With 'Drones' Now Appearing Over Our Military Installations, it's Time to Discuss the UFO Hypothesis

Gary Hershorn. Getty Images.

We've had days now of mysterious drones of uncertain origin flying through the skies above New Jersey with impunity. And with members of Congress who claim to have been briefed on the matter saying one thing, only to be contradicted by other officials:

… it seemed like the only thing we could know for certain is these weren't mere toys operated by civilians. There are strict line-of-sight requirements on these things. Plus, our most competent political leaders, including the Governor of New Jersey reported these objects "go dark" whenever anyone gets close to them. So a coordinated effort by civilian operators is out of the question. 

That is to say, until it wasn't out of the question. At least according to the White House, which landed on this as the only explanation:

So while the Executive branch was going for this:

… all they managed was to convince anyone with even a single skeptical brain cell in their skull to realize the only thing we really know for certain is that no one knows anything for certain. Everyone in the government who is entrusted to protect the public hasn't got the first clue what is happening, who's behind it, or what to do about it. 

Which would be one thing if this were "just" (using very broad, exaggerated finger quotes on that word for maximum emphasis) happening to ordinary people in New Jersey. Having unknown airborne craft buzzing through the skies of one of our most densely populated states for unexplained reasons is cause enough for alarm. But we're now hearing about them over sensitive military installations in Jersey:

Advertisement

In Germany:

Reuters - Drones were spotted flying over the U.S. air base at Ramstein in Germany in early December, a spokesperson for the U.S. Air Force said on Friday.

There were "no impacts to base residents, facilities, or assets," the spokesperson said. "In concert with host nation authorities, we continue to monitor the airspace to ensure safety and security of the community."

A security source told Reuters that German authorities had not traced the operators of the drones, but had ruled out the possibility that the drones were operated by amateurs.

And the UK:

As a quick aside, the reason I'm not including any of the videos making the rounds on social media is that by the time you find a "good" one, it ends up getting Community Noted into the sun as just fakery.

So what to make of any of this? Whatever is causing these disturbances, something we can say for sure is that they're unknown. And they're in the air. And they appear to be solid, tangible items. Let's see now … what's another way to say that? They're unidentified … flying … objects. Or, if you prefer the term, Unidentified Aerial Phenomena. 

Why not? Within the first few sightings over Jersey, the word "drone" was applied, and the label has stuck. Despite very undrone-like qualities such as the altitude, range and total lack of rotor/motor noise most of them display. Not to mention their ability to "go dark" on first encounter. 

And let's not forget their are historical precedents of populated areas being inundated with UFOs/UAPs long before we had drone technology. The so-called "Battle of Los Angeles" in 1942, for example, when actual shots were fired at them:

Another being Washington DC in 1952, in which these objects buzzed the Capitol, a squadron of jets were scrambled, and got badly outrun:

Advertisement

And the famous Phoenix Lights in 1997, that were spotted by literally tens of thousands. Including the Governor of Arizona. But more impressively, were actually called in by the pilot of a private plane, who just so happens to be one of the coolest celebrities of our times, Kurt Russell:

No one knew how to explain these phenomena 70 years ago, 60 years ago, or 27 years ago. But it was understood that they weren't built by handy do-it-yourselfers, out of a mail order kit, or ordered from Radio Shack. Nothing that's been going on over New Jersey or our other military installations is any different, except for the fact they can be dismissed as simple drones. Even though these literal unidentified flying objects are far from simple. 

As in those earlier instances and countless others like them, whoever is operating these things does so because they can and because we're helpless to do anything about it. That hasn't changed. And likely never will in our lifetimes. All we can do is hope they don't intend to do anything worse than just keep making us puny humans look stupid. Which they're exceptionally good at.