#WMD: Agent Orange

Click here for related story [AP]

Here's a breakthrough.
Opening the gate to deserving Vets who were exposed to [doused with] Agent Orange.

In this legislation, Air Force crews which handled Agent Orange dispensed via C-123 airplanes in Vietnam and Thailand are now eligible for disability compensation and health care benefits for a variety of cancers from skin cancer to prostate cancer to diabetes and leukemia.  
[National Guard air crews flying these same craft after war suffered Agent Orance residue, but are ineligible for compensation or health benefits.]

The cost of this compensation is under $50 million per year -- which VA extrapolates to a 10-year period to make it half a billion dollars [roughly the cost of Mr 0bama's fuel costs  since he entered office].

The VA, however, would not address the Blue Water Navy personnel who likely had the heaviest doses of Agent Orange.

Floating Chemical Coffins

During the war, commercial carriers refused to carry Agent Orange, so the Navy strapped 50-gallon drums onto the decks of warships to ship the chemical to Vietnam.  

En-route, those ships encountered heavy storms with massive waves, resulting in the 50 gallon drums breaking loose, popping their lids, and pouring their contents into the ships' interiors, soaking the crew.

Most of those crews later died of, not one, but multiple types of cancer.

The VA screening process demands that claimants prove that they "... set foot in Vietnam", which many in the Blue Water Navy cannot do -- nor can they produce bills of lading showing their ships carried Agent Orange.  In fact, there were no official bills of lading since the Navy did not want to admit they were carrying this dangerous chemical aboard their combat ships.

Oh, and the commercial carrier refusing to ship Agent Orange?
That was Lady Bird Johnson's company SeaLand, which had the exclusive contract for all logistic shipments from the US to Vietnam.

End the Patriot Act!

We posted this commentary on this blog back in 2011 as we watched the growing level of abuse by our federal government -- but before Mr Snowden released the files on NSA's illicit monitoring of US citizens -- confirming a portion of the actual government abuse.  

Since then, there has been verification of FEMA incarceration camps [guarded by federal marshals], the equipping of DHS with heavily armed equipment and command centers, the massive accumulation of heavy weapons ammunition by such agencies as the Social Security Administration, and the provision of heavy infantry weaponry and tracked vehicles to local police forces.

Since then, there has been a steady stream of revelations of abuse by both the Intelligence AND Law Enforcement communities, using the tools of the Patriot Act to justify their actions.  The latest of these is NSA's demand that it be the repository of all communications from the telecoms - which oddly enough, is meeting resistance.

We don't need no stinkin Bill of Rights!

We repost this commentary because Senator Mitch McConnell [R-KY], Senate Majority Leader, is fighting to keep this abomination on the books by calling for the Senate to reconvene in a week for a vote.  

Unless Congress reaffirms it, it will die a quiet death -- as it should.

Most politicians voted for it lest they be accused of being "unpatriotic" in voting AGAINST a bill titled "PATRIOT".  What fodder for political critics, and no politician wants to be labeled "unpatriotic".  So, the Senate votes, in this case, by NOT holding a vote.

Let this damned thing die!  It is killing this country.
And, while they're at it, they should get rid of the NDAA [National Defense Authorization Act] which includes many of the same abrogations of the Constitution.

A note to the GOP:
It's time to send Mitch back to Kentucky to the home for bewildered politicians; he's outlived his usefulness in the Senate.

            The Patriot Act — RIP: Bill of Rights

I regard the Patriot Act as the greatest threat to individual freedom in the history of the US. It was created in good faith, and justified as a means to track down terrorists and defeat the terrorism threat. But, it can just as easily target US citizens.

Just about every intelligence investigative tool necessary to monitor terrorism was available prior to the Patriot Act; the difference was simply that intelligence officials had to justify their actions. 

At worst, it might take a few minutes to prepare the forms and pass them over to the Attorney General’s office. But, that way, the AG could act as an element of reason in a hasty decision.

I managed a global operational organization for many years, and never found this process onerous. It was inconvenient, but reasonable. My support staff included a bunch of lawyers and a retired federal judge. If a crisis emerged, as they tend to do, I had the personal phone number of the Assistant AG who was available 24/7 to review/sign off on our requirements — or, to tell us to give him more justification. 

In today’s world, a secure video-phone link would provide instant linkage, so the delay would be only the time to verbally review the situation with the AAG while he reviewed the e-documents.

