NOTHINGBURGER, almost: The limits of spoofing—and other considerations

How the Pentagon learned to start worrying and investigate UFOs 

(National Geographic) 

The government’s UFO report has landed: It concludes that strange aircraft have been haunting U.S. warships for years, marking a new era for “unidentified aerial phenomena.” 

PUBLISHED JUNE 25, 2021

U.S. national security officials today delivered a report to Congress about investigations into a series of unidentified flying object sightings, a landmark sign that this previously fringe topic has gained mainstream acceptance. And while the report, produced by the office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), does provide some new information about the inexplicable occurrences, it leaves many of the biggest questions unanswered. 

Yes, Navy pilots and other military personnel have been seeing mysterious flying objects for decades; a Navy task force reviewed 144 sightings by U.S. government personnel that occurred between 2004 and 2021. No, the Pentagon doesn’t know what they are. There’s no evidence that the objects were sent by space aliens, but the report, mandated by Congress as part of the 2021 National Intelligence Authorization Act, confirms that the sightings remain “unidentified.”

. . . 

The report, which includes a classified section available only to lawmakers, details the results of investigations by the Defense Department’s UAP Task Force, established in 2017. Strange flying objects with seemingly bizarre aerodynamic abilities have been spotted by pilots, on radar, and with infrared sensors. 

The report does state that the UAP Task Force was not able to attribute any of the sightings to American military or other advanced U.S. government technology. “Some UAP observations could be attributable to developments and classified programs by U.S. entities,” the report says. “We were unable to confirm, however, that these systems accounted for any of the UAP reports we collected.” 

Dietrich

The most famous UAP encounters in modern aviation history—cases from 2004, 2014, and 2015 that involve pilot sightings, radar tracking, and objects caught on video—remain unsolved. 

. . . 

Even without answers, the report is a welcome validation for those in the military who witnessed unknown objects in the sky. “We were ridiculed and mocked by so many, so now it feels nice to have people ask good questions and to have them really be interested in getting to the bottom of it,” says Alex Dietrich, a former Navy pilot who observed a UAP in 2004. “Then, of course, there’s that underlying sense of urgency that we all have: Is this a threat to national security?” 

A number of U.S. officials are now posing that same question. What Dietrich saw in the sky 16 years ago started a series of events that changed the discussion about unidentified aerial sightings forever.

. . . 

Consensus has gelled around the idea that at least some physical aircraft were flying during the encounters reported by Navy pilots. The DNI report supports this point of view: “Most of the UAP reported probably do represent physical objects, given that a majority of UAP were registered across multiple sensors, to include radar, infrared, electro-optical, weapon seekers, and visual observation.”

. . . 

There is an ongoing, invisible cat-and-mouse game between designers of U.S. weapon systems and those made by Russia and China. In places like Syria, Taiwan, and Ukraine, military specialists, nicknamed crows, vie for dominance over the electromagnetic spectrum. 

“Over time, the sensors on an aircraft or a missile get more and more sophisticated,” says Mike Meaney, Northrop Grumman’s vice president of Land and Maritime Sensors. “On the flip side, usually within short order, they have new and different ways to spoof or fool those sensors to make them think something’s happening that really isn’t.” 

When radar operators receive returns showing things that are impossible—like extremely fast-moving objects and vanishing swarms of aircraft—electronic warfare is the first thing a crow considers. “If I see one enemy plane, and all of a sudden it becomes 20 planes in my display—I’m being spoofed,” Meany says. Such funhouse mirror tricks are useful for avoiding anti-aircraft weapons, which often initially rely on radar to track targets. 

Spoofing sounds a lot like what happened in the Gimbal encounters, and the DNI report addresses the possibility. “UAP reportedly appeared to exhibit unusual flight characteristics,” it states. “These observations could be the result of sensor errors, spoofing, or observer misperception and require additional rigorous analysis.” But if spoofing was involved, it would be very advanced tech for 2015. “That’s really the higher level of electronic warfare,” Meany notes. 

If the Russian spy ship in Cuba was part of an intelligence gathering operation using covert tools of electronic warfare, that would mean the Kremlin unveiled a potentially sensitive system that would be more valuable as a surprise during an actual conflict. There are vast military ranges in Russia and China where sensitive systems can be tested without tipping their hand—just as there are within the United States. 

