| It's a blowup from this document.[1] That's worth reading. - Drone activity is up, and drone overflights of nuclear plants are being detected. One drone crashed and was turned over to cops. - The most common report (63%) is one of lights in the sky, no additional data. Most unresolved cases are in that category. - The next biggest category is spherical objects. Most of those turn out to be balloons. - Starlink satellites generate a fair number of reports. - MIT Lincoln Labs is apparently integrating the Gremlin system. What's needed, and what Gremlin is supposed to provide, is telescopic cameras at multiple locations that can be quickly focused on a single target. Lights in the sky seen from one point don't tell you much, but if you have three separated cameras pointed at the thing, you know where it is. The old GEODSS system, from the 1980s and still operating at a few locations, was similar, but aimed at near-space objects. The Ground-Based Optical Deep Space Surveillance System was a set of about eight telescope pairs worldwide. This was the beginning of automated astronomy. Each station surveilled the whole sky, and checked off all lights against a star map. Anything unknown got looked at. Both telescopes would point to the same object, and the telescopes were far enough apart to triangulate low-orbit satellites. Three sites are still running, and have been upgraded several times.[2]
GEODSS was tied into various USAF and NORAD radar systems, so items of interest seen on radar could be looked at, too. GREMLIN sounds like a mini version of GEODSS. More local, and intended for in-atmosphere objects. [1] https://media.defense.gov/2024/Nov/14/2003583603/-1/-1/0/FY2... [2] https://www.spaceforce.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Article/2197... |