The Patriot Act alternative is to place unlimited power in the hands of a single Intelligence/Law Enforcement operations unit, whose leadership could make snap, subjective decisions without a separate objective viewpoint or review.

Lincoln recognized the real threat

I’ve seen really bad judgment calls on the part of ambitious, but unbalanced, Intelligence executives; I can only imagine how many of these bad calls — without penalty — have been rationalized using the Patriot Act.

Essentially, all it takes is for the executive to accuse a person of being a terrorist, or a terrorist sympathizer or contributor; which essentially arms him with the provisions of the Patriot Act. And, if the accused is a US citizen, he loses all his Constitutional rights; and he has no recourse.

If you don’t think this system can be abused, I refer you to the Grand Jury process [aka: Star Chambers].

  

The potential for abuse under the Patriot Act goes well beyond one’s imagination.

Let’s not incinerate the Bill of Rights in the name of Patriotism.

Train Crash - Cyber Attack?

Prelude to a national transportation hack?

UPDATE:

Several new reports add interesting elements to this catastrophe:

1)  Passengers on this train stated that, immediately before the train left the rails, they heard a large "Bang!", not further identified, although investigators found a large round break in the window of the locomotive [train engine].  In another train incident in New York, there was a similar report of a "bang" -- complete with broken window in the train engine.  
[Those windows are virtually unbreakable, and we understand the FBI is now investigating both incidents.]

Additional reports reveal that the conductor had slammed on the brakes attempting to stop the train after it inexplicably increased speed -- by computer.

The conductor was fully cooperative with investigators and voluntarily produced his cell phone and freely took a blood test.  He advised he could not explain how the train doubled its speed when he had attempted to slow the train as it approached the curve.

The Philadelphia mayor has condemned the conductor as the irresponsible cause of the crash. A Twitter campaign has been launched to destroy his reputation by calling him a "diversity" hire.

Looks like a set-up to press passage of the $2 Billion Congressional Bill for rail maintenance.  De Blasio has learned a new word "INFRASTRUCTURE" and came to DC to bolster his reputation as a knowledgeable idiot!

There are reportedly seven passengers dead, with hundreds more injured in this train wreck.

The train reportedly was going more than 100 mph in a sector limited to 50 mph because of the tight curve.

Interestingly, one of the passengers reported hearing a "large BANG!" just before the derailing, while two other Philadelphia trains suffered window damage at the same time as the Amtrak crash.  
[To answer the obvious question:  No! Kids throwing rocks at the train will not break the windows; they're shatterproof!  So, whatever struck the windows was likely significantly greater than a hand-thrown rock.  It's worth examining the windows to see if there are bullet holes -- but then, we must ask who fired those rounds (note the calls for "Congressional infrastructure funding" below.]

We suspect the cause will be attributed to driver error, although safeguards were put in  place to prevent a repeat of other, recent train crashes in which excessive speed was the cause -- attributed to operator error.

Oddly, a search of the Internet retrieves little information on recent train wrecks in the US, even all those oil train derailings of the Warran Buffett genre which have spilled millions of gallons of oil in rural, suburban, and urban areas throughout the US -- killing people, livestock, vegetation, and polluting water supplies and creating environmental hazards through the massive oil fires.

Gosh, is the Media censoring itself?

The Media says I'm a Nice Guy!

Or, is that genial old gent, Warren Buffett, exercising his control over the Media since he is so well connected in the Media world, and in the railroad world, and in the infrastructure world, and in the energy sector  -- well, by golly, what ISN'T he controlling these days.  

And we thought the Rockefellers were powerful.

But, we digress.

We note the difficulty in finding details of a recent train wreck [to which we can no longer find a reference on the Internet], in which the operator supposedly fell asleep at the controls, and the train derailed due to excessive speed, killing and maiming passengers.

Such are highly unusual accidents since the computer systems are structured to monitor and control speeds at risky spots which are programmed into the rail routing process.  Even if the operator dies of a heart attack, the computer will respond appropriately if disaster looms.

That is, unless the computer system is hacked.

We expect to hear from the feds that this derailment was caused by terrorists, but that would imply that the terrorists can easily derail a US train, passenger or cargo - and that could derail the entire rail industry, and lower Buffett's profits.  So, the feds will crucify the operator and accuse him of being a cardiac victim, a drunk, a drug-user, or, an incompetent.  We suspect, however, the operator[s] are/were completely competent, and expert enough to know better than to drive 100 mph in a 50 mph zone consisting of a tight curve.