Meaney says a cardinal rule in electronic warfare is: The less shown, the better. “As far as the cat-and-mouse goes, all sides are very careful in what they show and when they show it,” he says. “We don’t show it until we need it, and it’s been that way for five decades.” 

Even if spoofing can explain some of the strange things seen on radar screens, it can’t explain what pilots saw with their own eyes, or the objects captured on video. Perhaps a combination of physical objects and electronic warfare is responsible for some of the UAP incidents, but no one seems to be able to put all the puzzle pieces together in a way that makes sense…. 

Government report can't explain UFOs, but offers no evidence of aliens 

(Politico) 

Out of 144 encounters with mysterious aircraft, 143 are literally unidentifiable, according to a newly released report to Congress.

A broken board, district

A ‘Broken Board Culture’ 

(Inside Higher Ed)

The Peralta Community College District Board of Trustees has been roiled by conflict amid ongoing financial problems, according to a recent Alameda County civil grand jury report. 

By Sara Weissman 

     An Alameda County civil grand jury report lambasted the Peralta Community College District Board of Trustees for maintaining poor shared governance practices, interfering in hiring decisions, holding secretive meetings, infighting, showing racial insensitivity and fostering an overall culture of incivility toward each other, administrators and staff. 

     The report, released Monday, said students were poorly served by a “broken board culture” that led to extensive administrative turnover and exacerbated long-standing financial troubles. The Bay Area district, which is part of the California Community College system, consists of the College of Alameda, Berkeley City College, Merritt College and Laney College. 

     The grand jury received eight formal complaints about trustees elected prior to 2020, the report said. 

     “Cohesion, civility, trust, and mutual respect are critical elements of an effective governing board,” the authors of the report wrote. “Tension, poor communication, lack of unified goals, and divisive individual behavior at Peralta have resulted in the board's inability to fulfill its mandate effectively. Interference in the traditional roles of the chancellor, secret meetings, and backroom dealing destroy staff morale and the board’s relationship with the administrative team. Without reform or change in board behavior, Peralta’s students, so in need of this essential institution, will continue to suffer.” 

. . . 

     The report concluded that board members stepped outside the bounds of their roles by encouraging staff who bypassed the chancellor to bring issues directly to them, and by interfering with hiring processes overseen by the chancellor on multiple occasions between 2018 and 2020. 

     Regina Stanback Stroud, the former chancellor, left her position in July 2020, less than a year after she was hired. Her resignation letter accused trustees of undermining her role; interfering with complaints against board members; intervening in labor negotiations; “exhibiting hostility and contempt” toward administrators, especially Black executive staff; and engaging in “collusion with the unions against the interest of the district.” 

     “These issues cast a poor light on the board as a whole and the district -- and place the district and its four colleges in continual fiscal jeopardy thereby undermining the ability of Peralta Community College District to successfully meet the needs of students and the community,” Stroud wrote in the letter. 

     Jennifer Shanoski, president of the Peralta Federation of Teachers, a local affiliate of the faculty union, denied that the board played any inappropriate role in labor negotiations. 

     “The notion that there’s some secret collusion is absolutely absurd,” she said. “We think that one of our roles within the district is to share our perspective on information with board members. I live within the boundaries of the Peralta trustee district. I’m a constituent and many of our members are constituents. There is nothing that says we can’t write to our board members just like you would write to your city council member or your governor or your state representative or any other elected official.” 

     The district has cycled through five chancellors in the last two and a half years and six chief financial officers in the past four and a half years, according to the report….

Still dreaming

 

Post surgery, right leg

I slipped and fell late Sunday while taking Teddy for a walk. The slip-n-fall was nothing remarkable, but I heard a loud and horrible "crack." I couldn't find any wood beneath me but I did find my leg, just above the ankle, badly broken. The end of the tibia was visible through the skin. It was an unpleasant sight.

I sent Teddy inside and then dragged my body about fifty-sixty feet across dirt, rocks, then concrete, oak leaves, etc. to my phone. Called my sis. Then called 911. Paramedics showed up pretty quickly. Teddy watched 'em cart me away.

Monday morning, they performed the surgery. It's called "right tibia nail." It involves inserting a long tubular metal thingy from the ankle down to the break, right above the ankle. You can watch it on YouTube. It's pretty gross.

Evidently, the surgeons were particularly proud of their work. The surgery went well.

I can't put weight on my right leg for a while (months?), which means I can't walk until this thing heals. I can get by with a walker, a process that taxes especially my left arm (moving from sitting to walker/standing), but so far so good. I wouldn't recommend it though.

