Unusual amount of military air traffic near Edwards tonight.

[Mountainman]

I live near Edwards AFB and 5 jets and a C-130 flew over in the last half hour. Usually I don't see that many military planes in a month. I live in the mountains and there is a lot of commercial air traffic but not too many military planes.

[bemildred]

1. Cheney? nt

[Captain Hilts]

2. VERY interesting!

We're still trying to figure out what was with the blacked out military VIP helicopter that flew over Chesapeake Beach Sunday night. It didn't even have an anti-collision light on. Dark.

[Mountainman]

4. Two of the jets turned their lights off for a while and then turned them

back on. After they were out of sight I heard the afterburners kick in.

[catzies]

10. I've been hearing them approach, one after the other. Just stopped.

It's 9:30 and it stopped less than 10 minutes ago.

[catzies]

3. I live in the flight path for NAS Pt Mugu and I'm hearing them too!!!!!!!

Basically, I'm west of you and right on the coast. Fighter jets have ben flying in all evening. I only noticed at about the 4th or 5th one and now there's been 10 or so.

:scared:

[benburch]

5. Hmmm... West coast operation. Korea?

You'd depart east for Iran.

[kestrel91316]

7. OMG, those bastards wagging the dog??

I sure hope not!

[BrotherBuzz]

20. Travis AFB is the real hub for Pacific operations...

and everything is normal today. I should know because I live under their damn flight path.

[jojo54]

6. what the hell is chimpy up to now?

Seems to me he's doing a lot more than lying about his foreign aid at G8.

[Horse with no Name]

8. Interesting to hear from folks that live around other bases

To see if this is something we should be concerned about.
However, this does concern me cause you never know what these assholes are up to.

[catzies]

12. Normally I'm used to it, but I do notice spikes of activity. Like tonight

n/t

[Dr.Phool]

9. Maybe it's a coup?

They can't take the bastard anymore either!

[benburch]

11. Dear god.

I had not thought about that, but if it were, it would have to be MUCH bigger than you have observed.

[Last Lemming]

15. please!

counter-coup

[libhill]

35. Nah

they pulled their coup on 11/22 1963.

[ConfuZed]

13. They are probably preparing for the NASA launch

Edwards is an emergency landing zone, they have been conducting serveral crash landing senarios out there.

[catzies]

14. ANOTHER ONE. Big, like a C-130.

9:38

[Selatius]

16. Some possibilities off the top of my head.

It could be due to something about the Iraq War. It could be due to NASA preparations for landing zones, or something else happened, and US forces are being realigned or scrambled.

[flyarm]

23. quiet here near mcguire afb..nj

very quiet here in the east..but will watch for any extra activity!!

thanks for the heads up!

from a retired flt attendant..i hear planes!!

[Dogmudgeon]

17. Well, call the office of the base's commander (plus a nostalgia trip)

I live between Willow Grove Naval Air Station, the old Warrington Nike-Hercules missile center, and Johnsville Naval Air Development Center (which has also closed down). Each base has/had several contact people to answer questions about unusual goings-on, usually about the Blue Angels (a Naval Air acrobatic flight team) or radiosondes (from the missile base) attached to balloons or some such.

For instance, there was a lot of activity in the late 50s and early 60s at Johnsville, and people occasionally saw men in silvery suits getting into and out of strangely-shaped objects. Far from being UFOs, they were the original Mercury astronauts, their first-line back-ups, and the six original female astronauts (none of whom ever flew), all of whom were sent to Johnsville NADC to use the centrifuge, at that time the only one in the world that could be used to train pilots and astronauts.

The NADC put the PX (Post Exchange, the local store) next to the big hangars where they'd house the weird aircraft and space capsule mock-ups, and you could sometimes see them from the road that ran right through the NADC. In the hard-smoking 1960s, all the military families stocked up on their cigarettes from the PX since military smokes were untaxed. The atmosphere was friendly and relaxed (if too smoky for a toddler like I was then) and hadn't changed much by the last time I visited a base a couple of years ago, right after 9-11.

Well, they smoke less. And they listen to more rock-n-roll.

I even knew the CO of NASWilGro who was stationed there in the middle 1980s, and his kids. Nice guy. A tad straitlaced, but he was a Reagan appointee. Probably rock-ribbed GOP but cordial and amazingly open-minded compared to the usual "Reagan Revolutionary" I encountered.

Most military air traffic is pretty mundane and they'll usually give you and idea of what's going on -- "we're getting supplies in", or "a bunch of guys are rotating home". At least they used to; in our New, Improved, More Paranoid, Bushite world, they may be more circumspect about it, but I've never known the military to actually tell anyone to fuck off. Even with the recent "war on terrah" and threats of the base closing, the personnel at NASWilGro have been respectful, friendly, and (dare I say it?) beloved of the local populace.

If you feel you need an alibi or an "excuse", tell them you're an amateur astronomer and wanted to know when you could safely do some astrophotography. Military aviation people, as a rule, love science geeks. After all, they tend to be geeks themselves.

Remember, they're OUR military -- and OUR neighbors. In short, they're US. If they have a good reason to keep something quiet, they'll tell you straight out that they can't talk about it.

Nope, it's not the US Military causing the problems overseas -- it's the band of slacking idiots and barstool patriots in Washington that sends them to do their dirty work. And don't think that the name of Major-General Smedly Butler isn't spoken in conversation.

--p!

[catzies]

19. Wow, thanks I had no idea you could just call & ask. This is a base town

& very red/white/blue. Navy housing is here & there are always tons of out-of-state plates around.

Jet noise is one of the things we get used to and no one "complains," per se because it would be biting the hand that feeds you.

[orleans]

21. do you really think they'd tell you the truth if something was

going on?

sorry. i don't.