So, we drop back to the explanation that the computer system managing rail traffic was hacked.
By whom, we're unsure, although we have our suspicions, and we'll advise you once we have more information.

Hacks are more powerful than bombs

But, keep in mind, that if the rail system computers can be hacked, so too can the air traffic control system, and local ground based vehicular traffic signaling as well.  


Don't forget, both Dulles and ORD were hacked this past year,  creating havoc for the airlines, Air Traffic Controllers -- and tens of thousands of passengers.  

And, for good measure, our Administration is demanding that all new automobiles and trucks carry computer programs which can be controlled by "security" personnel -- to protect us from "terrorists"; of course, if terrorists hacked into that "security system", think of the havoc that could be wreaked causing millions of cars to spin out of control -- without regard to the drivers trying desperately to steer or slow their vehicles.

We're facing a challenge left open by the incompetence of this Administration which squandered a trillion dollars in 2009 and 2010 [under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act] which should have upgraded our infrastructure grids, to include our air/water/ground traffic control systems.  

Oddly enough, Mayor De Blasio, the only Communist mayor in the US, has declared that the rail infrastructure is 100 years or more old and is badly in need of repair; and Congress is pressing forward with another $2 Billion for such graft, er, repair.

Instead, all that money went to bogus companies owned by friends of Mr 0bama; and the US infrastructure has been collapsing ever since. 

#ET - Go Home

ET - Heading Home                              [IMDB.com]

Click here for related story  [MessageToEagle.com]

We are told in this news item that ET [extraterrestrials] may be transmitting 

"...mysterious and unexplained radio bursts from far outside our galaxy.  ... Are these perhaps signals from an extraterrestrial civilization attempting to contact other intelligent life-forms in space?"  Over the last 15 years, astronomers have detected "...10 fast radio bursts [FRB], with the interval between the arrival of the first and last wave of each burst at multiples of 187.5."

The theory is that these bursts might come from a Kardashev Type II civilization.
[Earth is currently rated as a Type 0 civilization using the most primitive energy production (we won't achieve Type I status for at least 100 years); a Type II harnesses the energy of its Sun/Star].  

A Type II civilization would have the capability of moving a Moon-sized object into a new orbit [and this may be how we got our Moon -- which bears many remnants of ET activity according to our astronauts.]

So, we tend to accept that there are ETs out there, and likely more than one group.  

We're told there are four or more.

Our government, which we've never known to lie to us, advises that all those reports of flying saucers and ET vehicles are merely clouds, reflections of the Sunlight, weather balloons, etc.  But, the untrained eyes of astronauts, USAF fighter pilots, airline pilots, astronomers, foreign governments, and tens of thousands of ground observers with hand and dash-mounted camera have differed with our government.

"Meteor" turns at 90 degrees - cylinders ejected.

We have reported in earlier blog posts of activity which fairly clearly shows ET operations -- the most recent of which appeared to be a successful effort to divert the path of an Earth-bound asteroid -- which knocked the spacecraft off-course and into Earth's atmosphere -- and crashing over and into Russia.

Included in that posts are photos of cylinders /  spacecraft exiting the "meteor" before it changed course abruptly by 90 degrees and crashed into an uninhabited area of Russia.

In another, more recent post, we described what appeared to be an aerial battle resulting in an aerial detonation in our atmosphere -- in which an AAM [air to air missile] seemed to destroy a high altitude space craft.

Note the rectangular debris in the "fire trail"

----

So, now the question arises as to the merits of having ET visit the Earth, and what would be the motivation of ET.

Let's take a look at the history of different levels of human civilization visiting each other.

Early on [ca 960-1270] the Chinese explored much of the known world and created maps, some of which Columbus discovered and used to navigate to America.  A few centuries later, a Chinese emperor built fleets of massive ships which traversed the globe to collect information on other cultures; here and there, a few settlers were dropped off, but, for the most part, the ships returned to China where the emperor was briefed on the foreign cultures, after which he had his fleet destroyed on the basis that the other cultures were too primitive to be of interest.

While the Chinese disdained the cultures of lesser advancement, European explorers noted that the lower cultures had valuable minerals and inventions, which could be used for trade, building materials,  and of course, for conducting war.

So, here we have to look at those benevolent explorers, the Spaniards and the Portuguese, who visited the Aztec and Inca civilizations and discovered gold and other precious metals, and recognized that their own technology, albeit limited, was superior to those silly heathens.

