Forum menu
My wild theory..
It's all a cover for a terrorist threat where there was a bomb on a plane, but nobody knows which plane, so a quick way of grounding a load of flights without causing too much panic is to have a drone sighting.
(or maybe I've been watching too many films!)
It’s all a cover for a terrorist threat where there was a bomb on a plane, but nobody knows which plane, so a quick way of grounding a load of flights without causing too much panic is to have a drone sighting.
Are you kidding? The authorities would love an actual proper threat like that. Think of what they could get away with doing during the (even greater) media frenzy. Think of the new laws they could come up with to misuse at a later date.
I’ve been wondering all the way through if this isn’t just the equivalent of a hacker doing a DoS attack for the shitz ‘n’ giggles, with no agenda other than ****ing things up for a great many people with little chance of being caught.
It could also be a proof of concept for future terrorist attacks.
@rene I did say it was a wild theory! 😉
@BBCBreaking Birmingham Airport says it must "temporarily suspend services" following air traffic control fault https://t.co/YANiqsmP3s
Countzero - Something is afoot!
Stress testing for B-Day
Stress testing for Tues-Day . ftfy
If he’d read STW from the start he might have realised that some days ago.
Thank goodness the authorities don't pay any attention to STW, or we would have had surface to air missiles and large bore ammunition being launched across South London...
Its aliens innit.
If you were travelling from another galaxy you are bound to just follow other flying objects and see where they are landing.
surface to air missiles and large bore ammunition being launched across South London
Now I've got a stiffie.
just follow other flying objects and see where they are landing.
Not Gatwick then.
surface to air missiles and large bore ammunition being launched across South London
Now I’ve got a stiffie.
Yep - I'm frankly failing to see the downside.
surface to air missiles and large bore ammunition being launched across South London
It's nearly getting to that scale anyway.
I hate this trying to post images.
"Detective Chief Superintendent Jason Tingley added there was no available footage of the drones."
"Asked about speculation there was never a drone, he said: “Of course, that’s a possibility. We are working with human beings saying they have seen something.
“Until we’ve got more clarity around what they’ve said, the detail – the time, place, direction of travel, all those types of things – and that’s a big task.”
23/12/2018 17:36 GMT
https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/possibility-there-was-no-drone-activity-detective-says_uk_5c1fc27fe4b0407e907c2cd7?utm_hp_ref=uk-homepage
I find this puzzling, they only had around 50 sightings of the drone (that we know of) presumably a fair number from airport staff.
If anyone reported a sighting, esp given the seriousness of the ongoing situation, would you not ask at the time of it being reported where and when it was seen and what it was doing?
If there are so very many individual reports that it becomes a "big task" to collate the information then either the area is teeming with droves of liars and fantasists or people actually saw something. I find the police statement really odd.
How many people saw an emergence of the drone some time that day? At least 50 reports were made, but thats not a huge list of info to deal with, especially as you would see the police as practiced at handling huge amounts of info during cases.
If for arguments sake 10 people saw every emergence that would be a max of 500 reports which would seem more to have to study and collate, but if 500 people said they saw one, why would you even doubt the drone/s existed?
but if 500 people said they saw one, why would you even doubt the drone/s existed?
Quite easily especially at night. Plenty of records of things which are almost certainly mass delusions.
Plenty of records of things which are almost certainly mass delusions.
"Brexit will be simple and we'll all be richer afterwards" type of thing?
"Its beginning to feel a lot like Brexit..."
"Plenty of records of things which are almost certainly mass delusions."
I can understand mass misinterpretation of something seen, of mistaking what you see, but not people seeing something that was never there at all.
It was not even a massed event, say a religious gathering for example, where a load of over excited people were all in the same location doing the same thing, promoting some kind of mass hysteria.
Reports must have come in from many locations and over a longish period.
I think they are back tracking / creating doubt and confusion to try and cover up a paid ransom or perhaps even as simple as trying to 'downgrade' the threat retrospectively, as the government is looking so bad over this event (no awareness of drone issues despite it being obvious, no planning, no military call in within a sensible time frame, possibility even the military were not adequately equipped etc).
There was no genuine threat at all, so the government were right not to pre-plan...
