Opinion: Drones from Mars

It’s easy to tell what Americans are scared of at any given time by asking how we identify unidentified flying objects.First of all, let me explain: I love UFOs. I have read books about UFOs, I watch UFO marathons on the History Channel, of which there are a surprising number. Some of you may be asking “Well, have you ever seen one?” The answer is yes, I have seen an unidentified flying object. Several, in fact; a series of orange lights that floated over Highway 43 between Kent and Streetsboro one night in 2011.Notice that I didn’t use the phrase “alien spacecraft” or “flying saucers.” To use such terms would imply that I know what they are, in which case they would be identified flying objects. Using the strictest standards of the term, UFOs are actually very common, as is the natural inclination of people to identify them. For Americans, the best way to identify an unidentified flying object has always been to associate it with the thing we most fear.One of the earliest and most famous UFO incidents in America was the “Battle of Los Angeles.” On Feb. 24, 1942, a series of unidentified objects detected near Los Angeles sparked an air raid alert over southern California. Anti-aircraft guns fired into the night with many convinced that a Japanese attack was underway just two months after Pearl Harbor. After the war, in the 1950s, UFOs became associated with secret Soviet intrusions. Soon, the legends and mythology of UFOs started to include government cover-ups and conspiracies and men in black who would intimidate witnesses and destroy evidence.Whether it’s the Japanese, Russians, extraterrestrials or our own government, Americans are always ready to identify unidentified flying objects as whatever they happen to fear at the time. So why does this matter now?On March 4, the pilot of a passenger jet coming in for a landing at JFK International Airport in New York City reported seeing an object approach dangerously close to his aircraft. UFO sightings by airline pilots are very common, though most go unreported due to the ridicule that often comes with filing such a report. This pilot, however, did not describe what he saw as a UFO. He called it a “drone.”Subsequent reports have described the object as bearing more resemblance to a hobbyist’s model aircraft than the Predator and Reaper drones that we see on the news operating over the Middle East. But the initial description of a drone flying over New York City remains the story, and any news report on the incident has that loaded word in the headline. The FAA and FBI are currently investigating the incident, something which is unlikely to happen in any common UFO case.UFO stories are an interesting way of tapping into the American consciousness. It appears that today, the prospect of drone warfare and a robotic future preoccupy our fears in the same way the Soviets and the Japanese once did. It wouldn’t surprise me if people start identifying strange lights in the night sky as drones sent by our government or a foreign entity to spy or kill.It’s a true American pastime to identify the unidentified.