5+) at a time. That's what I witnessed personally and what most of the local reports I've seen have stated (usually from the Ring Neighbor alerts, which were only within 5 miles of where I live) and shown in instances where they also uploaded video. Not sure how you explain that as just being nothing or not usual.

I also get that people are paying more attention now that it's a national story and the amount of incorrect sightings have grown exponentially, but how does that explain how this started in the first place? Did someone just mistakenly see something, post about it somewhere and it caught like wildfire? Early on, well before any media picked up on this, there were plenty of reports of sightings in my area.

Because a small amount of the reports are probably actually drones. But as I’ve said, that alone is not evidence of anything either. There are thousands of FAA approved drones…their use is increasing and will only continue to increase. These sightings may in fact be among those. The government is under no obligation to share private or proprietary data about these drones. They would be treated no differently than the thousands of private airplanes and helicopters that are in the sky every day.

It’s funny…people demand answers on these drones but where I am in NJ there’s several helicopters that fly over every single day…these choppers come closer to private property than these reported drones and fly directly overhead regularly…they pose a significantly higher nuisance and safety risk for people on the ground… and no one seems even remotely interested in who they belong to or what they are doing.

 

[HBK27]

Because a small amount of the reports are probably actually drones. But as I’ve said, that alone is not evidence of anything either. There are thousands of FAA approved drones…their use is increasing and will only continue to increase. These sightings may in fact be among those. The government is under no obligation to share private or proprietary data about these drones. They would be treated no differently than the thousands of private airplanes and helicopters that are in the sky every day.

It’s funny…people demand answers on these drones but where I am in NJ there’s several helicopters that fly over every single day…these choppers come closer to private property than these reported drones and fly directly overhead regularly…they pose a significantly higher nuisance and safety risk for people on the ground… and no one seems even remotely interested in who they belong to or what they are doing.

People demand answers on these drones because up until a month ago there weren't a bunch of them suddenly out every single night throughout the area. I'm sure if there were groups of 5+ helicopters out night after night after night hovering around then people would start demanding answers on that as well. You can also track the flight patterns of helicopters.

I'm curious how you think this became such a massive story in the first place? Were these thousands of FAA approved drones out there already and people just happened to start noticing?

 

[guitarguyvic]

People demand answers on these drones because up until a month ago there weren't a bunch of them suddenly out every single night throughout the area. I'm sure if there were groups of 5+ helicopters out night after night after night hovering around then people would start demanding answers on that as well. You can also track the flight patterns of helicopters.

I'm curious how you think this became such a massive story in the first place? Were these thousands of FAA approved drones out there already and people just happened to start noticing?

There's no evidence that these drones are flying low directly over people's private property like helicopters do. So yeah I expect that if there were multiple choppers over people's homes every night people would start making a stink, but that's not what's going on.

This became a story because the news reported on a couple of reported strange sightings which included near a military base. It's not exactly hard to see how in this day and age that would result in people suddenly paying more attention to what's in the sky and ballooning hysteria around related misidentifications or "suspicious" reports, especially in a society that so willingly accepts unverified information and already has a large trust issue with the "government".