The Great Drone Hysteria first afflicted New Jersey and New York -- with maybes from Maryland and Virginia. Then California and Nevada residents reported odd airborne night lights -- flickering, hovering, then disappearing.

Airplanes, helicopters and/or authorized drones flying in the night sky?

The WhatEverTheyAre -- these lights and noises in the night sky have persisted for give or take seven weeks?

Ground-bound Americans well beyond New Jersey are disturbed.

Our federal government? Initially, the response went like this: "Don't fret -- nothing to worry about."

BUT. Complaints from state governors, numerous senators and congressional representatives led (or forced) the Federal Aviation Administration to issue drone flight restrictions over poor old New Jersey.

On Dec. 23, I checked the FAA website. I counted 23 ground locations in New Jersey where drone flights are now restricted through Jan. 19 or 20.

Still, the FAA maintains (like other Biden administration spokes-bureaucrats) that there's nothing to dread much less sweat.

BUT. During my research, I found an FAA Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) issued Dec. 18 that says the government (presumably the federal government) "may use deadly force" against "unmanned aircraft" (i.e., drones) in the designated restricted areas if the unmanned aerial WhatEver presents "an imminent security threat."

Which leads reasonable citizens to ask reasonable questions. How do you (the observer) know the aerial unidentified is unmanned? (Perhaps a thermal imager cued for human body heat?) How do you know the unidentified presents an imminent security threat? (Does it have a machine gun? Is it a flying bomb? Or a Chinese spy balloon?) As for downing the object, would a state trooper or local deputy sheriff (or me, an armed citizen who was once a GI) count as a government agent authorized to use deadly force?

We delay. We call the cops. We call the Pentagon. Higher authorities need more information.

I'm by Dyess Air Force Base, Abilene, Texas. You're outside Ellsworth AFB, Rapid City, South Dakota. The drones pass right over us. They're both the size of a two-seat Cessna and they carry bombs with small, smart, cheap and individually targetable munitions. In the next 45 seconds, the drones fly over the air bases. Their munitions disable a half-dozen B1B Lancer strategic bombers -- six at each airbase.

Who launched the drones? A cartelista paid $200,000? A graduate student majoring in Marxist economics?

The Big Picture: The two short-range and inexpensive tactical drone air strikes launched from U.S. soil have severely damaged American strategic offensive air power.

Meanwhile, Communist China launches an attack on Taiwan.

Have I written a novel? No. I've written a first strike war scenario that utilizes already available technology.

The scenario is a type of "inside attack" that genuinely threatens the U.S., an attack launched within or close to U.S. borders (offshore?) that would likely evade long-range and medium-range detection -- fancy words for space-based satellite sensors and airborne and ground-based radars designed and deployed to detect attacks by large aircraft (bombers) and missiles (think ICBMs).

Replicate the attacks on the Abilene and Rapid City airbases seven dozen times across the Lower 48. Target power stations, power transmission lines, key rail and interstate bridges and military communication sites.

Hawaii, Guam and Alaska aren't exempt. Definitely target Guam's air and missile sites and the strategic anti-missile missile field outside of Fairbanks.

The "close-in" assaults include human terrorist attacks around the Pentagon. And why not an assault by Tren De Aragua Venezuelan gangsters on the Cheyenne Mountain NORAD/NORTHCOM/U.S. Space Force Facility in Colorado? After all, it's not that far from Aurora, Colorado, where TDA already has at least 100 well-armed gangsters.

The Big Picture: The U.S. military response to the Chinese attack on Taiwan stalls.

Fantasy?

Four years ago, I'd say yes. But after the Ukraine War's demonstration and development of drone capabilities, after the brutal mayhem wrought by illegal migrants throughout the U.S., after the revelation of Communist China's multiple connections to Mexican drug gangs and human traffickers -- no, not fantasy, but a recipe for hybrid war as a prelude to major war in the western Pacific.

To find out more about Austin Bay and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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