A STRANGE MISSILE LAUNCH, AND AN EVEN STRANGER COMMENT FROM ...
In today's world I'm almost hesitant to comment on this story, much less offer any high octane speculation about it. When I first heard about the story, I entertained some high octane suspicion about it, but thought not to blog about it until I received a couple of copies of the story in my inbox, and in one instance, an almost identical high octane speculation about the incident to my own unstated concerns. This speculation came along with the following version of the story from Zero Hedge, along with the speculation, from Mr. H.N.:
"Serious Incident" Unfolds As NATO Jet Accidentally Launches Secret Missile Near Russian Border
Now, one might guess why I was initially reluctant to comment on the story in today's world: Stock market go down? Blame Mr. Putin and Russia. Pension fund problems? Blame Mr. Putin and Russia. Having problems finding that missing $50,000,000,000,000 that you set aside? Blame Mr. Putin and Russia. Can't get reach customer non-service in India? Blame Mr. Putin and Russia. Flat tire? Blame Mr. Putin and Russia. Didn't get the grades from your professors you wanted? Blame Mr. Putin and Russia. Wrong person elected to the local animal shelter control board? Blame Mr. Putin and Russia. Spies didn't die when you laced their house with nerve agents? Blame Mr. Putin and Russia. (The last one is particularly useful, for it gives you the excuse to impose more sanctions.)
It's really become almost comical to watch the Putinomania and Russophobia - let's call it Putinorussophobimania - at work these days. With all of the things modern Russia and Mr. Putin are being blamed for, it makes Stalin's Soviet Union look positively quiescent and supine, and hence one does not want to add too hastily to the climate of Putinorussophobimania. In such a climate the smallest incidents can get blown all out of proportion, and in the case of the world's other large thermonuclear power, that can be a bad thing.
So, in that context, NATO has been holding exercises in the Baltic states, no doubt to impress Mr. Putin with its Putinorussophobimania, and how quickly it can reach St. Petersburg. Field Marshal von Leeb's Army Group North had to start hundreds of miles back, in East Prussia. NATO's Estonia is right next door. And so, just for good measure, a missile is launched - supposedly accidentally - by aircraft from the military of a nation located in the opposite diagonal corner of Europe, Spain, which to complete this picture of looming deja vu, also sent a division to the Eastern Front in World War Two, the Spanish "Blue" division, which - you guessed it - served in the Leningrad/St. Petersburg area.
It was those little "synchronicities" that piqued my curiosity about this incident, which is being tap-danced away by typical bureaucratese:
Estonia’s defense minister has halted a NATO war exercise in Estonia pending an investigation after a fighter jet deployed in northeast Europe accidentally fired a secret missile during training. Authorities are now searching for the rocket, which was shot over the Baltic country’s airspace by a Spanish fighter jet this week near the Russian border.
...
“The Spanish defense minister has apologized and expressed deep regret,” Luik said, adding that the commander of the Spanish Armed Forces has apologized for the mishap.
According to Fox News, Estonian Prime Minister Juri Ratas communicated with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday, expressing Estonia’s concern over the “serious incident.”
The aircraft, the article goes on, were stationed at Siauliai (Schaulen), Lithuania. There things would have remained, and I would have been content to continue contemplating the weird synchronicities of the incident, but also dismissing them as merely "weird synchronicites" and another splendid example of what sorts of nonsense Putinorussophobimania can get one to entertain. I chose not to blog about the story, lest my high octane speculations sound like the hysterical death-rattles of Putinorussophobimania of CNN or MSNBC(I mean, c'mon, who names their kid with the first name of a wild large canine, and glues it to a surname that conjures up images of panzers, artillery, and dive-bombers? "Wolf", after all, was Hitler's codename. So this hysterical character's name is Hitler Blitzer. See what sorts of absurd mental gymnastics Putinorussophobimania can do to you?)
But then there is this statement from Russia itself, which has me thinking that maybe, after all, a bit of Putinorussophobimania might be a good thing here, because it least will have them thinking twice in the Wolfschanze Nato headquarters:
“At the present moment, we cannot confirm the existence of any contacts between the NATO Operations Command and the Russian military on this incident. However, after saying this, I will add that many civilian and military organizations play their role in ensuring international air security. We cannot say anything more on this incident as long as the investigation is going on.”
