Consistent nightly helicopter activity over Los Angeles area

Greetings ATS readers,

I am a resident of LA and have noticed a lot of consistant Helicopter action nightly. I work from Home and am a night owl, and from 1am-2am nightly there is a series of helicopter fly bys.I have noticed this happening since late June. And originally wrote it off as maybe security for 4th of july, or something.

I have a dog, and when I walk her sometimes I bump into neighbors, and its something that a lot of other people have brought up, or we discussed somehow. I am wondering if anyone on here has noticed the same thing in their neighborhoods.

L.a. Is huge

Some areas have none stop helicopters...

Which area of la are you experiencing this in is my first question?

reply to post by SamLuv


Seems to be an ongoing issue...

www.dailynews.com...

reply to post by SamLuv


I"m in the South bay area, hermosa, redondo, south torrance area, and YES I have noticed this, alot of late night flights, especailly up and down the coast.... also sometimes just random late night rumbeling without a plane or helicoptor in sight..... since before late june, I noticed around May or so sometime for me over here...

I've been wondering what they are doing.....

I live in the Hollywood area, to answer your question

Hah.. have you not lived in LA for long? Yeah, it's a constant thing, but no conspiracy as far as I can tell. Lots of factors go into it.. LA is extremely spread out, and there is a lot of gang activity, so its convenient for law enforcement to travel by air. I'd say that's the majority of the reason, especially when you notice it at night. I tend to notice them more in the day actually, which I chalk up to the constant need for ariel views of the city for use in movies and/or TV, and the fact that it's a common tourist activity ("oOOOoo I wanna see the Hollywood sign close up!!!") Also there are a lot of rich folk who can afford to take a helicopter from downtown up to Calabasas or Ventura or wherever instead of dread the traffic. Also we're near the ocean, and I've often noticed coast guard copters traveling in pairs from downtown to the shore. But if they're using a searchlight or are circling the same area for any length of time, you can bet it's for criminal activity. It's always exciting when the searchlight shines over your house as they try to locate some fugitive!

reply to post by hartbeat


Are you kidding, south bay?

Right near l.a.x.?

I worked in Torrance saying there heli's there is like me reporting I saw a car on the free way today...

Ghetto birds flying around Compton alone ...

Uh south bay is about 13 miles south from me, so no LAX noise. And Ive lived here in my apartment for about 4 years. I am in Hollywood. Near the studios. You never hear LAX Noise from over hear, it is intentional. Flight paths are chosen knowing who they will be flying over, and flights coming into and leaving LAX do not cross over Hollywood at all.. Just a note.

So its not something thats I have just started to notice, its something that has just begun to happen more often.

reply to post by bacci0909


I guess it is reasonable to assume there is a billionaire who maybe helicopters to his home in Hollywood nightly.....But still, even that to me is kind of fascinating lol.

Originally posted by SamLuv
I live in the Hollywood area, to answer your question

Maybe they're expecting more UFO activity?

UFO Over Hollywood 7/6/12 - Complete With Helicopter Chase

aliens

I think its normal. I used to live in EL Segundo (for anyone who doesnt know near, torrance, hermosa beach)
When i used to live in el segundo all i heard was Planes and Helicopters all the time. I was close to LAX though.
I am in victorville now and lately i have been hearing helicopters from 7pm-1am. On and off the whole night every night.

i kind of take offense to you underestimating normal" heli activity sounds like and what I have experienced off and on for months now.....

Im not talking ghetto bird style..... and I'm not talking torrance airport/robinson heli company flights either, thank you very much I am born and raised within a 2 mile area, never moved out of the bay in my life, I am quite familiar with the frequent flights buring the day... I;m not talking LAX flgihts either...... I LIVE at the BEACH...... I can SEE all copters that cruise the coast and can tell from my house if they are coast guard, news, sheriff, etc..... Im just agreeing with the O/P that I have noticed weird random flights late at night, like 1-3 in the morning, and these are BLACK not labeled, from what I can see... and I notice because I am up usually pretty late, sometimes till after 3 am..... so..... maybe next time I'll just keep my "I agree" to myself......

Originally posted by hartbeat
i kind of take offense to you underestimating normal" heli activity sounds like and what I have experienced off and on for months now.....

Im not talking ghetto bird style..... and I'm not talking torrance airport/robinson heli company flights either, thank you very much I am born and raised within a 2 mile area, never moved out of the bay in my life, I am quite familiar with the frequent flights buring the day... I;m not talking LAX flgihts either...... I LIVE at the BEACH...... I can SEE all copters that cruise the coast and can tell from my house if they are coast guard, news, sheriff, etc..... Im just agreeing with the O/P that I have noticed weird random flights late at night, like 1-3 in the morning, and these are BLACK not labeled, from what I can see... and I notice because I am up usually pretty late, sometimes till after 3 am..... so..... maybe next time I'll just keep my "I agree" to myself......

Its been consistently getting kinda worse. 1-3am was generally the time frame they would come out and fly around. But now, its starting earlier and lasting a little longer. Starting as early as 9:30pm some nights, you can hear a dozen different helicopters pass by through the course of a night, which even on Los Angeles standards is very very high. And whenever I am able to actually see the helicopters, they arent searching for someone it seems, beacuse there search lights arent on. And in a city like LA, they dont usually just fly helicopters all night long over residential areas for no reason. *shrugs* Yesterday I was at a taco truck at Midnight getting my grub on, and 4 helicopters flew over the truck, and i overheard a few other patrons talking about it being a constant annoyance.

They are generally flying pretty low, and slow, they arent in a rush.

Dude you are not alone. I live in San Diego and every single night there is military style helicoptors flying in circles up and down every single night. I have not noticed it until this past month it has started. I see lights far down the street in the sky where the heli is just waiting there then the other is flying around then one moves there is about 3-4 of them each night

reply to post by TuggSpeedman


Yeah, man I am hearing from family and friends they are seeing increased consistent black helicopter activity over areas, in San Bernardino, Riverside, and San Diego. i dont know about any northern cities, but its been constant it feels like!

Even as I type theres helicopters passing by.

Hi,
Im new here. Ive visited the site before but never signed up til reading this thread after web searching '1am helicopters los angeles.'
I've been noticing the recent activity lately too and have been thinking it's suspicious. I live in Mid-City (near LaBrea & Venice) and every night it seems between 11pm - 2 or 3am they are flying over head. Pretty low, with no search lights on (usually no lights at all, which is weird), they are black helicopters. They don't look like LAPD.
I just really find it strange the hours they seem to be flying at and why no lights?
-moc

Originally posted by TuggSpeedman
Dude you are not alone. I live in San Diego and every single night there is military style helicoptors flying in circles up and down every single night. I have not noticed it until this past month it has started. I see lights far down the street in the sky where the heli is just waiting there then the other is flying around then one moves there is about 3-4 of them each night

Naval Air Station North Island, Camp Pendleton, Marine Corps Air Station Miramar all in the area and you're wondering why there are "military style helicopters" flying around?

Originally posted by th3moc
I've been noticing the recent activity lately too and have been thinking it's suspicious. I live in Mid-City (near LaBrea & Venice) and every night it seems between 11pm - 2 or 3am they are flying over head. Pretty low, with no search lights on (usually no lights at all, which is weird), they are black helicopters. They don't look like LAPD.

At that time of night and flying with no lights, how would you be able to tell anything about them, let alone "They don't look like LAPD"?

Typical So Cal. I live next to Fullerton Airport and I can't sleep
through the night without the comforting sound of rotors tearing
through the sky at 3am to chase stolen cars in Anaheim