[catzies]

22. Of course not. We do have a number to call w/noise complaints though

I hate being here on air show weekends too.

[Dogmudgeon]

47. No, but ...

... you'd still be able to glean some useful information from their contact people.

"I'm sorry, sir/ma'am, we're not at liberty to release that information at this time" would mean "something is afoot, but it's secret right now".

If the fit really did hit the shan, they would turn the answering machine on and put a message on it like "listen to your local Emergency Broadcast System station".

The whole "shut the fuck up and go away" mentality is new and is still limited to Team Bush functionaries; it hasn't trickled down to the local bases yet, and hopefully never will.

--p!

[Coastie for Truth]

18. Could be a budget thing

The Reserves and Guard got their 4th Quarter money -- and are getting their "hours" in. (The first weekend was a holiday).

[loudsue]

24. LOTS of military transport planes have been flying together over

northeastern Arkansas all day. We've been going outside to watch, because there are so many of them, and the line just keeps going.

Starting early this morning, in groups of 5 or 6 or 10, these huge propeller driven military planes have been flying low, loud, and constantly.

Is it time for a REALLY BIG hit to the U.S.? I mean, a "Pearl Harbor event" that might STICK this time? After all, 9/11 is wearing off, because people are openly criticizing the bush administration.

:tinfoilhat: Ok...so the whole neighborhood was wondering what might be going on. It wasn't just one paranoid DUer.

:kick::kick::kick:

[earth mom]

26. Which direction were they going?

:scared:

[DoYouEverWonder]

29. Looks like your prediction might be right

6 - 9 explosions in London this AM. Doesn't look like the attack is over yet.

[artemisia1]

25. Listen, I'm as anti-neoCON as they come, but

Operational Security is a real issue. When I served at a Coast Guard Air Station, I would have jumped off a cliff before posting information of this sort. Flame away! I hate what the Republican Party has done to the country over the past 4-5 years - but I am an American first and last and I remember my oath. Both of them; member and officer.

[Beam Me Up]

27. Very well, and I agree.

Provided the military intends to uphold its duty to the Constitution and guard we the people from enemies both foreign and domestic.

I do not see how in good conscience they can continue to allow themselves to be used to plunder the wealth, safety and integrity of our nation.

[Captain Hilts]

33. Agreed. My information was two days late.

As a member of a navy family for decades, I am HORRIFIED by the deployment maps they now publish.

In my day they never published when ships were leaving port, only when returning.

[quisp]

36. HEAR! HEAR!

I'm shocked reading through this thread.

Lose lips really do sink ships.

[catzies]

42. Whaaa??? What shocks you? Citizens paying attention?

:shrug:

[flyarm]

37. i am American , and my job is ..

to over see everything my government and our military is doing under my name..
everything at all times!!

please see constitution...

when it opens with " we the people" i do not see any reference to "we the bush" or "we the military"..until it does, which i would not put past this administration, ..i will observe and warn people of what my government is doing, no matter what it is..
freedom depends on an open society, there are some difficulties with being free, but i have yet to find any freedoms i do not agree with..

everyones anger should rest in the leaders of our government and britians for all the murders that have perpetrated world wide in our name..and if you think this attack isn't the attack * needs to get the heat off of rove..i have a bridge for you!!

and do not forget part 3 of pnac..

*es war of the worlds!! iran here we come...

please everyone stay vigilant to whats going on where you live..and report it over and over again if nessesary..its your job as a "we the people"

only we can stop this fascism! but we must be vigilant!

[tnlefty]

40. During the past 3 weeks there has been an increase in helicopter

training. Daily sessions and all day long. This is coming from an Air National Guard facility that is nearby, and I don't know if it means they've managed to get more people to train, if it means absolutely nothing, or if some more folks are going to be deployed.

[Warren DeMontague]

28. Kick

[AnnInLa]

30. It is the next morning, after your post

And, it's a good idea to save this thread....wonder if what you saw has anything to do with London bombings??

[dbt]

32. Unfortunately, that is a FAIR question!

Perhaps there was "chatter?"

[flyarm]

38. perhaps * could not over come the coming indictment of rove!

and basically *es government of revenge and deciet , and just out right criminals, perhaps * could not get around that cheney was about to be exposed as a traitor..

i put "nothing" past these bastards!

[flyarm]

39. oh and by the way..the internet was mentioned on msnbc

that the london attack was posted on the internet...so how long till they blame it on the internet do you suppose??

shhhhhhhhhhhhh they want to shut us down..fascim won't work with we troublemakers who tell the truth on the internet!!

keep telling the truth, keep educating other americans , keep fighting, keep reporting what you see..our nations survival depends on it!

i.. for one will not go quietly into fascism..

hear me roar!

[OzarkDem]

34. Large prop planes

probably C130's, are transport/supply planes. Wherever they're going, they're taking lots of troops, equipment and/or supplies.

Not the kind of action someone would take to respond to a terrorist attack - more like supply logistics for a large operation.

[RebelOne]

31. I work directly across the street from Dobbins Air Reserve Base

in Marietta, GA and there is no unusual activity. At least, I haven't noticed any.

[Catchawave]

41. Reserve training ? n/t

[orleans]

43. very weird stuff

especially in light of the london bombings now.....

[in_cog_ni_to]

44. My thoughts too. n/t

[sabra]

45. weird timing! keep this thread kicked!

[Squatch]

46. Isn't an AFB a military establishment?

Wouldn't it stand to reason that they have military air traffic? :shrug:

[catzies]

48. If you live near one, you know what's "normal" and what isn't

That is ALL we were discussing.

Not :tinfoilhat: theories, not giving away secrets, not ANYTHING other than noticing more activity.

It was NOTICEABLE, that's all.

[smallprint]

49. kick

surprised to see this thread, the day after...