What do you believe is flying over New Jersey?

There's a decent article in the NYTimes, for those who subscribe. I don't want to ruin it for you, but in case you want a spoiler:

It's airplanes and helicopters with a very small number of legal drones mixed in.
About time someone started reporting that. Could have headed this **** off a month ago.
 
Twenty three years ago in December 2001 a guy got on a plane with a firecracker in his shoe and to this day I still have to take my shoes off to get on a flight, at least until I'm 75 when I'll be allowed to keep them on.
No, an Al Qaeda operative attempted to detonate a shoe bomb in flight, but failed because the fuse was damaged.

But if it really bothers you, do Pre Check.
 
That doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be run effectively.
Agreed. But that is a different debate than whether it should exist.

I'd also quibble with your choice of adverbs. Effective means it deters or prevents terrorist attacks. TSA has been 100% effective since it's formation.

Efficient means it does so with minimum inconvenience to passengers. IMO some people will complain at any degree of inconvenience.
 
Agreed. But that is a different debate than whether it should exist.

I'd also quibble with your choice of adverbs. Effective means it deters or prevents terrorist attacks. TSA has been 100% effective since it's formation.

Efficient means it does so with minimum inconvenience to passengers. IMO some people will complain at any degree of inconvenience.
A fair differentiation. I think we can have both. I had a DoD TS/SCI clearance from 1988 to 2023. I wasn't a threat. Yet until my agency finally shared cleared status I was screened like everyone else. Then all we got was free Pre-check. What resources were wasted on me that could have been used elsewhere?

It's not wrong to demand both from our government.
 
Last edited:
Nobody likes the TSA, but it was a necessary reaction to a very real problem.
What problem? Everything that the 9/11 Highjackers brought onto the aircraft were legal on that day. It was only after 9/11 that box cutters and knives with blades under 4 inches became illegal. That change would have happened eeven if TSA wasn't created.
 
What problem? Everything that the 9/11 Highjackers brought onto the aircraft were legal on that day. It was only after 9/11 that box cutters and knives with blades under 4 inches became illegal. That change would have happened eeven if TSA wasn't created.
And locking of the cockpit doors.
 
There is and has been official military reporting of drones used for spying and other illegal surveillance. There's people in and outside this country that are currently trying to create havoc.

Believe that we're all morons if you like but, there's trouble brewing. I know this report is not your preferred TV channel but, it's just one more report....

 
I'd also quibble with your choice of adverbs. Effective means it deters or prevents terrorist attacks. TSA has been 100% effective since it's formation.
TSA was created for one, single, solitary reason: The airlines did not want to foot the bill for the security measures necessary to make the American public feel comfortable flying again after 9/11.

Unfortunately, given organizational autonomy drives and how many people have forgotten (or weren't around) what airports looked like immediately after 9/11 and how desperate the airlines were (I flew RT to Vegas on United for $75 in November 2001) we've collectively forgotten that TSA was always intended to be theater. As a result, we've let them get way out of hand.

But that's why it's actually OK that TSA has prevented no attacks and lets more weapons pass onto airlines than it prevents.
 
TSA's reach includes more than airline flight.
 
There is and has been official military reporting of drones used for spying and other illegal surveillance. There's people in and outside this country that are currently trying to create havoc.

Believe that we're all morons if you like but, there's trouble brewing. I know this report is not your preferred TV channel but, it's just one more report....

So a guy on the opposite side of the country from New Jersey was breaking the rules, and got arrested for it. All without a UFO panic.
 
So a guy on the opposite side of the country from New Jersey was breaking the rules, and got arrested for it. All without a UFO panic.
I guess I missed something here in this discussion :confused: ? I didn't think the FAA and the cities of Newark and New York shut down their airspace because of UFOs. Obviously I miss understood, I thought they shut down the airspace because of drones possibly spying on one of United States largest populations centers.

Sorry, wrong thread. "What do you believe is flying over New Jersey?"
Thought this thread was about the citizens reporting unidentified objects in the air that they where calling drones.
 
There's a decent article in the NYTimes, for those who subscribe.
@Lindberg Thanks!
Useful relevance where NYT quotes aviation attorney/pilot based in Princeton:

"so unusual .. is the large number of hyper-specific no-fly regions .. minuscule, tiny, temporary flight restrictions;
struggle to differentiate between areas where only drones are banned and locations where all flight restricted.
It's guaranteed to cause confusion and difficulties for ... pilots"

As list grows, TFR map looks ... a mess. :rolleyes:
 
Last edited:
I didn't think the FAA and the cities of Newark and New York shut down their airspace because of UFOs.
No, they did it because they have to be perceived as "DOING SOMETHING!"

And a bunch of tiny TFRs only affecting UAVs doesn't "do something", or rather do anything, to interfere with all other routine flight operations. They'll probably make a few highly publicized arrests of little Johnny with his toy drone, or maybe a real estate agent taking photos of his properties, the hysteria will subside, and in a month or two the newscritters will find something else to whip the public into a frenzy over.
 
Last edited:
No, they did it because they have to be perceived as "DOING SOMETHING!"

And a bunch of tiny TFRs only affecting UAVs doesn't "do something", or rather do anything, to interfere with all other routing flight operations. They'll probably make a few highly publicized arrests of little Johnny with his toy drone, or maybe a real estate agent taking photos of his properties, the hysteria will subside, and in a month or two the newscritters will find something else to whip the public into a frenzy over.
That's extremely cynical. And 100% accurate.
 
Back
Top