Now, Mr. H.N. advanced his own speculations regarding this cryptic statement, and I have to agree with him, because first of all, the statement clearly implies that a Russian investigation is underway, and that implies all sorts of problems, not the least being that Russia may have detected the launch of the missile (and probably did), to the missile landed in Russian territory, and not Estonia at all. If it did, then it explains the Estonian defense minister's sudden cancellation of the NATO exercise: "Woops, sorry about that Vlad, our missile went a bit wonky and landed in Russia. Good thing the warhead wasn't armed, huh?" But there's an even grimmer potential high octane scenario here: What if the missile launch was not accidental, but deliberate, an attempt to create a false flag incident, or an accident, whose flames could be fanned into war, but it failed. This is where that second part of the Russian statement comes in: "However, after saying thins, I will add that many civilian and military organizations play their role in ensuring international air security. We cannot say anything more on this incident as long as the investigation is going on."
Civilian organizations and military? Civilian organizations would imply the Russian FSB, successor to the KGB, and military organizations speaks for itself, and moreover, this is all spoken in a context implying investigations. So what if Nato was just served another big notice of Russian electromagnetic capabilities? Remember that blackout of Nato equipment in Syria after the Russians arrived? Remember Mr. Trump's cruise missile strike, where approximately half the missiles somehow went haywire and didn't strike their targets (or, so we're told). Remember the USS Donald Cook and USS Fitzgerald incidents? And while we're at it, we might as well throw in those "false alarm" missile alerts in Hawaii and Japan, the strange missile launch off the southern coast of California, or more recently, near the Seattle-Tacoma-Vancouver area, the US military's denials, and the possibilities of hacking... So maybe "someone" tried to pull "something" in Estonia, and maybe the Russians got wind of it, and put a stop to it and maybe even deliberately brought the Nato missile down in their own territory. Maybe the Estonians got wind of it too, and pulled the plug on the operation. I don't know.
But it does seem to me to be a speculation worth entertaining, especially in the context of all the other strange events mentioned above. Someone seems to want to trigger a war with Russia, and someone seems to be intervening to prevent it, perhaps the Russians themselves... who knows? There is a pattern here, in my high octane speculative opinion, and it's not entirely a good one...
... See you on the flip side...
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Speaking of interesting names and connections, can anybody speculate on the alleged romantic relationship between Vladimir Putin and Rupert Murdoch’s ex, Wendi Deng? That raised a lot of questions, not least being, how did this link between one of the major promoters of Putinorussophobia and the target of this phobia take place?
Personally I am so tired of everything being blamed on Russia. It’s like up where I live, blaming everything on Bigfoot.
Putin certainly appears to be the only adult in the room…
“So if you think your life is complete confusion
Because your neighbors got it made
Just remember that it’s a Grand illusion
And deep inside we’re all the same“
. . . If the articles are to be taken as accurate, someone needs to do more than to initiate an investigation into a purported accidental missile launching during a NATO exercise. . . They need their heads examined for having for the potential for the incident and a missile on board the plane in the first place (able to be armed or not) near international territories within flight distance range of the ordnance. . . A blurred boundary of exercise ordnance verses active weapons air-policing missions are not recommended by even the most experienced pilots. . . That sort of mission creep is reckless and irresponsible. . .
. . . Practice training munitions are normally confined to well designated bombing ranges and dummy targets where low-yield explosives are expected and cannot veer off due to poor aiming techniques and the limited fuel of the missile. . . Could be that that pilot was in an exercise to practice discipline with his hot-pickle-button and his finger took to itching and fired the missile. . . Then again, there have been intermittent cockpit take-overs like the Iranian pilot and craft decades ago or the US missile silo instigation by unidentified hovering craft that shut down active response controls below ground or the former Soviet Union launch codes of in silo missiles gone active. . .
. . . The Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman would seem accurate in her response directed at those NATO air drills – They pose extra risks to security rather than improving responsible air security in that region. . .
. . . Russian military observers were probably monitoring the exercise scenario the whole time and knew what the Eurofighter Typhoon had on board – Probably even who was flying it and commanding field events. . . They’re not to be underestimated. . .
. . . As if an accidentally on purpose incident to draw attention. . .
