Seeing helicopters? Never fear, they're part of a training op...

[Danke]

Updated: August 27, 2012 - 9:30 PM

http://www.startribune.com/local/167637205.html

Authorities are reassuring worried residents that those mysterious helicopters flying low over parts of the Twin Cities metro area Monday night aren't anything menacing.


It's not an invasion.

Authorities are reassuring worried residents that those mysterious helicopters flying low over parts of the Twin Cities metro area Monday night aren't anything menacing.

The U.S. Special Operations Command has been conducting routine urban-environment training in Minneapolis and Saint Paul since Aug. 19, supported by police in both Minneapolis and St. Paul.

The training, which had been conducted in locations not easily seen by the public, became more visible as of Sunday, when helicopters became part of it. Residents can expect to see or hear low-flying military transport helicopters, specifically Black Hawks and smaller Hughes 500s between 7 p.m. and midnight.

Police and news outlets received several calls about the helicopters Monday evening.

All flights and flight routes have been coordinated with local authorities and the Federal Aviation Administration, authorities said. Exact training times and locations are not being released to prevent people from gathering to attempt to watch the training and creating a safety hazard.

The operations will continue until Saturday.

STAFF REPORT

 

[tod evans]

Everything's fine.

Nothing to see here.

Move on.

 

[CaptUSA]

Unreal. The military is engaging in Special Ops training operations in a major US city and this is nothing menacing?!

"Go back to sleep you fool... We are just building a more fortified cage around you... Nothing to worry about here..."

 

[LibertyEagle]

Scary stuff.

 

[kill the banks]

define hell

 

[Bruno]

Saw a Chinoook? flying over the weekend in Des Moines. Rarely see them in flight here over the city, though we do have a Iowa National Guard base nearby and that is the direction it was flying, from the south to the north.

Related activity?

 

[pcosmar]

routine urban-environment training

And that shouldn't be a concern?

 

[phill4paul]

routine urban-environment training

And that shouldn't be a concern?

Relevant sig is relevant....

Liberty is lost through complacency and a subservient mindset. When we accept or even welcome automobile checkpoints, random searches, mandatory identification cards, and paramilitary police in our streets, we have lost a vital part of our American heritage. America was born of protest, revolution, and mistrust of government. Subservient societies neither maintain nor deserve freedom for long.
Ron Paul 2004

 

[Bruno]

"Son, it may be hard for you to imagine, but I remember a day without military helicopters in the sky, without spy drones flying over our house daily, without armored patrol vehicles on the streets, without no-knock warrants, without armed police roaming the halls of public schools, without trackers on our cars, without cameras on every corner monitoring our activities and without the government wanting to know what each of us do every second of every day under the false pretense of fear we are all terrorists.

But like the frog brought slowly up to a boil in the pot, Americans let all of those things appear around them incrementally. The water felt warm and comfy and so many Americans felt safe in it. Either for fearing to speak out, or for failing to question our government because they felt the goal to protect us was just, they let it all happen and freedoms we had once are now gone. I hope someday soon you feel that same sense of freedom I once felt."

 

[tod evans]

"Son, it may be hard for you to imagine, but I remember a day without military helicopters in the sky, without spy drones flying over our house daily, without armored patrol vehicles on the streets, without no-knock warrants, without armed police roaming the halls of public schools, without trackers on our cars, without cameras on every corner monitoring our activities and without the government wanting to know what each of us do every second of every day under the false pretense of fear we are all terrorists.

But like the frog brought slowly up to a boil in the pot, Americans let all of those things appear around them incremetally. The water felt warm and comfy and so many Americans felt safe in it. Either for fearing to speak out, or for failing to question our government because they felt the goal to protect us was just, they let it all happen and freedoms we had once are now gone. I hope someday soon you feel that same sense of freedom I once felt."

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^This!^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

[pcosmar]

Scary stuff.

Yup.
Gray State Stuff

http://www.indiegogo.com/Graystatemovie

 

[ZENemy]

A lot of the comments are actually ok!

 

[Nateman15]

Literally just yesterday saw two OH-56 Kiowa Warriors orbiting and hovering over Kansas State University well below 1500 AGL. We get the occasional pass over by the Ft. Riley pilots, but these two stayed over campus for almost an hour doing low, slow circles around campus and downtown Manhattan, KS. Looked very suspicious to me.

But of course there is nothing wrong with it. If i were to worry about it, I would be paranoid. I was the only one looking up at the sky, noticing what they were doing. They could literally do whatever they wanted and people wouldn't notice.

God I hope we are all wrong about all of this.

 

[Danke]

Update: ex-gf just called saying there are two helos and a plane circling her neighborhood in St. Paul at low altitude...


I told her to shoot at them.