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Originally posted by Mekanic
reply to post by UmbraSumus
That's been running through my head too. Don't announce it, because that sets it as a target.
The vulnerability issue however, I can't see. AF1 has to be defensively tough no matter what the altitude, being that it has been flown in Iraq, and other hostile areas. So that part I'm not buying into.
[edit on 28-4-2009 by Mekanic]
An Air Force combat photographer took pictures from one of the fighter jets, administration officials said.
The photo op was combined with a training exercise to save money, according to another administration official who also spoke on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to speak publicly about the behind-the-scenes discussions about the flight.
The FAA notified the New York Police Department of the flyover, telling them photos of the Air Force One jet would be taken about 1,500 feet above the Statue of Liberty around 10 a.m. Monday. It had a classified footnote that said, "Information in this document shall not be released to the public or the media."
Originally posted by Night Watchman
I'm curious as to where AF1/AF2 departed from for this "exercise." If it was a training mission then it seems that they were simulating a scenario in which the President is leaving from or flying through NYC...I think it would be interesting to know where it was coming from.
Originally posted by Retseh
There's a lot of enjoyment to be gained from scaring New Yorkers, and why not, they scare me
Seriously, why the big deal over this, it was just some poor judgement that scared a few thousand idiots.
Slow news day perhaps.
Originally posted by weedwhacker
...didn't you see the Daily Show with Jon Stewart? They had the exclusive photo (shopped) image of Biden in the left seat!
Originally posted by thomasblackraven
If one was to test the detection system of a newly installed missile defense shield located in lower NYC or NJ, making a public announcement & using a military jet would jeopardize the secrecy of such a system. Use AF1, have a cover story, yes a few days of backlash, but then all goes back to normal and the real mission remains unknown.
Originally posted by Erasurehead
This is a followup to my thread started yesterday about the AF1 flyover of NYC.
www.abovetopsecret.com...
According to Channel 2 news NY they have obtained an FAA memo stating that they knew this would cause panic and threatened to some kind of "federal sanctions" against the city if word of the flyover got out before hand.
This whole thing just gets stranger by the minute. I don't understand why a photo op would need to be kept secret. I really don't buy the offical story that this was just a photo op setup by the Office of Military Affairs just to have souvenir photos of Air Force One with the Statue of Liberty in the backround. Any idiot would know that this could easily be done with Photoshop.
I am trying to contact someone from CBS news NY to see if they can release the memo to the public. I think this was some kind of test to see what the public reaction would be. I really don't think this was an accident. Things like this are done for a reason. I will post updates if I hear back from CBS news regarding the memo.
wcbstv.com
(visit the link for the full news article)