SpyCam Story #457 - Kite Flight Sight

...from the seller's web site...
"Now here's a nifty way of popping your head over the fence to ogle the chapess next door without being spotted or otherwise denounced as a pervy interloper. Instead of popping your head over the fence from a height of 1.8 metres, pop it over the fence in the virtual sense, from a height of up to 25 metres.

Permit us to explain and expound. In all our years of deconstructing fiendishly complex gadgetry here in the lab, deep underground at gadgetshop HQ, we've never before come across a fusion of technologies so inspired as a high performance kite with a remotely-controlled digital camera slung underneath it." (more)

Security Oddballs - Airplane Trap Door and More

Some security inventions are truly useful and will undoubtedly save lives, whereas others are so bizarre that one wonders how in the world they got patented. This list is about the latter...
Behold the Top 10 Strangest Anti-Terrorism Patents! (more)

The New Jersey Ninja
Officials in Barnegat briefly locked down five schools in the township Wednesday because... a librarian said a man dressed as a ninja, carrying a large sword, was running through the woods... the man (a camp counselor) wearing a karate gi, was carrying a plastic sword and was attending a party at a local middle school. (more)

"Don't have a karate gi?
How about a nice tie?"
The Walking Timebomb Tie
"This is our first in a series of 'Concealed Weapons' neckties. They are each double printed - a more subtle graphic is on the front only giving a slight clue to a more "loaded" graphic hidden on the back. The second image is concealed on the reverse until the wearer pulls it out for show and tell - or keeps it a secret to his/her self." (more)

George Carlin on Airport Security (Not safe for work.)

Unbreakable Fighting Umbrella Splits Watermelons, Defends Presidents
The entourage of the Philippine president, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, has an unusual secret weapon. Her security team defends the head of the government with umbrellas. Not ordinary umbrellas, but unbreakable fighting umbrellas. Watch the video to see the combat-brolly in action, and marvel as Thomas Kurz ("the world's foremost expert on flexibility training") viciously splits a watermelon in two. (more) (more)

"All right, who said, 'They're higher than a kite'?!?"

from switched.com...
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) will award contracts to design and build an unmanned spy plane they've dreamed up that will stay aloft for for an amazing five years. The pseudo satellite will circle the globe for years at between 60,000 and 90,000 feet, gathering photos, communications, and generally watching everything you do. (more)

Bugs - The Ultimate Bugs

The agency that the Pentagon set up to turn outlandish sci-fi concepts into reality has come closer to creating an army -- or air force -- of cybugs: cyber-moths and beetles that can spy on the enemy.

Inspired by Thomas Easton's 1990 novel, Sparrowhawk, in which animals enlarged by genetic engineering were fitted with implanted control systems, the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) set out to insert microsystems into living insects as they undergo metamorphosis.

The plan is that their organs will grow around the chips and wires that make up the remote-control devices. (more)

"Slime him, Danno!"

UK - Police in Nuneaton yesterday unveiled their latest technological weapon - a remote-controlled helicopter, the size of a dustbin lid.

The microdrone can film from more than 350ft away and beams back live video footage to operators on the ground.

If needed, the little helicopter can even swoop down and squirt offenders with a security marking solution called SmartWater which can be identified by police. (more)

"...and, the 'Best Use of Spycam Technology' award goes to..."

Bird House Spy Cam
"Watch ‘em, but don’t touch ‘em!"

"Our Hawk Eye Nature Cam will open up undiscovered worlds of bird and wildlife behavior. Once you buy one of our wildlife monitoring cams, it probably won't be long before you buy another and another." (more)

Movies made with birdhouse spycams...
- Bats
- Baby Owls
- Flying Squirrel
- Baby Squirrels
- Hummingbirds
- Spooky Owls
- Baby birds feeding
- Squirrels

Smackdown - US 193 - RIP

The U.S. Navy has successfully intercepted a defunct spy satellite using a surface-to-air missile — a first-ever such demonstration by an American warship. Debris from the shattered satellite was expected to burn up during re-entry.

"The mission was a success … the missile … intercepted the decaying satellite," Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said.