What intrigues me is Quote: accidentally fired a secret missile….. End Quote
What is the different between – Accidentally fire a missile and fire a secret missile? What is this this word “Secret” suppose to mean here? lolz
Unfortunately the Baltic states refuse to understand that the ports to the Atlantic that Russia needs are on their territory. Kaliningrad formally Konigsberg is cut off from Russia proper. As for the missile launch this looks more like someone sick game of chicken.
I got a chuckle out of the hysterics around the ‘secret’ missile: Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) has been deployed forever. This is like 1980s technology, which gets minor upgrades every few decades. The Russians, if they got ahold of that missile, would probably hang it in a museum…
If this was not a pure accident, I would peg it as being used to ‘light up’ the Russian defenses. There has been ongoing efforts on both sides since VietNam to characterize the opponent’s radar systems, chain of command, frequencies used, etc. All this is to give you an advantage, defensive or offensive. A missile launch close to Russian airspace would do just that. (And NATO particularly wants to characterize the S-400 missile system, which would be on the Russian borders.)
I could imagine that NATO electronic-warfare types are now shuffling away to ana lyze the mound of data that cost them one obsolescent missile to ‘procure’…
@goshawks is on the money. This is a game that is played often with Russia and the NATO forces, like batting a ball. Either the jet, or the bomb itself was loaded with sensors, recording all of Russia’s countermeasures.
I few years ago, Russia had a habit of flying danger close to our various naval vessels. Same game, looking to gain the same results. Electronic Warfare exploitation tactics.
NATO……………………..never attack the others.
Apart from your amazing sense of humour, Dr. Farrell (and lets remember how much the devil hates to be mocked) I was pleased to see this quotation
‘(I mean, c’mon, who names their kid with the first name of a wild large canine, and glues it to a surname that conjures up images of panzers, artillery, and dive-bombers? “Wolf”, after all, was Hitler’s codename. So this hysterical character’s name is Hitler Blitzer.’
The reason being that I have for some time had more than a little suspicion that those on the public stage including politicians, bankers and TV presenters have all changed their real names to something more in keeping with the role they play.
It’s becoming harder and harder to take these people seriously so thank goodness for humour.
They even look as if they were actually cast by Hollywood.
On this day in 1792 King Louis XVI
is arrested and declared
an enemy of the people.
It’s a good day.
… and the Russians had nothing to do with it?
Hey y’all. Something weird IS going on in Washington state. This is an interesting video on the SeaTac plane incident. Starts at 9.50. He references Q, and shows an interesting hypothesis on the plane crash by an Anon. The plane was a Q400 BTW. I always heard if you wanted to know what was really going on in the world, ask Naval Intelligence. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JKp-gk5rcfg
I have my own suspicions on why two “white”, “Christian” nuclear powers might be goaded into a war with each other that have little to do with Russophobia and more to do with “deceptive” global banksters who seem to have their “useful idiots” entrenched in just about everything these days.
When the entire Earth owes you, well, the entire Earth, that kind of money can buy you whatever you desire including another global war for more profits.
That would place me dangling from a sky hook nowhere near the end of the twig though.
Oh, there’s an obvious party that would want the US and Russia to fight a war, and it has nothing to do with whom you call global banksters, watch a Bond movie or 3.
I saw this on ZH and as usual the comments gave the best low-down on what most likely went down. A lot of ex-military comments there and they have a great pool of knowledge on these sorts of “incidents.”
Anyway, someone who used to actually handle these sorts of missiles noted that it was nearly impossible to accidentally launch an air-to-air missile and that if one did there was a self-destruct mechanism built into them that would have destroyed it in short order. He did though say it was highly likely that it simply was not properly secured and fell off; he also noted that the Spanish air force does not have a stellar reputation, and then you have the basing in Estonia to add to the problematics.
As for the Russians, doubtless they’re eager to find the missile if at all possible and don’t mind to make deadpan statements hinting at NATO aggression and incompetence.
This was reported more blandly in other press outlets as “Spanish fighter “loses” missile”. Sure, it just happened to drop of the plane. I hope this will make people in the Baltic countries sit up and question their short-sighted political class which, exploiting an at least partly justifiable anti-Russian sentiment deriving from the Soviet occupation, has placed them in the front line of NATO-driven craziness. Like Poland, sooner or later they will have to put aside old resentments and take a more pragmatic attitude, especially as Berlin is reasserting its power…