CARET/Drones Debunked? – A “viral” fantasy, page 1

Wow. Just read it. Curiously, another member and I were just discussing this issue with a view to starting another thread. I can't wait for Part Two of the article.

One of the interesting issues to me is the emergence of the DRONE CULT as the various ideas are whittled away.

1. We started with the "Oh, Wow, look at this" posts to whet our appetites for a very cool looking 'machine' or something.

2. Second up were the CGI experts proclaiming an obvious hoax. This resulted in other proclaimed experts disagreeing, both sides flaunting their expertise in a 'mine is bigger than yours' frenzy that lasted a thousand posts, just one of a dozen threads on the drones. Although we still see flare ups of the CGI issue, it is largely behind us not because it is resolved, but because the experts proclaiming fake have left in disgust. Biedny and Ritzmann no longer find the fake drones of interest, leaving those who think they are real. Thus the experts proclaiming fake are the first drop-outs from the general (ATS general? Ha ha ha) populace.

3. Proclamations of viral marketing emerged with Transformers being the primary target, though perhaps not the best of fits, and after release of the movie, no fit at all. Well, then, Halo3! No? How about some other film. Less and less likely the viral proclamators, of which there were many who ‘knew for sure’ and insisted, were the second group to drop off the Drone bandwagon.

4. A concerted effort at translating the figures ensued, with people such as hiii_8, Outrageo, and a couple of others leading the way. Curiously, there were those who insisted they could read the script, called it obvious and elohim, or Klingon, or Space Brothers Linear B. But those, too, though they ‘knew for sure’ and insisted, fell by the wayside as the characters defied decipherment. Another failure, another hold, another lack of explanation.

5. And the Drones, they were a changing! From Chad's light-weight pilotless sport model we began to see heavier, more ominous ships that just might have some 'equipment' inside that mass of floating metal in the sky. Our prayers were heard. The light weight drones grew heavier with our every question and demand, thus we created our own reality, just like they say you can.

6. Meanwhile, back at Coast to Coast, Linda and her buddies, in what even Bennet calls "her usual thorough manner" managed to wrack up anonymous witnesses only she knows, plus a couple of admitted CGI character studies done just to see how hard it would be, for Linda to call "real!" Thus reality imitating hoax is now part of the mix as ratings soar. Curiously, NO WITNESSES STEP UP except only in Linda’s Outlook address book. Ding! Ding! Ding! That’s an alarm bell the faithful do not wish to hear.

7. Next up at the batting cage is dear old Isaac, who worked in a non-existent facility deciphering text and back-engineering alien Tupperware to the point that, 'engineering wise' the characters became programming for the craft, their very existence running the code, magical characters with soul and purpose. Amazingly ornate translation tables devoid of real meaning, but convincing to those who gave up trying to understand them with the first curve of the nonsensical spiral of translation. Utterly meaningless crapola woven into grammatically correct syntax so that the wise nod ‘yes, of course’ without understanding a single phrase.

8. And curiously, those new to the fold, drawn like Mothra to the Cult of Drone, show up to comment on how special this all is--an engineer who says the Magical Characters just might work, to Sagan-like wondering posts of billions and billions of drones, but quick to shut down those who wonder just why these guys showed up now and who are they, really? It seems to question the new Drone Reality is no longer allowed as the Cult closes ranks to share belief and wonder.

And who do we have left hanging onto the egg beater tines for dear life as they are swept away by the wonder of it all? The stalwart believers, those who believe the Drones are Real, whether salvation or scout ship preceding doom. How can you NOT believe? How can you be so stupid as to not SEE the LIGHT with your own eyes. We are about to be smote by the Lord and you are acting superior. What? Do you think you're a genius?!?

Well, considering the lack of critical thinking skills exhibited by those who are left worshipping the drones, I, along with several tens of thousands of other ATS members will agree with you. Compared to you, we are. What we are left with is the Cult of the Drone, waiting on the mountaintop, circling the wagons for Yet Another Coming, eating astronaut ice cream and proclaiming that it is Good.

But it all begs the question of Why? As Bennett says, this is not a college term-paper prank. It's not a bunch of guys in a bar at Corona drinking the same making up Roswell in the middle of the smoke to turn up sixty years later when they are all dead. I thought for awhile it could have been a classroom project, enlisting the twenty students on various aspects of the scam, but no longer. This has some skill attached. It has a budget. Money has been spent. DARPA has given out another grant to the Rand Corporation for a study. Could this be it? A Black covert shadow DARPA dispassionately studying the machinations of THX-1138 caught in a room with white walls, ceiling and floor, watching his arms go akimbo, not knowing why.

Magical letters creating machine-code movement? Not a snowball's chance in hell. If that makes me an elitist, so be it. But Black-Ops DARPA? That's my cup of tea: New World Order Masonic Lackey. Member: MIB Black Ops Division. Why don’t you fix your little issues and Light This Candle!

Black-Ops DARPA? Come! On!! Down!!!!