by Flack » Fri Dec 13, 2024 8:18 am
The FAA's Dedrone program* can identify, track, and bring down drones. I don't know how many major airports they have rolled this out to, but one of the first ones is Atlantic City, so if these drones are flying anywhere near that airport, which they are, the government has the ability to track them and bring them down. The fact that they're not bringing them down is telling; either they can't, which is possible, or they're choosing not to.
These things are too big and there are too many of them to be owned and operated by civilians. I've seen estimates that these drones are at least 6' in size, which requires a pilot's license to own and operate. They also cost tens of thousands of dollars and people are reporting seeing dozens of them at once so unless some multimillionaire is pulling a prank, it's not civilians. They're also being operated illegally without lights and in no-fly zones so again, either they're doing this with government approval or they are facing gigantic fines and 100% jailtime.
So, what does that leave? Well, government spending is going to change after Trump takes office. Musk is a technology guy and one of his big things is that he thinks you can replace people with technology. Just like with Twitter, he laid off 90% of his staff and attempted to replace them with AI scripts. Companies that offer these types of solutions will be a hot commodity in 2025 and will be competing for government contracts. One of Trump's big things is securing the border. A physical wall is expensive and didn't/doesn't work... but monitoring the border with drones (which we kinda sorta already do, but not as well as we could) would be a win for him.
So, putting all this together, here's my theory -- I think a defense contractor is demonstrating a new drone technology to the DOD/military in that area. I think the FAA and other agencies are probably in a gray "need to know" area and part of this test is to see if the drones can be identified, tracked, or brought down, which is the only reason I can think of why they keep flying over the same area over and over -- I think they're intentionally temping someone to try and bring one down so they can show their evasion capabilities. Federal officials are saying "they're not a threat" but aren't saying what they are, which means they either know what they are and aren't saying, or don't know what they are but have been told they aren't a threat. I am only half joking when I say it wouldn't surprise me to see a "Tesla" sticker on one of these things should one get shot down. I can't help but wonder if the reason it's being done in that area is not only because of it's proximity to DC but also because it's an area where not everyone has guns. Here in the Midwest, farmers will shoot down drones if you are flying them over their cattle and harassing them. Fly a bunch of weird drones in Oklahoma and it would be like target practice for hundreds of rednecks.
So, that's my theory -- defense contractor demonstrating new generation of drone technology to the military/government for reasons unknown, probably to be used for border security or some sort of surveillance in the near future.
(*my theories and the information of the Dedrone program come from publicly posted news and information, not any insider knowledge.)
The FAA's Dedrone program* can identify, track, and bring down drones. I don't know how many major airports they have rolled this out to, but one of the first ones is Atlantic City, so if these drones are flying anywhere near that airport, which they are, the government has the ability to track them and bring them down. The fact that they're not bringing them down is telling; either they can't, which is possible, or they're choosing not to.
These things are too big and there are too many of them to be owned and operated by civilians. I've seen estimates that these drones are at least 6' in size, which requires a pilot's license to own and operate. They also cost tens of thousands of dollars and people are reporting seeing dozens of them at once so unless some multimillionaire is pulling a prank, it's not civilians. They're also being operated illegally without lights and in no-fly zones so again, either they're doing this with government approval or they are facing gigantic fines and 100% jailtime.
So, what does that leave? Well, government spending is going to change after Trump takes office. Musk is a technology guy and one of his big things is that he thinks you can replace people with technology. Just like with Twitter, he laid off 90% of his staff and attempted to replace them with AI scripts. Companies that offer these types of solutions will be a hot commodity in 2025 and will be competing for government contracts. One of Trump's big things is securing the border. A physical wall is expensive and didn't/doesn't work... but monitoring the border with drones (which we kinda sorta already do, but not as well as we could) would be a win for him.
So, putting all this together, here's my theory -- I think a defense contractor is demonstrating a new drone technology to the DOD/military in that area. I think the FAA and other agencies are probably in a gray "need to know" area and part of this test is to see if the drones can be identified, tracked, or brought down, which is the only reason I can think of why they keep flying over the same area over and over -- I think they're intentionally temping someone to try and bring one down so they can show their evasion capabilities. Federal officials are saying "they're not a threat" but aren't saying what they are, which means they either know what they are and aren't saying, or don't know what they are but have been told they aren't a threat. I am only half joking when I say it wouldn't surprise me to see a "Tesla" sticker on one of these things should one get shot down. I can't help but wonder if the reason it's being done in that area is not only because of it's proximity to DC but also because it's an area where not everyone has guns. Here in the Midwest, farmers will shoot down drones if you are flying them over their cattle and harassing them. Fly a bunch of weird drones in Oklahoma and it would be like target practice for hundreds of rednecks.
So, that's my theory -- defense contractor demonstrating new generation of drone technology to the military/government for reasons unknown, probably to be used for border security or some sort of surveillance in the near future.
(*my theories and the information of the Dedrone program come from publicly posted news and information, not any insider knowledge.)