So, in the face of military forces far superior to their own, they used friendly overtures, promises of advancement, firepower and smoke and mirrors to overwhelm forces which could have slaughtered the intruders -- who instead regarded the invaders as welcome guests.  It didn't take very long for the invaders to destroy the Aztec and the Inca leadership, enslaving the remnants of those civilizations as a means to exploit the mineral and agricultural wealth. 

Crazy Horse: Hero only after murder by US Military

We can look at the later periods in which the Europeans arrived in waves to displace the Native Americans in both North and South America, as they did in Africa, to have stronger African tribes enslave lesser tribes and sell the slaves to Americans and other cultures around the world.

And, of course, we should also include the reluctant welcome the Palestinians gave to the adherents of Zion following WWII, leading to the removal of the Palestinians from their lands and their designation as terrorists because the Palestinians protested over being evicted from lands they and their ancestors had occupied for centuries.  

However, as the Israelis accurately noted, the Palestinians didn't have a formal government, and they had no European-style documentation of land ownership since many of the Palestinians were not sedentary by nature -- much like the American Apaches and Sioux.

Notably, the European aliens established puppet states in those areas where they "shared technology" to advance the lesser states and to enhance their control of the subject populations.

If we look at the history of Earth's civilization, we note any number of inexplicable events which included abrupt technological advances which changed the human evolution, most notably in the art of war.  

Notably, most of these innovations and discoveries came about simultaneously in at least three different parts of the world.  Often, these events were in the same general time frame in which alien [ET] visits were recorded in all areas of Earth -- depicting aerial craft, unusual technology, and weapons of mass destruction; notable was what seemed to be the nuclear (fire and brimstone) detonation of the 13 cities of Sodom [and Gomorrah] and the unusual destruction of the previously impenetrable "Walls of Jericho"].

Visits from Extraterrestrials did not go unnoticed by our Military, which paid attention to new-fangled airplanes and weaponry like Rail Guns.  Having captured one such craft and observed the technical gizmos, General Marshal received a note from President Roosevelt to exploit this material as best he could.

Memo from FDR to General Marshall

Much later, we note the  advancement of high-speed aircraft in the absence of lighter than air craft [dirigibles - which were much more cargo- and fuel-efficient than aeroplanes], development of jet aircraft and flying saucers by the Nazis, and the US development of the atomic bomb and subsequent development of nuclear power.  President Franklin Roosevelt openly discussed "non-terrestrial science and technology" following the shoot-down of an alien craft over Los Angeles during WW2 - after which, there was a long string of Top Secret memos and the formation of the Majestic 12 Committee, whose mission was to manage ET issues.

In the 1950s, we were introduced to the transistor, which led to the microchip, all of which enhanced the capability of the Enigma computer developed by the Brits at Bletchley Park -- which led to the somewhat later boom in information technology and micro/nano technology.

But, with all these advances throughout modern civilization, we've had other periodic significant, and inexplicable events which tended to slow progress, and to thin the human herd.  We suspect there may have been opposing alien elements who wished to slow human technological advances to delay the rearming of their adversaries.

Of those delays, we speak of dread diseases and viruses, of which no origin could be found.  It would appear there may have been competing forces; one/some assisting humans in technological evolution, while others were attempting to block that evolution.  Think in terms of the extraordinary scientific and engineering accomplishments of the Greeks and Romans -- many of their accomplishments and innovations exceed even today's technology.   The historical catastrophes pretty much coincided with the peaks of those civilizations.

Let's take a look at some of these advanced civilization collapses via the introduction of viruses:

Plague of Athens  [429 - 426 BC]:       75,000 - 100,000 dead [aka:  Typhoid]
Antonin Plague    [165 - 180 AD]:       30% of the population of Europe/Western Asia/Northern Africa
Justinian Plague  [541 - 542 AD]:       40% of the population of Europe [aka: Bubonic]
Black Death         [1346 - 1350]:          100 Million 30 - 70% of the population of Europe  
Unknown             [1616 - 1619]:           30 - 90% of the population of Southern New England
Italian Plague      [1629 - 1631]:           280,000 dead ["plague" (NFI)]
Plague [NFI]        [1641 - 1644]:          "tens of thousands" Chinese cities -- ending the Ming Dynasty
London Plague    [1665 - 1666]:          100,000 dead
Balkans Plague        [1738]                   50,000 ["plague" NFI]
Russian Plague    [1770 - 1772]            50,000 ["plague" NFI]
Cholera                [1816 - 1826]           100,000  [Asia, Europe]
Cholera                [1829 - 1851]           100,000 [Asia, Europe, North America]
Cholera                [1852 - 1860]           1    Million [Russia]
Bubonic Plague   [1894 - 1924]         12.5 Million [India] 500,000 [China] Spread worldwide 
Influenza              [1889 - 1890]           1 Million [Worldwide]
Influenza              [1918 - 1920]        100 Million [Worldwide]  Spanish Flu [500 million infected]
Influenza              [1968 - 1969]            1 Million [Worldwide]  -- "Hong Kong Flu"
HIV/AIDS            [1960 ++       ]         30 Million [Congo Basin]

