Posted on 04/24/2012 6:23:05 AM PDT by Mad Dawgg
Is there a drone in your neighbourhood? Rise of spy planes exposed after FAA is forced to reveal 63 launch sites across U.S.
Unmanned spy planes are being launched from locations in 20 states and owners include the military and universities.
There are at least 63 active drone sites around the U.S, federal authorities have been forced to reveal following a landmark Freedom of Information lawsuit.
The unmanned planes some of which may have been designed to kill terror suspects are being launched from locations in 20 states.
Most of the active drones are deployed from military installations, enforcement agencies and border patrol teams, according to the Federal Aviation Authority.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Yes, imagine my son’s surprise as a UCONN student! It is quite an uneasy feeling he has, and I share.
Mine is Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield California. Why do we need these? Who are they afraid of? Joe citizen?
They are probably just going to be used to track those lost dogs that have the microchips in them. Of course Big Government would never use them to track its citizens. After all, this is the USA where we are a free people with a constitution to protect us, right?
I live in California, one of the most Democratic states of the union. So yes, I’m surrounded by drones. ROFLMAO!
A clear violation of Posse Comitatus.
Why does anybody think the government really cares about violating laws anymore?
I’ve heard that you can light matches with that thing.
http://forum.siouxsports.com/topic/7042-uav-research-at-und/
here is a comment from the article ........
I've been aware of USDA drones for at least 10 years here in North Dakota. The Ag Dept wants to be sure farmers are following agreed upon government programs. No one is told that's the game, but if a farmer varies one iota from his ‘contract’’ a government agent arrives within hours to ‘get answers’. We aren't on any programs, but have had these things overhead 24/7 for ten years that I've been aware of them. They don't fly back to their ‘rookery’ every night, either. They are either solar or nuclear powered; extremely stable, very nimble; very aware of any movement on the ground even in the dead of night. They will ‘follow’ a person checking on livestock at 1 am on a moonless night. I don't even need a flashlight to be ‘seen’. Wonderful technology... perfect privacy on 1700 acres with nearest neighbor 5 1/2 miles away on dirt roads! Gosh, do I ever feel safe!? - donna k., Emmons Co., ND, USA, 24/4/2012 17:53
Curiosity question for the field: what’s the difference between drone surveillance and helicopter surveillance? For the latter has been happening for decades.
As I was growing up in semi-rural Florida, night-flying helicopters with search lights on them were routine. Later on, they added heat-seeking cameras in the hopes of locating in-home marijuana-growing operations.
This stuff isn’t new... if we’re complaining about losing privacy, searches without warrants, and government monitoring... well, sorry, but that ship has sailed — decades ago.
The only difference now is that it will be easier and cheaper for the feds/police/et al to do it. And the drones aren’t going to alert the entire neighborhood, like a chopper would.
Hey, your house, your address, and more have always been publicly accessible. It took Google Street View to make it creepy and easy for everybody to spy on one another. Drones will just do the same for the Powers That Be. But somebody’s gonna have to convince a judge that it’s wrong despite it having been routine for years.
Yes, the US press covers this as well. Just the Brits are the A team when it comes to splashing it across the front page.
The boy’z were testing their toy’z and the damn thing crashed into the swat tank.....funny as all get out!!!!
http://www.examiner.com/article/drone-crashes-into-swat-team-tank-during-police-test-near-houston
Patriot Act, NDAA, Drones, DHS grants to civilian law enforcement, TSA expansion to highways and bus lines, surveillance cameras installed at every intersection, every roadway and throughout urban areas. Viper units, back scatter x-ray vans....and on and on and on.
I believe Uncle Sugar is gearing up for something...not sure what, but hundreds of millions being spent to monitor U.S. citizens.
One of those stocked up nice with a 3rd or 4th Gen night rifle scope and a good momentary switch will ruin Big Brother Robot's night out. (And yours, too, if Big Brother catches you.) But always remember the first rule of laser gun fighting: never shoot at reflective surfaces. It isn't just for sci-fi novels anymore.
;-)
FR, as usual, says "why isn't this being covered in the US?" Perhaps it is, and the poster just didn't do an exhaustive check, because he knows the Guardian likes to ferret out stuff like this. EFF is obviously the source article for the Guardian report. Maybe the better question is "where can you find this information being hand-fed to the American Public." EFF is not underground, but sources such as EFF and Wired aren't being programmed into the majority of American Homes along with the nightly news.
I can think of a number of legitimate applications for the use of various drones: keeping track of wildlife herd migrations comes to mind, as well as traffic monitoring without the use of more expensive multiple "Eye In The Sky Chopper One" news helecopters.
Also, as Strategerist points out, somebody needs to do the engineering on these useful platforms. Who better than university engineering programs.
However, this new technology, like Google Streetview war-driving and a Google/Federal Government data nexus, needs to be watched for abuses. Emerging technology is always a frontier (in the Wild West sense).
_residential golfing is hungry work. (yes I did highjack a thread about drones to bring up 0bama eats dogs)
As an OU grad, I appreciate the harvest time joke. Meigs County Gold.
I know this will sound conspiritorial. But I have been reading about Planet X coming back this year. I know I know sounds kookoo but with all the earth changes and the earthquakes and crazy weather I truly believe that could possibly what they are gearing up for. Some web sites speculate it might be a pole shift and that will cause mass devestation to the world. Earthquakes, volcanos. Shifting of the tectonic plates. Millions of dead around the world and in the USA. FEMA camps and plastic coffins around the country, now drones all over, the question is “what are they truly expecting”? OK flame away.
That sword cuts both ways:
Video: Civilian UAV Films Polish Riots From Above
http://defensetech.org/2011/11/16/video-civilian-uav-films-polish-riots-from-above/#ixzz1szp5AkBS
Defense.org
private drone over neighborhood provides aerial eye in sky (Video)
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=728_1333434244
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV): How and when will civilian UAVs change the world?
http://www.quora.com/Unmanned-Aerial-Vehicles-UAV/How-and-when-will-civilian-UAVs-change-the-world
Parrot AR.Drone Quadricopter Controlled by iPhone, iPad, Android Devices
https://www.blinq.com/#computers-networking/ipad-tablet-ereader-accs/parrot-ar-drone-quadricopter-controlled-by-iphone-ipad-android-devices/58452?source=googleps
Draganflyer X6
http://www.draganfly.com/uav-helicopter/draganflyer-x6/?gclid=CNPzxau3zq8CFakDtgodKCL2Fw
The capabilities of these aircraft are grossly underestimated.
Years ago my family was part of the National Hikers and Campers association. Each year they have a national campvention. Thousands of people from all over the USA and Canada and Mexico hook up their Camping trailers or load up the motor homes and head to a selected site usually a large state fairgrounds. In 1979n they settled on a site in Ontario Canada.
I loved these get events as a kid you would get a few friends and walk around the grounds and meet people from all over the country. Tradition was you'd walk up to people and shake hands and say your name and the State (or province) you were from.
My group of friends would always say "We're from Southern Ohio." the First group of people we met in Ontario replied 'Southern Ohio? Meigs County Ohio? You got any to sell?
We all laughed about it and talked abit and then moved on to the next group. Again: "Southern Ohio? Meigs County? Oh man that is the best stuff I ever had."
Didn't matter if we met people from West Virginia or California or Old Mexico Everybody knew about Meigs county!
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