Authorities backtracking already...
Mon 24 Dec 2018 12.02 GMT
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/dec/24/suggestion-that-drone-did-not-exist-down-to-poor-communications
"Suggestions that there may never have been a drone at Gatwick Airport were down to “poor communications” rather than a genuine possibility that the incident was baseless, police have told the government."
"However, following the call, a government source said police accepted that there had been a communications failure."
"There were more than 200 drone sightings, and police had taken 67 statements, including from police officers and airport workers."
"It is understood that the Cabinet Office minister, David Lidington, pressed for the Home Office and the Ministry of Defence to update their rapid deployment protocol for signing off requests for military assistance.
The police and the Home Office were said to be working together to amplify the message that flying drones near airports is illegal."
Not sure that will make a big difference - is there anyone in the UK who does not already know its both illegal and a stupid thing to do?
Let's hope the French don't decide to invade us with an army of drones after Brexit. We'll be defeated within a matter of days.
Does a drone have the range to get over the English Channel?
Not sure that will make a big difference – is there anyone in the UK who does not already know its both illegal and a stupid thing to do?
I would guess a good few million. A lot of people don't have a clue about laws and even more people don't know what things would be considered stupid things to do.
Do we need tougher laws to control the use of drones that were never there?
but not people seeing something that was never there at all.
Ever been out on a night ride with crap lights and stopped for a few mins and then got worried about that tree which has just morphed into something else?
In theory it should be low probability once they got proper observers out but given most reports seem to be at night I can easily believe after the initial story lots of people seeing planes at a distance/star/random light as a drone. Given they have now reversed ferreted on it who knows what the actual truth is. I guess it depends on whether the army really did manage to knock one out of the sky or not.
It does all seem a tad confused.
is there anyone in the UK who does not already know its both illegal and a stupid thing to do?
Almost certainly and before last week I would have said definitely. Now though the numbers will be lower but still not zero I reckon.
Should be in gatwick in 2 hours flying from Montpelier, will update if I see anything.
Midnighthour
If there are so very many individual reports that it becomes a “big task” to collate the information then either the area is teeming with droves of liars and fantasists or people actually saw something. I find the police statement really odd.
Remember Jean Charles de Menezes? Just about every variation of events that could possibly have happened was reported by witnesses and almost all of it was proved to be fantasy or lies. And remember it doesn't have to be "nothing there", it could something else there- people see the lights of a high level plane or even spot a satellite or similar, or a bird, and fill in the gaps.
It's pretty much a given that a huge proportion of the sightings were either imagined or made up. All? It's a stretch. Personally I reckon there's genuine sightings at the start then mostly false positives.
Anyone who has spent any length of time at a busy airport will see hundreds of different flashing lights in the sky. Warning lights on cranes, electricity pylons, Tv masts , tall buildings etc, plus the lights on the planes themselves . Add in some car lights on / near the horizon and its easy to seee how people could be confused
Its the same as strobe lights on bikes, sometimes , if the pulse is slow , its difficult to guage an accurate distance . Not always , but sometimes. Moreso when there are other light sources in the area.
I am not saying this is what has happened , there may well have been a drone fly over , and then fly back. but the subsequent reports could all be false postives as outlined previuosly.
Then mass hysteria sets in , its like drone wars with dozens of drones whizzing about at high speed, except there aren't any as its either bored chavs being moronic, people who are suddenly enjoying the new found love of quiet skies, or people genuinely mistaken who beleive they have seen something.
There is a solution , IFF or some sort of radar refelctive strip. In WW2 they dropped tin foil in budles to confuse enemy radar , and its still used today as 'chaff' but isnt foil, but micro fibres coated in radar reflective substance. If every drone had to carry, by a law an A5 sized reflector then i would image it would show up on ground control radar. Might need some work on size and shape , as obvs if its flat side on to the emitter the bounce will be negligable.
I am not a radar avioinics engineer ( but I do know one )
If every drone had to carry, by a law an A5 sized reflector then i would image it would show up on ground control radar
Yes, make it the law that people illegally flying drones near airports have to carry radar reflectors. While we're at it we can have a law that says anyone robbing a bank has to leave their full name and address with the teller on the way out.