Most noteworthy of these human-eradication programs was the so-called Spanish Flu, which reportedly began with vaccination of soldiers in Ft Riley, Kansas, and went viral within a few months as the soldiers were deployed world-wide,

Oddly, the healthiest of humans, the young soldiers, were the most vulnerable since their immune systems inexplicably ravaged their bodies as a defense against the virus.  Also inexplicable was the abrupt end of the pandemic, ending in 1920 only weeks after its peak.  Reporting on this outbreak was minimal, and most of the deaths were reported as "war-related", although the actual "war-related" deaths were only about 12 million.  Oddly, the virus managed to spread almost immediately worldwide, to include remote Pacific islands and to the Arctic.

So, we wonder.
Are some [many?] of our politicians ETs using head and body masks to cover their true appearances?
Cruz, for example, appears to be wearing a head mask which is evident from the base running parallel to his jaw line and which cuts into his hairline.  This came to our attention since his wife gave him an air-kiss after looking horrified when he embraced her.

At what point were Earth's technological advances created -- and destroyed -- by aliens; and are aliens managing our governments through puppets such as Mr 0bama -- or Ted Cruz?  If so, are all those abrogations of our Constitution to be compared to the Spanish domination of the Aztecs and the Portuguese domination of the Incas?

Ponder these questions, if you will:

Moon potential - interrupted

1) Why were our Moon landings and exploration abruptly halted when the payoffs in precious metals mining had so much potential -- and our astronauts insisted it was worthwhile after discovering extensive evidence of alien cultures and debris.

2) Would not the Moon have been the perfect base for establishing a low-gravity manned space R&D center, with telescope to visually explore the Galaxy?

3) Why not use the Moon as a development center for creating space vehicles and for launches to Mars, and beyond.

4) What was the motivation for destroying the Hubble Telescope -- without a replacement programmed for at least 20 years, and which was perfectly functional!

Not your average Secret Service Agent

Is 

Do we see a Police State looming on the horizon to accommodate an alien domination of humans?

Given the bizarre events and police state executive orders since the 2008 election, this concept may not be so far-fetched.  Should we prepare for a Spanish Flu style epidemic?

Give it some thought.

Netanyahu's Ego War

Sieg Heil

Click here for related article [FAS]

Periodically, we criticize Israel's Mr Netanyahu for trying to draw the US into a war with Iran -- an action which we are convinced would be as devastating to Israel as it would be to Iran.

Today, we received another argument against such a war; i.e., The financial cost to the global economy would be about $1.7 Trillion. 

Now, if we ignore the thousands of Iranian, Israeli, Arab and US lives to be sacrificed in this foolish endeavor to satisfy the blustering Mr Netanyahu's massive, belligerent ego, let's examine the cost in real terms.

For those with short memories, let's revisit the First Gulf War which cost "only" $61 Billion
-- plus the health expense related to the Gulf War Syndrome.

During President GHW Bush's six-month build-up to go to war with Iraq in 1990-91, the US economy went into a complete stall, which affected the global economy, which brought world commerce to a standstill -- for nearly six months, forcing thousands of businesses to collapse, increasing unemployment in the US and globally, and reducing global GNP by a significant percentage. 

The war involved 34 "coalition" nations, and close to a million US and coalition military troops were deployed.  Ostensibly, the war was fought to protect Kuwait and to retrieve Kuwaiti territory and oil from Iraq.  Ironically, the Kuwaiti military played only a miniscule role in the war, and Kuwaiti men who should have served in the military spent time in US and foreign night-clubs sneering at their US military "security force" -- whom they regarded as paid mercenaries.

Let's segue from that incident 23 years ago to what we see now.

