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Apparently there is an app for this. Flightradar24 is one of several that allow you to point your phone at the sky, and get a read-out of any aircraft known to be flying in the area. https://edition.cnn.com/2024/12/14/tech/aircraft-drone-identifier-apps/index.html

The NJ congressman blathering about an Iranian mothership in the Atlantic and the "high sources" he got it from (possibly high in a different sense of the word) was pretty funny. In the UK, there was similar speculation about state actors, re drones seen around Lakenheath and other AFBs. While I can see how drones might offer several advantages over spysats (cheaper, closer, meander anywhere), I would think they probably would not have navigation lights on as the Jersey devils seem to. Visually shouting "yoohoo! I'm over here!" is not SOP in tradecraft. (unless it's a decoy) And then there are all the vigilantes posting on SM about bringing one down with a shotgun. What could possibly go wrong with that, right?

He being a politician, I would expect them to be below the belt. I am sorry @TheVat, I missed your remark. I didn't mind. Always nice to find a fellow mind making the same connection. I miss plenty of posts meself.

The “drones” Maryland Governor Hogan filmed recently were stars in the constellation Orion “The stars at the 39 second mark are recognizably the constellation Orion. From this you can determine that the bright lights behind the trees are the stars Sirius and Procyon. No anomalous objects are apparent in this video.” https://katv.com/news/nation-world/larry-hogan-says-dozens-of-drones-flew-over-maryland-home-entirely-unacceptable-new-jersey-md-east-coast-flying-objects-ufos

And it was said!

I hate to sound like more of a cryptid kook than usual, but this all feels like some sort of distraction, even if it is some kind of domestic pezzonovante corporate officers or light foreign interference [not saying it can't or won't lead to HEAVY foreign interference {even if it is americans doing this}, but that's too much speculation for this early in the day]. from an espionage perspective, stingers do not necessarily need drones to convey them NOR would they have nav lights on, as @TheVat pointed out. if the goal was to shut down airports, Korea has developed anti-drone directed-energy weapons*, we [by which I refer to the various US defense communities and er... their contractors as a collective; hopefully never just random people with guns] would be either shooting these down or better yet, catching them in some sort of net snares, which as an Cajun, I do not know why we have yet to use against drones. we [and they] used trip lines on dirigibles through both world wars, time to make them into nets which can be hoisted and lowered on demand, in full view of the towers, then if necessary electrify them like a big bug zapper... we sometimes hire people to cull large birds at airports, and we use underwater tech like that to keep Asian carp out of the Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence seaway. this all feels too obvious. "if it flies and ya can't shoot at it, use nets or bolas snares, I mean...." as for the abundance of coverage... well, even in a 24 hour world, nobody really needs 24 hours of news. like mainstream religion, the mainstream media needs more attention and thus more money than most established businesses and other public oriented groups as people have been switching off more and more over the decades [thank merciful heavens]. if this were late summer in a year without a lot of tropical cyclones, I feel all they'd be talking about is the "unusual number of sharks gathering near the coast" [gathering in ways which sharks just tend to gather regularly that time of year but most laypeople and that one president all shout "omg shark"] so they bring it up only in summers without much other news to report, also so that they know that people will be watching on standby for when "a thing" happens. [that is to say, ANYTHING that might happen, this could just be leon tusk's latest mid-life crisis hobby for all we know] the first year the "slow news shark" bit occurred in my memory was the summer of 2001, which [before the second week in september that year] had even been dubbed by the media as "summer of the shark". drones are feeling like the new sharks, yet I do respect the potential foreign and domestic yadda yadda yadda for various outcomes here [to wildly speculate, it smells like NK and RUS, particularly when one reads international headlines to this subject in the past year]. Stephen Hawking once said that he doubted extraterrestrial life had ever contacted humanity simply because if they had, the governments would know about it, and if they had kept that secret, they were better at keeping secrets than anything else. I legitimately believe that he was right about at least part of this: the governments are not good at much of anything besides keeping secrets, they're really good at that somehow.

If they don’t know, their options are to say so, or lie, which means making something up. If they say it’s drones being flown by Hell’s Angels, then they have to say they’re powerless to stop them, because they can’t go and arrest anyone. And if/when they do find out what’s going on and it’s not Hell’s Angels, they look even more foolish. Sounds like a plan, right? If they don’t say there’s no danger then they have to say there is. I’m sure that wouldn’t cause a panic. “Be afraid” is so very reassuring. News collection is often slow, while dissemination is now fast. The early portion of any story is often filled with conjecture and filler. Think of active shooter stories, or natural disasters, and how much they get wrong in the initial reports. Investigation takes time.

It happened back in November just before the election, my memory is bad of late, if you want I'll try and search the exact dates, it happened around the same time the drones were violating air space on several UK bases as well. At the time I wondered if it was some civilian group like Anonymous doing it. Several bases in NJ have been overflown. According to government sources Langley was all but shut down for almost a month. I think most of the reports were simply taking peoples word with no real objective measurements. I've seen further videos and while many of the "objects" were obviously misidentified aircraft more than a few were obviously Drones and have been reported by officials was coming in off the ocean in groups as big as fifty. More than a dozen drones followed a coast guard ship at least once night and caused considerable concerns by the crew. This morning News Nation (I know a MAGA news source) reported that drones were being seen all around the world. From Australia, to China, Russia?, Europe, and others. It is also being reported that UAPs are being seen in Virginia, Oregon, California, and Texas. I personally think this is most likely "Hype" to some extent but the extent of the phenomena is interesting. I remember back before the election certain groups were predicting a false flag alien invasion to allow Trump to further consolidate his power... This is getting out of control! I think it should be said that most of the "News" sources reporting on this are MAGA sources but ABC, NBC, and CBS are also reporting this!

They weren’t a problem before Trump was elected. Just sayin’

Unfortunately, we already had those years. And a couple before that (if perhaps a bit less blatant). I think, at this point folks are swimming in coffee but not noticing anything.

Unfortunately that is what folks believe, contrary to all evidence but also simple logic (i.e., differences in outcomes, priorities, goals, mechanisms, procedures etc.). Funny ( sad, actually ) how poor, or middle class, uneducated people vote to elect millionaires and billionaires thinking that they will look out for their best interests. Give them about 4 years to 'smell the coffee' and wake up.

I voted against having my society tell us how many children it needed us to have. In fact, JD Vance can go have sex with a couch and I still don't think society should require him to have children by it.

Fine distinction. I suspect such nuances would be lost on his target demographic. Maybe he was simply pointing out that sensationalist headlines can distort our perspectives. Some people need to be told that. He does undeniably important work in science communication so I don't really see the purpose of this thread. So what if he and his audience don't have much time for old white philosophers: it isn't as if an adult film starlet had spanked him with a rolled up copy of Scientific American or something.

I think the comparisons are what philosophers call "trivially true." His math is correct but it misses the point. Medical errors kill more people than mass shootings but medical errors don't jump out in a movie theater or shopping mall or school and start slaughtering. Mass shootings have unique aspects of horror because of their psychological effects and ability to spark mass fear - and destruction of what were perceived as safe spaces in our lives. So, yes, Neil does tend to be glib and dismissive sometimes.

As a former child, I believe that all should have children. If you are a person, you can have one. Children should not have children, because then the population will be multiplied and get out of control. Also, it is illegal. I don't want any people to have children with dogs or cats though.