Drone Swarms Over US Military Installations Stump Pentagon

https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/drones-pentagon-national-security/2024/10/13/id/1183896/

The Pentagon is reportedly stumped about a swarm of mystery drones surveilling U.S. military bases, unsure of who is flying them over sensitive U.S. national security installations or how to stop them in the future.

One 17-day swarm of drones over Langley Air Force Base on Virginia's shoreline piqued the curiosity of former senior commander U.S. Air Force Gen. Mark Kelly, who oversaw the most advance U.S. fighter jets, including F-22 Raptors, The Wall Street Journal reported.

"This isn't a tomorrow problem, this is a today problem," Center for Strategic and International Studies Senior Fellow Tom Karako told the Journal. "It's not an over-there problem — it's an over-there, over-here, and everywhere problem."

The "Close Encounters at Langley" issue, as Kelly called it, is in addition to reported drone swarms near Edwards Air Force Base north of Los Angeles, according to the report.

Kelly was informed of the nightly drone swarms around 45 minutes after sunset, sounding like a parade of "lawn mowers," flying at more than 100 miles an hour at altitudes of 3,000-4,000 feet, he estimated.

The installations exposed included Navy's SEAL Team Six home base and Naval Station Norfolk, the largest naval port in the world.

Notably, federal law prohibits the U.S. military from shooting down drones unless they possess and imminent threat, which effectively permits aerial spies – something lawmakers have been concerned about after the Chinese balloon controversy during the Biden administration and might be inclined to sign legislation to change.

President Joe Biden received intelligence on the 17-day drone swarm, the Journal reported, but this swam and others (including in Nevada and near Los Angeles) have left the Pentagon officials stumped on whom is flying them and what they are doing.

"If there are unknown objects within North America," Gen. Glen VanHerck, the commander of the U.S. Northern Command and the North American Aerospace Defense Command during the Chinese spy balloon incursion, the job "is to go out and identify them."

The sophistication of the drone swarms suggest it is not merely hobbyists, U.S. officials told the Journal.

While Kelly, a former Air Force fighter pilot, told the paper one drone he observed was 20-feet long, the craft are still much smaller than military aircraft and skirt radar detection.

Like with the Chinese sky balloon, the U.S. military has recalibrated its detection systems to pick up anything larger than a bird now, according to the report.

Notably, after the cessation of that 17-day swarm in December 2022, University of Minnesota student Fengyun Shi, a Chinese national, was discovered that Jan. 6 to have been flying a drone that got stuck in a tree in Virginia. That drone found by law enforcement, had photographed Navy vessels and some under construction.

Shi, 26, was ultimately arrested having fled on a flight to Oakland, California, and was booked on a one-way trip to China. The FBI investigation reportedly found no ties to the Chinese government, and Shi bought the drone in San Francisco the day before he traveled to Norfolk, Virginia.

"If he was a foreign agent, he would be the worst spy ever known," Shi's attorney, Shaoming Cheng, said at his Oct. 2 sentencing after pleading guilty to unlawfully taking photos of classified naval installations, the first charge of espionage by drone under U.S. law, according to the Journal.

"I'm sorry about what happened in Norfolk," Shi said at his sentencing to six months in federal prison.

>>21762201

Moar drone problems:

North Korea Says Border Units on Standby to Shoot Amid Drones Dispute

https://www.newsmax.com/world/globaltalk/north-korea-border/2024/10/13/id/1183892/

North Korea's artillery units near the border with South Korea have been ordered to be ready to fire amid frictions over drones that Pyongyang says are being flown over the frontier, state media cited the government as saying on Sunday.

Some defectors and activists in South Korea fly aid parcels into the North and drop leaflets criticizing leader Kim Jong Un.

North Korea has blamed the South Korean military for the practice. It has also been floating balloons with trash into the South in reprisal.

North Korean state news agency KCNA quoted the defense ministry's spokesperson as saying Pyongyang sees a high likelihood of more drones flying over the capital, with its military told to prepare for all scenarios including conflict.

On Friday, North Korea accused South Korea of sending drones into Pyongyang at night this week and last, and said the intrusion demanded retaliatory action.

Kim Yo Jong, powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, warned Seoul on Saturday of a "horrible disaster."

She said the blame lies with the South Korean military if it failed to identify drones sent by a non-governmental organization crossing the border.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said it could not confirm the North's accusations.

