Free Republic

New details have emerged of how mysterious drones harassed U.S. warships off California on multiple occasions in 2019. The Navy has yet to determine where the drones came from, who was operating them, or why they buzzed around a group of U.S. destroyers. The incidents were first reported by documentary filmmaker Dave Beaty, with new details obtained by news website The Drive using Freedom of Information Act requests to get the ships' logs of the encounters. The vessels involved were the destroyers USS Kidd, USS Rafael Peralta and USS John Finn. They were engaged in a training exercise in a...

"Suspicious Item at Palo Verde Proves to Be a Smoke Flare Plant Security, Law Enforcement Agencies Respond with Coordination and Effectiveness" SNIPPET: "PHOENIX, Oct 13, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Law enforcement officials have determined that a suspicious item found early this morning by security forces at the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station is a non-explosive device that never posed a threat to plant operations or employees. The item, four to six inches long with a fuse, was a commercially produced smoke flare, according to officials at the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office who responded to the incident and later disposed of...

The Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station was evacuated after a suspicious package was found early Wednesday morning. Explosive experts from the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office are investigating two suspicious packages at the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station, according to an MCSO spokesman. Lt. Brian Lee said the sheriff's office was contacted at 5 a.m. today by Palo Verde Security to report a suspicious device and received a second call at 5:30 a.m. reporting another suspicious package. Access to and from the plant was halted, according to Arizona Public Service and the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office. The immediate area was evacuated...

GLENDALE -- SNIPPET: "Cornelius Hardy, who often goes by Neil, was last seen Saturday evening at his home near 67th Avenue and Glendale Road. Friends and family have gathered at that home this morning. Annette Hardy said she came home at about 8:30 p.m. to find her husband gone. Hardy's family said the 41-year-old is consistent in his routine and that it's not at all like him to simply disappear. They said they have checked his credit cards and cell-phone records and found no activity since Saturday." SNIPPET: "Hardy has high security clearance at the Palo Verde Nuclear Power Plant,...

PHOENIX -- An engineer from Iran was convicted Tuesday of illegally accessing a protected computer in the United States to use software he obtained at a former job at the nation's largest nuclear plant. Mohammad Reza Alavi, 50, who worked at the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station for 17 years, faces up to five years in prison and could be fined up to a $250,000 for his conviction on a count of illegally accessing a computer. A sentencing hearing has not been set. Alavi was also charged with one count of stealing protected software from the plant and one count...

WINTERSBURG, Ariz. - As authorities tried to understand why a contract worker would bring a pipe bomb to the nation's largest nuclear power plant, one thing was immediately clear: The security worked. Guards stopped Roger William Hurd, 61, at the entrance to the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station when they spotted the bomb. He was detained about a half mile from the containment domes where the nuclear material is stored. Officials pulled his security clearances and placed the facility on lockdown. ...

Worker Reportedly Tried To Enter Plant With Suspicious Object (AP) PHOENIX -- Security officials at the nation's largest nuclear power plant detained a contract worker with a small pipe bomb in the back of his pickup truck Friday, and investigators were searching his apartment, authorities said. It didn't appear to be an act of terrorism, authorities said, but they were still trying to determine why the device was in the truck. The worker was stopped at the entrance of the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station, about half a mile from the containment domes where the plant's nuclear material is stored,...

PHOENIX (AP) — The nation's largest nuclear power plant was put on lockdown Friday after a contract worker entered the facility with something that security was "not comfortable with," a spokesman said. Security officials detained the worker at the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station and were conducting an investigation. The incident was considered an "unusual event" — the lowest of four emergencies the plant can declare, said Jim Melfi, an inspector with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Officials did not say what the worker brought to the plant. There was no threat to the public, said Palo Verde spokesman Jim...

The Palo Verde Nuclear Power Station has been locked down for investigation, however officials say there’s no immediate threat to public safety. The incident this morning is being described as an “unusual event,” which is the lowest of four emergency categories the plant can declare. A contract worker with the Nuclear Generating Station triggered the lockdown when he showed up with a suspicious package inside his vehicle, authorities said. The incident reportedly involves a suspicious-looking pipe inside the worker’s truck. “This is not a threat to the public,” said Jim McDonald, a spokesman for plant operator Arizona Public Service Co....

A former engineer at the nation's largest nuclear power plant has been charged with taking computer access codes and software to Iran and using it to download details of plant control rooms and reactors, authorities said. The FBI said there's no indication the plant employee had any terrorist connections. Mohammad Alavi, who worked at the triple-reactor Palo Verde power plant west of Phoenix, was arrested April 9 at Los Angeles International Airport when he arrived on a flight from Iran, authorities said. Alavi, 49, is a U.S. citizen and denies any wrongdoing, said his attorney, Milagros Cisneros of the Federal...