Before giving you the details of the battle, I bring you a warning: Every one of you listening to my voice, tell the world, tell this to everybody wherever they are. Watch the skies. Everywhere. Keep looking. Keep watching the skies.”
This is Ned “Scotty” Scott’s quote from the 1951 sci-fi classic The Thing From Another World. Since a Chinese spy ball took its sweet time in identifying America, before finally being destroyed (emphasis on “eventually”) we have been looking up. There are many things that are boogaloo in the air, and they have expanded beyond spy balloons to include geometric shapes which aren’t yet identified but are not a problem.
You can also add to this the fact that American F-16s intercepted a Russian bomber on Monday and fighters in international waters close to Alaska. Stars and Stripes reported the following:
According to NORAD, the joint U.S./Canadian military organization responsible for protecting the airspace between the two countries, this Russian activity in North American ADIZ is not considered a threat nor provocative. “NORAD anticipated this Russian activity, and as a result, we were prepared to intercept it.
Stars and Stripes stated that the aircraft was within the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone (which stretches approximately 200 miles beyond the U.S. Coast). It is possible that the aircraft entering the zone will identify themselves. These types of incidents are reported to have happened around 15 times per annum in the past. NORAD stated that this episode did not occur in the context of earlier incidents in which two unidentified aerial phenomena were shot down over U.S. airspace. The White House assured Americans that no threat was posed by the objects, regardless of their nature. The paper reported that an increase in “aerial incidents” could be attributed to the increased radar capabilities following the Chinese balloon incursion of two weeks ago. It could also be that we are seeing things previously unobserved.
Espionage and saber-rattling between the U.S.A. and its enemies is nothing new. The most famous incident was in May 1960, when the Soviet Union shot down an American U-2 spy aircraft in Soviet airspace. Francis Gary Powers, the Russian pilot, was captured by them. In exchange for a Soviet spy, the USSR released Powers. Eisenhower later admitted that the CIA had been carrying out aerial surveillance for many years. They spy on us, we spy on them.
NORAD may continue to operate as usual after Monday’s incident. It comes after news that Russia’s Northern Fleet put to sea tactical nuclear warheads, for the first time in 30 years. Newsweek reported Monday that the Norwegian Intelligence Service had reported that the North Fleet’s sub- and surface vessels were the central component of Russia’s nuclear capabilities. “In addition, Russia also has underwater capabilities, antisatellite weapons, and cyber tools that could threaten Norway and NATO,” the report states.
Russia’s nuclear weapons have become more important due to its weakening conventional capabilities. Russian military power has become more dependent on the Russian strategic and regional deterrent forces.
According to the report, Russia is likely to continue developing and maintaining its nuclear arsenal.
This sounds just like the Cold War. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, Kennedy was a Cold War leader, despite any moral failings. Compare that to the Biden administration which is already at the neck of the Ukrainian war. It has further depleted the Strategic Petroleum Reserves, weakened our fighting force, and displayed a legendary, and perhaps criminal, level of incompetence during withdrawal from Afghanistan. Don’t forget Iran, which established a presence at the Panama Canal. China is another column. Biden is not John Kennedy.
Conservatives and classical liberals have not been the only ones to notice the U.S.’s economic, social, and military decline. Just as in the 1950s and 1960s when Cold War nerves put people on edge and UFOs fascinated the U.S., Americans also have reason to be vigilant about the skies and all things else.
