Mysterious low-flying plane over Twin Cities raises questions of surveillance

[bananas]

Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune

Small aircraft circled downtown Minneapolis, 2 malls for hours.

Aviation buff John Zimmerman was at a weekly gathering of neighbors Friday night when he noticed something peculiar: a small plane circling a route overhead that didn’t make sense to him.

It was dark, so a sightseeing flight didn’t make sense, and when Zimmerman pulled up more information on an aviation phone app he routinely checks, he had immediate concerns.

The plane’s flight path, recorded by the website flightradar24.com, would eventually show that it circled downtown Minneapolis, the Mall of America and Southdale Center at low altitude for hours starting at 10:30 p.m., slipping off radar just after 3 a.m.

“I thought, ‘Holy crap,’ ” said Zimmerman.

Bearing the call sign N361DB, the plane is one of three Cessna 182T Skylanes registered to LCB Leasing of Bristow, Va., according to FAA records. The Virginia secretary of state has no record of an LCB Leasing. Virtually no other information could be learned about the company.

<snip>

Read more: http://www.startribune.com/nighttime-flight-circles-low-over-twin-cities-for-hours/305398901/

[ToxMarz]

1. "Mystery Aircraft Frightens Quincy, MA Residents"

Mystery Aircraft Frightens Quincy Residents
By Bill Shields, WBZ-TV
May 9, 2013 11:59 PM

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2013/05/09/mystery-aircraft-frightens-quincy-residents/

A mystery in Quincy continues to deepen: Who is flying around the city from dusk to dawn, for the past ten days or so?


http://www.nomoon.info/drone-mystery-aircraft-frightens-quincy-ma-residents/

Every night for nearly the last two weeks, residents have spotted a low-flying aircraft doing loops over the city. WBZ has learned the FAA knows what’s going on, but the agency isn’t telling.

DunDerD on Reddit writes:
Looks like they have 3(scroll down to very bottom) planes registered under RKT productions all 182t Cessna’s.
The only thing you can find out about RKT Productions is that they own 3 planes. Besides that they have a PO Box in Bristow, VA. Nothing else. Seems legit.

Edit 3: After looking through the list of aircraft registered in Bristow, VA for a town of 15,000 there are 64 aircraft registered including one owned by the Department of Justice. All within the past decade most within the past 3 years. Most of them are owned by companies with 3 letters then what they do RKT Productions, PSL Surveying, KQM Aviation, LCB Leasing, NBY productions etc. They also all are operation 182t Cessna’s. All of the companies only have a PO Box in Bristow. Looks like an FBI airport.

[jberryhill]

2. LCB Leasing

There are a bunch of aircraft owners about which specifics are hard to pin down:

OBR Leasing
PXW LEasing
NBR Aviation
LCB Leasing
FVX Research
PSL Surveys

Definitely likes to fly in circles:

http://www.flightradar24.com/data/airplanes/n361db#653ef42

http://www.flightradar24.com/data/airplanes/n361db#6602ae2

[bfgoodwitch]

23. FBI behind mysterious surveillance aircraft over US cities

Jun 2, 3:27 AM EDT

FBI behind mysterious surveillance aircraft over US cities

[gopiscrap]

26. Welcome to DU

[snooper2]

3. It was just doing air checks on the level of chemtrails that failed to fall to the ground

[Android3.14]

4. From up there, it's hard to see the Constitution

[notemason]

15. Now that's clever

I don't care who you are

[Blue_Tires]

5. What is there to surveil with the malls closed

And very few people/cars on the street?

Why not do the flight during daytime and blend in with normal traffic?

And just how low was it flying?

[Taitertots]

16. Electronic survailence

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stingray_phone_tracker

[Blue_Tires]

19. Still doesn't explain circling a closed mall all night...

[Politicalboi]

6. LOL!

Planes as bombs. Those mighty airplanes that can penetrate steel and concrete at sea level speeds and take down two 110 story buildings in a single crash and leave no debris at impact. Just send up a flock of birds


The sky is falling, the sky is falling.

[chapdrum]

9. Right

And the third one (#7) came down without being struck by a plane.

[LanternWaste]

12. I'm a fan of Loony Tunes too.

I'm a fan of Loony Tunes too. I like to pretend I'm clever enough to know what happened, and that my history degrees giver me firm foundations in engineering, physics, and explosives.

[NuclearDem]

14. Okie dokie then.

[Ford_Prefect]

7. Sounds like the FBI or some other agency is tracking, or testing tracking technology.

One source thought it might be cell phone related, or possibly reading Wi-Fi?

