Relax, this will not be a post laced with conspiracy theories. But I am both concerned and annoyed over the helicopters that continue to circle Los Angeles, often at odd hours of the night. They have disturbed my sleep and a new trio of unmarked helicopters has piqued my curiosity.
Three Mysterious Helicopters Circling Los Angeles
It still strikes me as odd that police helicopters insist upon operating in the middle of the night. But this week I noticed new, unmarked helicopters overhead. They were traveling faster and lower and had no identifying marks or livery. Observing these odd helicopters drew me to Google, where I found a helpful article. It answered some questions but actually left me with more questions.
Everything we know about the mysterious dark helicopters that have been circling Los Angeles:https://t.co/xcx0tdLHmU
— The War Zone (@thewarzonewire) January 14, 2021
The Drive reports the unidentified trio of helicopters are associated “with a very secretive U.S. military aviation unit.” These are Bell 407 helicopters painted in dark gray and are covered in antennas. Oddly, they originated on the East Coast and were tracked flying across the country over the last few days, making stops in Kentucky, New Mexico, and Arizona before reaching the Hollywood Burbank Airport near my house.
Online flight tracking software indicates that the pair of helicopters that subsequently departed Burbank had taken off from right in front of the fire station at KBUR, which has a pair of marked helipads, and then had flown over parts of Los Angeles before continuing to the Los Angeles County Fire Department’s Camp 8, a former U.S. Army Nike surface-to-air missile site, near Malibu. They then returned to Burbank.
So what gives? I asked the Los Angeles County Fire Department and Burbank Airport and have not heard back. It appears these helicopters were originally purchased by the US Army, intended for the Iraqi Army, but never made it (see linked story above). Still, that doesn’t answer the question of what they are doing here.
These were certainly not Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) helicopters, nor did they appear to be linked to any sort of civilian law enforcement.
CONCLUSION
The mysterious man in the jetpack over Los Angeles is an interesting story, but this one is more pressing…because I’ve seen it and heard it myself. More broadly, I am so sick of the nighttime helicopter noise over my house. That’s one aviation sound I’d just prefer never to hear…
Any insight on what these helicopters may be doing in LA?
In before all the QAnon folks tell us to “just wait and see”
Perhaps Newsom has requisitioned them to monitor stay-at-home violators?
That actually sounds plausible to me. Perhaps those antennae can detect clusters of cell phone signals (i.e. social gatherings) and send the location to local authorities. There have been a few busts of large parties recently in LA, and it would also explain why these choppers are flying around at night.
The government would prefer it if you would not question its actions or motives.
@ Matthew — Maybe they are just monitoring street racing? This menace has spread around the country. For example, in Atlanta, street racing is now the largest consumer of police resources, and helicopters are one of the primary tools used to catch these morons.
If they’ve breached the airspace over southern Pasadena, California, I haven’t heard them!
I wonder if it has anything to do with potential upcoming protests, demonstrations, etc…
we had a helicopter hover near our apartment building for about an hour at 2 am when they were filming the Dark Knight Rises…definitely sympathize.
Maybe they have a budget of flying hours and are using them?
I strongly encourage you to not to report further on this matter.
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I live in the hood near LA Children’s Hospital. Between the medical choppers dropping off sick people at LACH, Hollywood Presbyterian and Kaiser + all the LAPD choppers circling around looking for bad boys, I never get any shut eye.
This is a test of the 5g chips in the Covid vaccines. Not surprising that the helicopters started flying the same week that Covid vaccinations were rolled out. /s
Perhaps the helos are used to monitor recent travelers who came from the EU??? A nice cappuccino from Moongoat Coffee could help.
The Drive had a report this AM they had been practicing night time landings on some of LA s buildings over the last couple of days,,,suggest they are practicing urban hostage rescue, urban combat scenairos,,,
I’m really happy that you are disturbed. Maybe you should reflect on the non stop drones over Afghanistan waiting to “light up” villagers labeled as terrorists. Sleep tight.
Your sleep is being disturbed ? Zero sympathy for you
In the hills behind where I live, there are often fire helicopters doing touch-and-go landings, or? It happens during the day, and makes my windows rattle as they fly over. It’s happening right now and it’s about 7:30 PM. They just circle around, drop down into the hills, and circle around. I am sure there is nothing requiring helicopter service, i.e. fire or medical emergency, this is just what they do. I have asked my mom, who is on an HOA in the area, whether any of her associates have ever asked the fire department why they do it. I mean, it’s a legitimate question, isn’t it? Maybe they’re training for a potential night-time fire, but maybe they’re just doing it for shits, giggles, and fun terrain to dive down into.
I guess it comes down to my wondering why it’s so critical for them to train, if that’s what’s going on, so often in the same area. Are there that many new pilots coming up that need the training? And, as far as I know, it’s not a designated training area or heliport. Interestingly, years ago there was a rather wealthy individual who wanted to put a helipad by his house west of me, but in the same hills, but the neighbors put up a stink due to the noise. And guess what, there’s now way that he’d be taking off and landing as much as the fire department is doing.
I’m waiting for someone in this area to sell a house without disclosing the fact that there are occasional nights, and days, when there’s a virtual heliport behind the houses, with the helicopters flying very low over the homes and rattling glass and nerves. A buyer who takes exception to this may have a legitimate lawsuit against a seller who didn’t tell them about what is arguably a neighborhood noise nuisance. I sure think it is. I’m now 30 minutes into their arrival and there go my windows, and nerves, again,. Anyway, I agree with the author’s last paragraph.
It’s 2023 now and a helicopter with unknown registration has been circling overhead in LA for about an hour, almost 11pm.