NY Post: Harris Interacted With Iranian Operative

https://www.newsmax.com/politics/kamala-harris-iran-ali-elahi/2024/10/12/id/1183854/

Recently revealed photos show Vice President Kamala Harris mingling with an Iranian cleric with ties to the Iranian regime, the New York Post reported.

On Thursday, George Washington University's Program on Extremism released a report, "Propaganda, Procurement and Lethal Operations: Iran's Activities Inside America." In the report is a photo of Harris talking with Imam Mohammad Ali Elahi, an Iranian cleric who has maintained decadeslong ties to Iran's regime and who has praised the Islamic Republic's founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, as well as the terrorist organization Hezbollah.

The photo was taken during a vaccination event in Detroit in 2021. "Imam Elahi joined the vaccination mobilization event addressed by Vice President Harris, [Michigan] Governor [Gretchen] Whitmer … and a group of state and national political leaders," wrote Elahi's nonprofit organization, Islamic House of Wisdom, at the time of the photo.

"Talking with VP Harris, the imam congratulated the administration for their great achievements in fighting COVID 19 and advancing the vaccination services," the organization wrote. "Vice President Harris thanked Imam Elahi and IHW for their preparation to host her at the House of Wisdom."

The outlet reviewed tax records connecting a Manhattan-based Iranian front group with funneling $500,000 to Elahi's organization and almost $2 million to American universities, among them Columbia University.

"Democrats hold a dangerously mistaken notion that Iran is part of the solution — not the main problem in the Middle East. This leads them to outreach here in the U.S. with Muslims tied to that tyrannical theocracy like Mohammad Ali Elahi," Jim Hanson, chief editor of the Middle East Forum, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, told the Post. "[Former President Barack] Obama, [President Joe] Biden and Harris have all enabled and even funded their efforts."

Elahi's close ties with the Iranian regime have not prevented him from making connections with the top echelon of the Democratic Party. In addition to Harris, the photos also showed Elahi with former Secretary of State John Kerry and Whitmer.

>>21762245

U forgot the 'pound' symbol = #

>>21762314

>What happens next…

You asked! KEK!

Armed Militia Forces Federal Recovery Crews to Relocate in N.C.

https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/rescue-crews-north-carolina-armed/2024/10/14/id/1183933/

Concerns over "armed militia" threatening federal emergency response workers in hard-hit Rutherford County, North Carolina in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene on Saturday forced the employees to move to a different area, according to an urgent email sent to federal agencies, The Washington Post reported over the weekend.

"FEMA has advised all federal responders Rutherford County, NC, to stand down and evacuate the county immediately," according to the message, which stated that National Guard troops "had come across x2 trucks of armed militia saying there were out hunting FEMA."

The email added that incident management teams "have been notified and are coordinating the evacuation of all assigned personnel in that county."

Two federal officials confirmed the authenticity of the email, although it was unclear if the threat was actually credible. However, by Sunday afternoon, the workers were back in place, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The incident is the latest example of growing concerns about security in Rutherford County, which became one of the centers of tension and conflict after a rumor spread on social media that government officials planned to seize the devastated village and bulldoze bodies under the rubble.

Authorities and news outlets said the rumors were not true, but people on social media urged the militias to go after FEMA.

A person familiar with FEMA operations, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the agency was working out of an abundance of caution and its crews were working at fixed locations and secure areas instead of the normal procedure of going door to door.

"FEMA continues to support communities impacted by Helene and help survivors apply for assistance," the person said. "For the safety of our dedicated staff and the disaster survivors we are helping, FEMA has made some operational adjustments."

Riva Duncan, a Forest Service official who lives in Asheville, told The Washington Post that residents have harassed federal employees due to the heightening tensions.

Duncan said, "It's terrible because a lot of these folks who need assistance are refusing it because they believe the stuff people are saying about FEMA and the government. And it's sad because they are probably the ones who need the help the most."

In a text message shared with The Washington Post, a woman said that her child, a Forest Service crew member, was one of those who temporarily left the county.

Earlier Saturday, a resident came to a supplies distribution center and threatened FEMA workers who were stationed there, according to two Cajun Navy volunteers in an incident confirmed by Lake Lure Police and Rutherford County Sheriff's offices.

>>21762349

They're trying to demonize civilian militias now.