SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:
As rural Nevada prepares for Alienstock -- a music festival born of a joke Facebook event to storm Area 51 -- the Federal Aviation Administration is closing down airspace above the classified area where some believe the government is hiding evidence of extraterrestrial life.
In two NOTAMs (for "notice to airmen") Friday and Monday, the FAA issued "temporary flight restrictions for special security reasons," banning aircraft in the vicinity. The coordinates given are for areas south and west of Rachel, Nevada, including the the US Air Force's Nevada Test and Training Range. One ban runs Sept. 18-23, and [the] other runs Sept. 19-23.
Separately, Pulse reports:
Airspace around the fabled Area 51 facility in Nevada will be closed to all air traffic this week in advance of the upcoming "Storm Area 51" event.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) posted two temporary flight restrictions (TFR) on Monday, closing airspace to news helicopters, drones, private pilots, and anyone else above [these] two areas near the facility from Wednesday, September 18 at 7 a.m. Pacific time, to Sunday, September 22 at 8 p.m. Pacific time.
The Notices to Airmen (NOTAMs) outlining the restrictions specify that only aircraft "working in support of the Department of Energy (DOE) Mission are allowed to enter the TFR." The DOE controls Area 51 along with the Department of Defense.
Notably, even emergency service aircraft are prohibited from flying within the TFR. From the NOTAM:
ALL EMERGENCY/LIFE SAVING FLIGHT (MEDICAL/LAW ENFORCEMENT/FIREFIGHTING) OPERATIONS MUST COORDINATE WITH DOE PRIOR TO THEIR ENTRY INTO THE TFR AT 702-295-0311 TO AVOID POTENTIAL DELAYS.
The first TFR covers the northwest edge of restricted airspace above the actual Area 51 facilities, creating an additional buffer surrounding some of the "most restricted airspace in the world". The second TFR is along the southern edge of the Nevada Test and Training Range, according to The Drive.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 18 2019, @06:29AM (4 children)
There are TFRs all the time, for all kinds of reasons, some more valid than others. Keeping air traffic away from Area 51 is certainly one of the most valid ones. Normally there's not much reason to fly there. Now there is, and they don't want any problems.
A lot of the time they apply restrictions that are slightly more than absolutely necessary just to make things easier on themselves. In case they have to make a snap decision about what to do about a stray aircraft, they don't want to have to worry if it's special enough. Also, unlike certain other airspace closures (like the ones that follow the President wherever he goes), there's no reason law enforcement would be exempted from this type of TFR. Police aren't authorized to see top secret classified things.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 18 2019, @09:46AM (3 children)
The sort of nutter willing to even attempt to fly into this area probably isn't a 100% 'kosher' pilot, so isn't likely to pay much attention to any NOTAM...couple that with the whole 'entitled' vibe of the nutters behind this whole shebang...to them, any TFRs are a vindication, and that 'the man' is running scared of them and indeed has something to hide...
I don't know if the market is still the same, as it's been well over 20 years since I last entertained the notion of learning to fly and discovered my wallet wasn't deep or full enough, but I do remember how scarily cheap old Cessna 172s with no COAs were back then..imagine my surprise a few years back when I was told by a friend who was a pilot that a fair number of these things were actually flying around (and not by qualified pilots) sort-of just under the official radar, blind eyes were being turned so long as the operators restricted their activities to VFR over their own lands in the sparsely populated areas they lived in..got to love the power of privilege..
Anyhoo, even with the TFRs in place, I think they'd still balk at shooting down a cheap 172/whatever full of entitled nut jobs...send a couple of F-15s over the top of them at Mach 2 maybe...shock wave causing a crash in the desert..plausible deniability....
...Or they could just abduct them in mid air using the USSF Bob Lazar...
(Score: 3, Funny) by deadstick on Wednesday September 18 2019, @11:43AM (1 child)
I still think the big beneficiary of this will be Orville Redenbacher.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 18 2019, @02:06PM
Indeed, even though I can't stand the stuff myself, I'll find an empty bag of his finest (other family members like it), use it as a wrap for bottles of beer and partake, albeit symbolically....
(Score: 2) by legont on Wednesday September 18 2019, @06:32PM
One year in prison and $100K penalty for an intentional flight into tfr. I imagine other violations would be found.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.