For those who follow the US Congressional wrangling over the "Fiscal Cliff" deadlock, think in terms of the cost of a Netanyahu Ego War as compared to President Obama's proposed tax increases:

1)  The Netanyahu Ego War would cost the world about $1.7 Trillion [somewhat more than the
     $61 Billion cost of the Gulf War] in terms of
      a) Direct security/military-related expense,
      b) Lost commerce and trade revenues,
      c) Damage to regional infrastructure from the conflict
      d) Increased oil prices
      e) Other global economic costs

2)  Mr Obama's Revenue [i.e., tax increases] would amount to $1.6 Trillion.   Let's compare those
      figures. 
      a) That's $100 BILLION less than the cost of Mr Netanyahu's proposed Ego War.
      b) Mr Netanyahu's Ego War would ADD an extra $3,000 a year in taxes for the US taxpayer
      for the next ten years -- over and above the extra $3,000 we would be expected to pay for
      Mr Obama's "revenue" option.

[Hey buddy, can you spare an extra $6 thousand for Uncle Obama?]

That's just the financial cost of the war; we'll save a fuller analysis for a separate post.

Missile Strike Over DC?

Sun Dog?  Or, air explosion.

Driving through DC on Wednesday [04FEB2015], we noticed in the northwest sky what appeared to be a Sun Dog, or a reflection of sun rays off atmospheric ice particles.  So, we took a series of high-res [3263 x 2448] photos with our cell phone camera and sent them to our computer.

Oddly, the Sun Dog showed up in the photos as more than ice particle reflection, since those would not leave a smoke and debris trail leading to what appears to be an explosion.

Closer examination of the clouds in the distance behind the commercial airliner seem almost the same as the pattern we've witnessed of an airborne explosion; something we've witnessed in military aerial battles.

So, we examined the photo in greater detail, enhancing the resolution to reveal what was clearly a smoke trail -- and not a cloud formation.  At the conclusion of the trail was the Sun Dog, which now appears to be an expanding smoke cloud and the orange glow of an explosion.

Smoke trail leading to orange glow of an explosion?

With that, we continued the enhancement to see if anything else was visible which could be interpreted as an explosion; the result was the image below which enhances the "explosion" portion of the smoke trail. In the trailing smoke leading to the explosion, there are rectangular objects which appear to be debris [not the usual product of a Sun Dog] 

[Oddly, the photo to which we refer has disappeared from this post; (a google-edit?)]

The series of images above is reminiscent of the Challenger explosion shown below.  Take another look at the lead image for this blog, noting the finger trails, in the background behind the commercial jet, to the left of the Sun Dog explosion.

Shuttle Explosion; note the finger trails of smoke, with debris

Can we conclude anything from this series of images?

Only that the photos captured something OTHER than a Sun Dog; something that greatly resembled an airborne explosion.  But, there were no noticeable sound waves, which would indicate the event occurred at a substantial altitude, perhaps above 50,000 feet [somewhat above the commercial flight level of 35,000 feet.  Was this an air-to-air missile strike?  Buried in the clouds, there are indistinct round, dark objects which we could not enhance to a discernible shape.

So, what's up there besides commercial or military jets?
We've noticed the very large white government planes flying into Dulles Airport away from the normal landing pattern; these are the planes which spray the chem-trails you've noticed in the sky creating the criss-cross patterns which gradually turn a crystal clear blue sky into an overcast, single artificial overcast sky -- with most unusual cloud formations and odd wind patterns.

Late at night last fall, we noted the created-cloud pattern had broken, leaving much of the night sky crisp and clearly visible with no distortion or light pollution.  As we watched, we noticed the stars seemed to be moving, but quickly realized they were not stars, but distant lights high in the atmosphere.  Oddly, the lights were flying in waves of formation groups; this would not have caught our attention had there been only a few, which would have indicated a military flight.

However, as we watched wave after wave of these formations flying northeast to southwest, we estimated there were hundreds of these formations, including thousands of lights.  If each light represented one plane, we would have to assume our entire US Air Force was flying overhead -- at an altitude well above 50,000 feet.  Most notable was the speed of these lights, which moved from one horizon to the other in a little over a minute -- meaning they were traveling at several thousands of miles per hour -- a bit faster than our fastest aircraft.

So, what's going on up there, above our artificial cloud cover?

Some have speculated the cover is designed to block our view of battles taking place in near space, or perhaps not such high altitudes.
Who's the enemy?
We suspect it's not ISIS, or the Taliban, or the Palestinians.

We'll wait and see -- and welcome your input.

Here's a  hint.
Remember the famous Russian Meteor?

Meteor Contrail?