“There were more than 200 drone sightings, and police had taken 67 statements, including from police officers and airport workers.”
Eye witnesses are notoriously unreliable. If 200 sightings is proof then witches and ghosts must exist.
Plus, 200 sightings in an area where there must be tens of thousands of people, plus dozens of plane-spotters with telephoto lenses raises serious doubts in itself. Something happens in front of tens of thousands of people and only 200 people spot it? Do those 200 have better eyesight or just better imagination? (Also are they *sure* they have no radar that can pick up drones? A normal Marine Radar will often pick up a drone, doesn't Gatwick have radar to sport birds etc? I find it really hard to believe there would be no evidence *other* that witnesses.)
Out of the 200 reports, how many got a really good look? What percentage of the reports tally in terms of description? Do they all state the same number of rotors etc?
Also if they're relying on eye witnesses alone, how was the 17:10 drone sighting a 'confirmed sighting'? It can only have been confirmed by another eye witness - in the dark.
I think it's entirely possible there was a drone about on the morning of day 1 to kick all this off. The idea of a master criminal cleverly orchestrating a multi-day drone attack is looking highly unlikely AFAIC. Battle of Los Angeles scenario far more likely.
I think we can discount ransom. In the same way that if want a ransom you have to prove the victim is still alive, if you want a ransom from drone activity you need to to fly it close enough to someone with a camera to prove something is actually going on.
Just landed, how you could see a drone in the dark is beyond me.
Also are they *sure* they have no radar that can pick up drones? A normal Marine Radar will often pick up a drone, doesn’t Gatwick have radar to sport birds etc?
Gatwick doesn't have radar to spot birds etc.
Gatwick doesn't have a radar that could identify a drone.
Gatwick doesn’t have radar to spot birds etc.
Gatwick doesn’t have a radar that could identify a drone.
Which calls into question the whole idea of a "confirmed sighting". What was it confirmed by? Another eye witness who was expecting to see a drone and saw what he was expecting to see? In pitch black with glaring light all around to kill their night vision?
Battle of Lo Angeles, perhaps with a real drone or something that could be mistaken for a drone at the very beginning to kick off the hysteria.
I was actually surprised at how high my dji spark would automatically go when doing an automatic circle, it was like a speck and this is with inbuilt altitude restrictions applied and me being directly underneath it.
You could also have it moving at 40mph as well, I suppose what I’m getting at is these things can easily be very hard to spot by the human eye.
Er no I wasn’t doing a selfie shot at Gatwick 🙂
I’ve got witnesses to prove I was having a cup of tea as well!!!
Chatting to other staff at LGW yesterday the airport securtity vehicles were chasing the drone around the airport at one point. Every time they got close it would move away.
The two arrestees are on the news in tears about how thier Christmas and life has been ruined. Not so much by the arrest but by the media exposure and attention.
By this time next year they’ll be loaded. Every cloud...
I think it just hilights how crap the media/handling of has got in the news feeding frenzy.
Why even say there may have not been a drone if the airport security are chasing one.
Yeah - yesterday they weren’t, but today after being courted by the lawyers they’ve realised how much cash they can get.
You would have thought the media would have learned their lesson, I wonder if they'll get as much as Cliff!
So what other news got buried while all this was going on? And was she really 54!!
Ohh easy one that they cut millions of nhs funding 🙁
And I didn’t even mention that austerity’s over and the Brexit dividend.
I really hope that the couple stayed and exposed by the media claim/due for everything they can against the media outlets that exposed them /printed their names.
There was some expert on the beeb explaining that there are laws in place to prevent people's names being released and plastered in the press.
I feel for that couple.
And in this case, Kryton, no, not every cloud etc. They were vilified before even being charged.... Piss take!
Bit more detail on the 'sightings':
I really hope that the couple stayed and exposed by the media claim/due for everything they can against the media outlets that exposed them /printed their names.
+1
I hope they can retire off this, like Christopher Jefferies.
Jnrs uncle bought him a drone for Christmas. Not sure he’s even allowed to fly it!
I will be very surprised if any media outlet pays the two arrested people a significant amount of money.