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| Aerostar helium balloon launch. Courtesy photo. |
Joy Rides into the Stratosphere, and Military Intelligence: Helium Balloons over Navajo and Lakota Nations, Indian Country
By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, Sept. 5, 2024
Joy rides into the stratosphere, and military surveillance, are two of the purposes for the helium balloons over the Navajo Nation, Lakota Nations in South Dakota, and most of Indian country, according to the owners of the helium balloons.
The Guardian exposed the helium balloons spying platforms and the ACLU in South Dakota warned of this surveillance. The balloons are capable of video recording vehicles traveling to protests, and can reveal where the vehicles arrived from. It's spying without a warrant.
The balloon owners, Aerostar and World View, have U.S. military contracts for recovering payloads, as was the case with World View's experimental payload recovery in the Grand Canyon for England's defense department. These balloons can also carry out ground surveys.
Aerostar is based near Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and World View is headquartered in Tucson, Arizona. Before these companies took flight, Google's Project Loon launched, and failed, after promising to provide remote Internet access with its balloons.
Right Now: Balloon Near Mescalero Apache
Right now, there is a spy balloon near Mescalero Apache Nation, and another balloon over White Sands Missile Range, in New Mexico, as shown above. Flight Radar 24 conceals the owners identity, but elsewhere the owner is identified as Aerostar, which has military contracts, and says the balloons can carry out surveillance, ground surveys, and recover payloads (objects from the ground.)
Aerostar, based near Sioux Falls, South Dakota, had balloons over Lakota lands in South Dakota for long periods of time this summer, and during the past year, has had balloons over much of Indian country.
It is unknown so far what type of minerals and water sources could be identified by the sensors in ground surveys, and what type of payloads they are picking up.
Read more about Aerostar on its website: https://aerostar.com/
Oljato and Monument Valley: World View's Joy Rides into Stratosphere over Navajo Nation and Grand Canyon
The helium balloon over Oljato, Utah, and Monument Valley over the Navajo Nation on Sept. 1, 2024, shown above, is owned by World View in Tucson, which announced plans for joy rides into the stratosphere, over select locations.
World View said earlier the Grand Canyon and Navajo Nation are included in their tourism package in the air and on the ground. The eight seat stratosphere joy ride for the first flight was sold out, with non-refundable deposits at $50,000.
World View promoted its Grand Canyon stratosphere ride this way, "Experience this geological wonder like never before – from below the rim to 100,000 feet above it. Watch the sunrise over Earth’s curvature then gently descend feeling totally transformed."
World View also announced a partnership with the military defense contractor Sierra Nevada for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, for the U.S. military using its balloons. One of these balloon flights was for the U.K. defense department in the Grand Canyon.
World View said in October of 2022, "Sierra Nevada Corporation has completed a successful demonstration of its High-Altitude Balloon for stratospheric communications and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. The test was part of the UK Ministry of Defence’s Project Aether Flight 1 Assessment Phase contract." https://www.worldview.space/stories/snc-successfully-completes-global-stratospheric-isr-flight-for-u-k-s-project-aether
Read more about World View on its website https://www.worldview.space/press-room
FCC documents show that Southcom’s balloons carry small, satellite-like vehicles housing sophisticated sensors and communication gear.
"One of those sensors is a synthetic aperture radar intended to detect every car or boat in motion on a 25-mile swath beneath the balloon," The Guardian reports.
“Technology like this runs the risk of turning South Dakota into a surveillance state and violating the privacy of every South Dakotan,” said Libby Skarin, policy director for the ACLU of South Dakota.
Because this technology is capable of recording and storing all public movement over large areas – entire cities or metro areas – this kind of mass surveillance destroys any level of anonymity South Dakotans have.
“There are so many unanswered questions here,” Skarin said. “What information is being collected? What information is being stored? Who has access to this information? Is the surveillance for law enforcement purposes? At a minimum, there should be consultation and approval from local communities before the federal government subjects South Dakotans to area-wide surveillance.”
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