Sheesh! Frickin' old age!

Everybody—paramedics, nurses, doctors, my sister—all did a great job. Thanks much! 

And thanks for the well wishes! I'm in very little pain and doing well. No need for concern.

Again, thanks.

—Roy

P.s.: Teddy says "hey"

The truth is in there (Mick West explains)

I study UFOs – and I don’t believe the alien hype. Here’s why 

(Mick West, The Guardian, June 11) 

 Excerpt: 

...This is not to say there’s nothing for the military to be concerned about. There are real issues regarding unidentified sightings – drones being a major one. A distant drone, even a domestic one, is difficult to identify, and we know foreign adversaries have a strong interest in developing and using novel stealth drones for espionage and probing our defenses. There are other genuine issues, too – like anomalous radar returns and inexplicable eyewitness sightings – but there’s no evidence of aliens. There isn’t even really any good quality evidence of flying objects displaying amazing technology. There are, however, many people who want UFOs to be “real” and who feel like promoting the story will make it real. They present weak evidence as strong evidence. Don’t be fooled….

Huge enrollment drop in California

California has the largest drop in spring college enrollment numbers in the nation 

(LA Times, COLLEEN SHALBY, JUNE 10, 2021)  

California leads the nation with the largest drop in spring 2021 college enrollment numbers largely due to a steep decline in community college students, who have particularly struggled with pandemic hardships, according to a report released Thursday. 

The state’s overall community college and university headcount dropped by about 123,000 students — the largest numeric decrease of any state. The percentage decline was 5.3% .The numeric downturn reflects California’s stature as the most populous state, but does not account for the entirety of the loss, researchers said. 

College enrollment across the nation dropped by 3.5% — or about 603,000 students — from spring 2020 to spring 2021, marking the biggest decline on record with the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, which has tracked higher education enrollment and degree data since 2011. The calculation takes into account a decline of undergraduates and an increase in graduate students, the report by the organization says. 

“California is doing worse than the national averages by 1 or 2 percentage points in terms of the declines this spring compared with last,” said Doug Shapiro, executive director of the organization. 

The decline in community college students accounts for a large majority of California’s loss, which is in keeping with a national trend as community college enrollment was hardest hit by the pandemic. About 476,000 students, or 65% of the spring’s total national undergraduate enrollment losses, occurred in the community college sector, the report said. 

The spring losses at California’s community colleges follow a similar trend in fall 2020, when enrollments dropped 12% compared to fall 2019. Additionally, students had to make spring semester registrations as the state experienced its largest and most devastating surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. 

“The pandemic disrupted students’ lives in a myriad of ways that made it difficult or impossible for many of them to continue with their college educations,” said Paul Feist, spokesperson for the California Community College Chancellor Eloy Ortiz Oakley. Feist described the host of hardships that confronted students. 

According to a state community college student survey, 41% faced a change in employment during the pandemic; about 19% had their work hours reduced and 22% were laid off or furloughed, Feist said. More than half of students reported their income decreased. About 57% faced basic needs insecurity — a group that was disproportionately made up of students of color. 

New Mexico saw the biggest percentage decline in college and university enrollment, at 11.4%; Michigan was among the top five states with a 6.4% drop. When assessing the country by region, the South saw the smallest decline in enrollment at 1.9%. The West was next with a 3.7% decrease, followed by the Northeast with a 4% drop and the Midwest with a 4.1% decline. 

Seven states — New Hampshire, Utah, West Virginia, Nebraska, Virginia, Idaho and Maryland — saw increased enrollment. 

The drop in numbers at the community college level is due to a variety of factors, Shapiro said. Transfers from community colleges to four-year institutions account for a portion of the decline. But the most significant factor was a drop in fall and spring enrollment among high school students from the class of 2020. In addition, while a recession typically draws older students back to community colleges, that wasn’t the case this time. 

“Literally every previous recession meant large increases in the number of older students enrolling in community colleges. This recession has completely broken that mold,” Shapiro said. “There’s no evidence of those millions of unemployed — they’re not going to college.” 

A continued drop in enrollment could lead to decreased community college funding nationally, resulting in fewer classes, support services and further reductions over time, said Thomas Brock, director of the Community College Research Center. 

“I think one of the greatest fears I have, and other leaders have, is that it could quickly become a downward spiral,” said Brock. “That would be the worst-case scenario.”….