The interceptor missile was launched from the Navy cruiser USS Lake Erie off Hawaii at 10:30 p.m. EST. The USS Lake Erie is an Aegis guided-missile cruiser. Two other ships, USS Decatur and USS Russell, were also part of the task force. (more) (audio) (Smackdown animation)

Countdown to Smackdown - US 193 (update 3)

Attempt to shoot down spy satellite to cost up to $60 million

(more)

Who is happy about this?
1. Amateur radio operators who are looking forward to communicating by bouncing radio waves off the debris. DX more rare than moon-bounce or meteor scatter communications.
2. The Navy, who will get the rarest of chances to actually test their goodies ...without fear that someone will shoot back.
3. All the MIC types who build these goodies. They will make money replacing the missiles, not to mention the satellite and placement rocket. They will make more money modifying and enhancing existing weapons systems based on what is learned from this escapade.
4. And, of course, the bookies in Vegas!

Hey, taxpayer.
Are you unhappy? Stop. Think about it. Be reasonable.
Don't you want to be prepared when the comets come?
Don't you want to be protected when the aliens try to land?
Grab a beer. Relax. Watch GoldenEye.

Countdown to Smackdown - US 193 (update 2)

The U.S. Navy is specially modifying three advanced SM3 anti-ballistic missile interceptors to shoot down an electronically dead, intelligence-gathering satellite that was launched into space for the National Reconnaissance Organization (NRO).

Communications with the satellite were lost almost immediately, which means there’s no way of guiding the spacecraft to a predictable crash site as it returns from orbit, says Marine Corps Gen. James Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The extraordinary decision to shoot it down was the result of analyses that show the satellite’s 40-in.-dia. hydrazine tank—now holding a 1,000-lb. frozen sphere of maneuvering propellant—will survive the descent. It will pose a lethal danger when it strikes the Earth, cracks open, and the frozen slush turns into a toxic gas, says James Jeffrey, White House deputy national security adviser. The effect on human lungs would be similar to ammonia or chlorine gas.

The three Aegis ships involved in the intercept, from a launch site in the northern Pacific, will be “reconfigured on a one-time, reversible basis,” says Jeffrey. Even if the space defense missiles miss or misfire, the threat will be no greater, says NASA Administrator Michael Griffin. However, even if the missile only grazes the errant satellite, it will fall out of orbit faster, analysts contend. If they make a direct hit, the spacecraft is expected to fall into an unpopulated area, Cartwright says.

If the SM3 missile hits the satellite as it nears the atmosphere, more than 50% of the debris will reenter within two orbits, about 10-15 hr. Most of the remaining pieces would fall within a month, Cartwright says. It will be critical to hit the satellite before it enters the atmosphere, where its nonaerodynamic shape will cause it to tumble and be almost impossible to engage, he says. If the first SM3 misses, operators will reassess and try again with the backup missiles.

It is officially denied that debris from the payload could reveal secret new U.S. national security capabilities if satellite wreckage were recovered by another nation. (more) (follow the whole story)

Countdown to Smackdown - US 193 (update)

A dead US spy satellite in a deteriorating orbit is expected to hit the Earth during the first week of March, said officials.

The destination of the hit is unknown. Officials familiar with the situation say about half of the 2,270 kilogram spacecraft will survive its blazing descent through the atmosphere and scatter debris. Some of them will be potentially hazardous, over several hundred miles.

The officials (Micky, Mike, Davy and Peter) spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. (more) (sing-a-long)

They Spy Back on Spy Satellites

When the government announced last month that a top-secret spy satellite would, in the next few months, come falling out of the sky, American officials said there was little risk to people because satellites fall out of orbit fairly frequently and much of the planet is covered by oceans.

But they said precious little about the satellite itself. Such information came instead from Ted Molczan, a hobbyist who tracks satellites from his apartment balcony in Toronto, and fellow satellite spotters around the world. They have grudgingly become accustomed to being seen as “propeller-headed geeks” who “poke their finger in the eye” of the government’s satellite spymasters, Mr. Molczan said, taking no offense. “I have a sense of humor,” he said. (more) (SatSpies Home Page)

US spy satellite debris may hit Australia... again!

Australia - The Federal Government agency Emergency Management Australia said it had a number of contingency plans in place if the craft, which contains dangerous materials, failed to fully burn on re-entry and hit Australia. ...

"It's expected to land somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, and that's a big space," Ms Joseph said. "Mind you, Skylab was supposed to land in the ocean." The 78-tonne US space station's crash to earth in 1979 spread debris across the south of Western Australia. The Shire of Esperance slapped the US Government with a $400 fine for littering. (more)

More falling spy stuff

South Korea - A pilotless South Korean spy aircraft crashed Thursday near the border with North Korea and there were no casualties on the ground, the South Korean military said. The aircraft from the 5th South Korean Army Corps went down near a factory in Pocheon, about 25 kilometers (15 miles) south of the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas, shortly after it took off for a regular mission...

