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The danger of paranoia at high levels

In the USA this week, El Paso airport was suddenly shut down and an immediate "no fly" order was given for air-traffic up to 18,000 feet above the facility.

This came out of the blue and left aviators scratching their heads.

What on earth was going on?

Pilots were told that if they entered the no-fly area their aircraft could be shot down.

Rumours started to spread.

Was this some strange DoD exercise or perhaps there was an imminent aerial attack about to be launched by some bad actor?

Initially the flight ban was to last 10 days, something that left people even more confused.

Just 10 hours later however, the ban was lifted and details of what actually happened started to be released.

What a dog's breakfast!

Initially, US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told the media that the step was taken to prevent a "drone incursion" by a Mexican drug cartel.

WTF?

Why would a Mexican drug cartel be sending drones to El Passo airport in broad daylight?

Eventually, the reality of the situation was exposed and a lot of people should be very worried at the idiocy it exposes.

Apparently a regular party balloon was identified as a "drone" by the US military operating out of nearby Fort Bliss.

The boys over at Bliss have been sitting on a new high-powered anti-drone laser so they figured they'd try it out on this suspicous "drone" in the sky.

Now there are very strict rules about firing lasers into the sky -- even relatively harmless consumer-grade laser pointers. In fact, a good number of people each year are prosecuted for doing so because it is considered an unacceptable hazard to manned aviation.

It stands to reason therefore, that if you're going to be firing a multi-kilowatt laser at something in the sky then you'd better be damned sure that you know what you're aiming at and that you've got clearance to do so from the FAA.

And that's where this little story of idiocy really starts to show how bad things are in the area of anti-drone hysteria.

The FAA had previously told the Fort Bliss boys that they couldn't fire their laser until they'd met certain requirements that would serve to ensure the safety of aviation.

"To hell with that" was obviously what the grunts on the ground thought -- and they pulled the trigger anyway, without permission and without warning. It was this that forced the FAA to make sure the skies were clear by issuing the "no fly" order.

To be clear, there was NO drone and no imminent danger. It appears as if the military, who'd been trying to get permission to test their new laser, used the appearance of an unidentified object in the skies to justify an unpermitted firing of that device.

Now stop and think for a moment...

What if the object they were firing on had been a small homebuilt aircraft and the laser had knocked it out of the sky?

What if a misdirected beam of very powerful laser light had hit the cockpit of an airliner and disabled its pilots?

This isn't an isolated incident either. In Europe, soldiers were given permission to "shoot down" drones that allegedly appeared over airports there. After an intensive investigation it turns out that these so-called "drones" were nothing of the kind. They turned out to be mis-identified aircraft lights or stars. How close were we to disaster then?

Take my word for it -- someone (or perhaps many) people will die as the result of crazy levels of paranoia surrounding drones and the resultant knee-jerk reactions that dim-witted people in positions of authority are authorising.

There are a small group of *informed* people out there trying desperately to get authorities to realise what's happening here but our words fall on deaf ears.

Carpe Diem folks!

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