Seems just a bit obvious for a legit search for a specific target. I'd go for field testing to see what they could pick up and what could mask the source they were trying to listen to, or maybe what interference or data they could generate on the target. All of which implies they had agents on the ground monitoring or acting as targets.

Just my 5 cents worth of speculation. As I said it does seem a bit public for a "live" target given the length of time the planes were up and the seeming duration of the operations in Quincy and the Twin Cities. But who knows, eh? Could be they're trolling for whatever they can get?

Edit: N361DB was at 6300 feet or so and the circles they repeatedly flew over Park Center High School in Brooklyn Park, and Bloomington were tight, about 3/4 of a mile or less. Looks more like they did have a target in mind.

[Wellstone ruled]

8. Same Cessna aircraft with similair I.D. flys out of

North Las Vegas Airport. We have a Fusion Center run by Metro PD(spooks),from what I was able to find is,these flights record Cell Phone and WiFi info. The ones we have carry a box attached to the belly of the aircraft and they will fly a specific pattern over Vegas and the flights appear to be in length based on fuel consumption. Real pain in the butt,their pattern fly's close to our neighborhood. BTW,Metro and the Fusion Dudes have cameras all over the Valley as well as Info Spikes. Have a info Spike in our HOA R/V storage yard disguised as a flag pole.

[MicaelS]

17. OK, so I Googled it, and could not find it.

What is an Info Spike?

[Plucketeer]

10. One nation -

under surveillance, with liberty and justice for the monied.

[Demeter]

11. The Monied don't get Justice!

They buy injustice by the yard, wholesale, and wrap us in it.

[James48]

13. It belongs to the FBI

And is a Cessna 182, equipped with special observation equipment and an engine silencing system.

Sister aircraft to the one that was circling Baltimore during the riots a couple weeks ago. Both have exactly the same surveillnce system mounted in them, and the other one (N539MY) was being hangered at the FBI hanger in Manassas, Virginia.


Paravion Technologies, Inc. Infrared camera syste.


See http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=1086255

[PersonNumber503602]

21. How were the specifics confirmed?

Such as that two specific planes have those systems installed. Is that public record? Was it leaked? Educated guess?

[James48]

22. its a public record. n/t

[Marrah_G]

25. Can they listen to our phone calls or get into our wifi with that?

I'm not sure how far technology has gotten.

[kickysnana]

18. It is targeting central Minnepolis and Bloomington (MOA?). Perhaps BlackLivesMatter?

Our wonderful FBI investigated a day care for 14 months for enrolling hundreds of phantom tots before taking action. What couldn't they stretch it out any longer, 30 months?. I would think 6 months of surveillance could prove intent and then they could go after the murderers, child molestors and child pornographers but then I was raised in logic an reason.

[royable]

20. I thought of this when noticing a small plane circling this evening.

I was hiking at the very top of Mt. Lemmon northeast of Tucson, AZ this late afternoon and evening, and noticed that a small plane began circling the peak just before sunset, and it continued for about an hour and a half until it was quite dark, disrupting my solitude and making me wonder what it was up to.

As a side note, I also saw DU's DemoTex up there, who's stationed at a fire lookout on the south side of the peak for the spring and summer, and said hello.

[Marrah_G]

24. I think that's great that you got to stop in and visit DemoTex!

[mahatmakanejeeves]

27. FBI spy plane reportedly making flights above Muslim-concentrated Dearborn

FBI spy plane reportedly making flights above Muslim-concentrated Dearborn

By Gus Burns | [e-mail]
on August 05, 2015 at 9:02 AM, updated August 05, 2015 at 9:39 AM

DEABORN, MI -- Robert Snell of the Detroit News analyzed flight data that shows a single-engine, 2010 Cessna tied to the Federal Bureau of Investigation by an Associated Press investigation this June spent a good amount of time in the skies above the Muslim-concentrated city of Dearborn this weekend.

The flight data showed the plane on Saturday and Sunday made 19 slow-speed, several-mile-wide loops above Dearborn, as well as neighboring cities of Allen Park, Melvindale, Dearborn Heights and Taylor.

"The FBI is operating a small air force with scores of low-flying planes across the country carrying video and, at times, cellphone surveillance technology — all hidden behind fictitious companies that are fronts for the government ... " The Associated Press reported in June.
....

Snell reports the plane tracked this weekend by the Detroit News is registered to OTV Leasing of Bristow, Va. listing a post office box in Bristow as its address.