Some windows of the factory were broken but no one was injured on the ground.

The aircraft type was not immediately known, but Yonhap news agency said it was believed to be the locally developed RQ-101, which is 4.8 meters (16 feet) long and weighs 250 kilograms (551 pounds).

"So, where does a 10,000 lb. spy satellite land?"

Anywhere it wants to! (rim-shot)

Did 'ya hear about the 'American Fallen-Idol' star?
It never made it to the Heavy Metal Band! (rim-shot)

How about 'The Spy Who Slagged Me?' (rim-shot)

The U.S. military is developing plans to deal with the possibility that a spy satellite expected to fall to Earth in late February or early March could hit North America. (Ok, I'll stop the jokes.)

Air Force Gen. Gene Renuart, head of the U.S. Northern Command, said Tuesday that the size of the satellite suggested some pieces would not burn up as the orbiting vehicle re-enters the Earth’s atmosphere and would hit the ground.

A U.S. official confirmed that the spy satellite, which has lost power and no longer can be controlled, was launched in December 2006 and could weigh as much as 10,000 pounds. (more) (video report)

Stay tuned for more news about the final ride of US 193 / NORAD ID: 29651.

...just in time to see the other one.

India successfully launched an Israeli spy satellite into orbit on Monday January 21, 2008. The launch of the TECSAR satellite by an Indian-made rocket was carried out in clear weather at 9:15 am local time (0345 GMT) from the Sriharikota space station in southern India. (more) (the other one)

Sky-high arsonist spycam a first

Australia - Sydney will be scanned by sky-high spy cameras to catch arsonists in the act in a world first surveillance operation.

As new statistics reveal that a juvenile is now being charged, cautioned or sent for youth conferencing every five days for lighting fires, The Daily Telegraph can reveal that a network of new generation spy cameras is being planned for Sydney to catch them in the act. (more)

How To Create A Fake Google Earth Spy Video

Got some free time?
Want to amaze your friends and surprise your enemies?



This video is designed to demonstrate how to make a fake satellite spy video using Google Earth. Big Brother Is Watching You. (video)

Spy planes to recharge by clinging to power lines

The next time you see something flapping in the breeze on an overhead power line, squint a little harder. It may not be a plastic bag or the remnants of a party balloon, but a tiny spy plane stealing power from the line to recharge its batteries.

The idea comes from the US Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) in Dayton, Ohio, US, which wants to operate extended surveillance missions using remote-controlled planes with a wingspan of about a meter, but has been struggling to find a way to refuel to extend the plane's limited flight duration.

So the AFRL is developing an electric motor-powered micro air vehicle (MAV) that can "harvest" energy when needed by attaching itself to a power line. It could even temporarily change its shape to look more like innocuous piece of trash hanging from the cable. (more)

Russia successfully launches spy satellite

Moscow - To enhance its military capabilities, Russia on Sunday successfully launched a Kosmos series spy satellite from a cosmodrome leased from Kazakhstan. (more)

Today's Tidbits

• Ireland - The Irish government is considering using electronic surveillance against gangsters. (more)

• DelFly II - The Tiny Robot Flying Spycam (video)

• The Austin Police Department has seen an increase in ex-lovers spying on each other. (video)

• Five Keys to Spying on Your Competition - Guerrilla Style. "Call it research, but why kid yourself? What you are doing is spying." (more)

• Rightist suspected of illegal wiretapping - Avigdor Askin, two private detectives from Tel Aviv detained for allegedly listening in on conversations of Russian-Israeli businessman Michael Cherney's associates (more)

Aerial Spy News

Germany - The third of five planned German high-resolution SAR-Lupe radar reconnaissance satellites was successfully launched Nov. 1 by a Russian Cosmos-3M rocket. (more)

The fly's a spy - UST below a half-opened garage door a tiny device can be seen at the feet of someone lurking in the shadows. It looks like a blue dragonfly. Then its miniature wings begin to flap as it slips under the door and darts along the street. After rising through the air it stops to hover outside the window of a building several stories high. There is an opening on the roof, and it slips inside. As it flits from room to room its video-camera “eye” transmits pictures to a screen on a remote-control unit strapped to the wrist of its clandestine operator.

This is not a scene from a James Bond film, in which 007 tests a new device from “Q”, but an animated video produced by Onera, France's national aerospace centre, to explain REMANTA, a project to develop the technologies needed for miniature robotic aircraft. More bug-like flying devices are being developed in other research laboratories around the world. (more) (video)