[frank ballenger]

Men in Black quotes (best was the list of places gone, ending with Staten Island: gone. Thank God).

Edwards: Why the big secret? People are smart. They can handle it.
Kay: A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it. Fifteen hundred years ago everybody knew the Earth was the center of the universe. Five hundred years ago, everybody knew the Earth was flat, and fifteen minutes ago, you knew that humans were alone on this planet. Imagine what you’ll know tomorrow.

---

Kay: We do not discharge our weapons in view of the public!
Jay: Man, we ain’t got time for this cover-up bull#@%&! I don’t know whether or not you’ve forgotten, but there’s an Arquillian Battle Cruiser that’s about to...
Kay: There’s always an Arquillian Battle Cruiser, or a Corillian Death Ray, or an intergalactic plague that is about to wipe out all life on this miserable little planet, and the only way these people can get on with their happy lives is that they DO NOT KNOW ABOUT IT!

[21twelve]

Some folks believe they are “mapping” stuff. Could be - but not the stuff you can see from Google Earth. Perhaps communications, but I would think they can monitor most of that already.

It wouldn’t surprise me if the government has some intelligence on a terrorist group with nuclear or chemical weapons and they are searching/sensing for them.

Not all of the drones are near military areas. Perhaps they were stolen from a military site. Or they are scanning military sites to prevent more thefts?

They figure it is better to plead ignorance than acknowledge that 100 pounds of Anthrax or nuclear material for a dirty bomb have gone missing.