My guess is somebody (human or alien) is running a PsyOp. Like a deep fake. They found a way to project an image that shows up on radar and has a heat signature.
My guess is a slightly different ‘take’ but related to yours. The most recent development in jet fighter design that is proliferating world wide is highly sensitive ASEA radars. My theory is that these radars are a tad “too good” in that they can see air vortexes and other non-physical anomalies. Most of these Radars can ‘slave’ an IR camera to bring up a magnified image of what the radar is pointed at. Only that thing ain’t real. But the Infrared Camera sees a temperature gradient where the vortex is.
Anyway the US has had a longer experience with these new radars than almost anybody else. So what if we are playing with our opponents heads making them think these anomalies are ‘real’ and we’ve also developed an electronic attack system that can recreate these anomalies for our enemies to see. That would be a create counter to assist a stealthy first-day strike by forcing these advance SAM batteries to chase ghosts.
Like you said... a cat chasing a laser pointer.
“Most of these Radars can ‘slave’ an IR camera to bring up a magnified image of what the radar is pointed at. Only that thing ain’t real. But the Infrared Camera sees a temperature gradient where the vortex is.”
If this is widespread tech you would think fighter pilots would be familiar with it and not be fooled.
As far as the UAP images being a projection, watch the the portion of the video linked below from 43-47 seconds. See how the UAP movement from side to side varies in speed and elevation. Its not a precise movement like you would expect from an autopilot or electronically programmed system. It looks like when someone moves the cursor back and forth across their computer screen. The movement looks fake.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVL6jv-h1W0