>A permanent war footing has many costs. American society seems to be discovering a new one: Every few months, a jumpy official seeing something in the sky will disrupt daily life and endanger air traffic over a major city.
Theophantor on
What I found so interesting about this latest drone event is how pissed the DoW was that laser defenses were used. These were supposed to be kept quiet. So it shows two things: we are perfectly capable of shooting down, economically, drone-like objects in our skies (no matter what the provisions of Posse Comitatus), and also that we have even more technology that is being slept on.
In tandem with the revelations regarding how Nicolas Maduro was captured, with the use of AI, drones, sonic/microwave technology, I am nearing certainty that the US government is slowly rollng out this tech to flex on rivals, and declare technological dominance.
I also wonder sometimes how much of this may be related to the 4Chan Leaker’s insistence that lasers and laser technology is something we need to carefully monitor. If you need any more evidence, follow the money. Stocks of companies which produce lasers or the materials needed to make them are doing very well right now.
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>Tellingly, the recent drone panics have *not* focused on China. During the New Jersey drone scare, Rep. Jeff Van Drew (D–N.J.) claimed that the hostile intrusions were coming from an Iranian “[mothership](https://reason.com/2024/12/12/no-an-iranian-mothership-isnt-attacking-new-jersey-with-ufos/)” off the Eastern Seaboard. And again, the panic in El Paso was focused on aerial incursions by Mexican gangsters. The Trump administration seems to have given up on [trying to win](https://reason.com/2025/03/05/the-bipartisan-war-on-elbridge-colby/) a peer conflict with China and fallen back on the familiar, [emotionally satisfying pattern](https://www.politico.com/news/2026/01/03/venezuela-white-house-hawks-00709880) of small wars in Latin America and the Middle East. The phantom enemies in the sky reflect that shift.
>A permanent war footing has many costs. American society seems to be discovering a new one: Every few months, a jumpy official seeing something in the sky will disrupt daily life and endanger air traffic over a major city.
What I found so interesting about this latest drone event is how pissed the DoW was that laser defenses were used. These were supposed to be kept quiet. So it shows two things: we are perfectly capable of shooting down, economically, drone-like objects in our skies (no matter what the provisions of Posse Comitatus), and also that we have even more technology that is being slept on.
In tandem with the revelations regarding how Nicolas Maduro was captured, with the use of AI, drones, sonic/microwave technology, I am nearing certainty that the US government is slowly rollng out this tech to flex on rivals, and declare technological dominance.
I also wonder sometimes how much of this may be related to the 4Chan Leaker’s insistence that lasers and laser technology is something we need to carefully monitor. If you need any more evidence, follow the money. Stocks of companies which produce lasers or the materials needed to make them are doing very well right now.
Especially when you got Hedgehog running things!