# \*Real\* black helicopters **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 16, 1999, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-black-helicopters/4863 "1999-11-16T08:18:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 1999, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-black-helicopters/4863/1 "1999-11-16T08:18:00Z")
Does anyone know if the govt. has ever tried to make real “BHs”? It seems to me that at least they would have tried to put a bunch of bullhorns on the side of one, and broadcast out of phase noise to quiet them. Whether it’s really a feasible idea is a different story. So, anyone ever heard of that, or know if it has a remote chance of working? ---
**Author:** ![Cabbage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@Cabbage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabbage)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 1999, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-black-helicopters/4863/2 "1999-11-16T08:27:00Z")
Actually, I have heard of broadcasting out of phase noise to quiet aircraft; I’m pretty sure it’s been tried. I don’t know if it failed, was too expensive, or what; someone around here will probably know. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 1999, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-black-helicopters/4863/3 "1999-11-16T10:17:00Z")
If it was successful, you’d never hear it. _yuk_ _yuk_ _yuk_ DHR ---
**Author:** ![Moonshine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5e9695/32.png) [@Moonshine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonshine)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 1999, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-black-helicopters/4863/4 "1999-11-16T11:21:00Z")
I know that Volkswagen experimented with a similar system to dampen the noise inside their cars; however it had the added effect of cancelling out speech too, as the computer couldn’t tell the difference reliably between ambient noise and speech, so the project hasn’t been realised yet. ---
**Author:** ![funneefarmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9fc348/32.png) [@funneefarmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/funneefarmer)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 1999, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-black-helicopters/4863/5 "1999-11-16T12:37:00Z")
I thought there was a car muffler for sale in the aftermarket that does this, but I could easily be wrong. My guess is that it would be comparably expensive. ---
**Author:** ![EvilGhandi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@EvilGhandi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilGhandi)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 1999, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-black-helicopters/4863/6 "1999-11-17T08:11:00Z")
The answer is yes. Helicopter manufacturers have been after the elusive “stealth” helicopter since the day they took flight. Problem with your bull horn solution is that the lions share of the noise comes from the rotors. While tuning the exhaust to produce a sound canceling “anti sound” would help to conceal turbine whine, the WOP WOP WOP of the blades remains. Most modern military craft use a “quieter” composite rotor in place of the aluminum skinned blades of yore. When I left the service back around '80, there was still serious research being done on sound damping rotors. Watching the new Blackhawks, I am amazed at how quiet (compared to Huey’s) they are. Of course thay still make a racket when in full downward pitch… If I had to hazard a guess, it would be that there are experimental blade systems that are damn near silent. That we don’t see them on existing aircraft is probably telling of a lack of practicality or maybe durability. I know from personal experience that early composite blades were prone to failure. ---
**Author:** ![mr\_john](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@mr\_john](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr_john)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 1999, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-black-helicopters/4863/7 "1999-11-18T01:56:00Z")
SHHHH! you don’t know who might be reading this. * * * “Pardon me while I have a strange interlude.”-Marx ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 1999, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-black-helicopters/4863/8 "1999-11-20T00:47:00Z")
The usual “Black Helicopters” that conspiracy theorists talk about are not “stealth” helocopters or “silent” helicopters. They are normal military helicopters with no identifying markings on them (no flags, no registration numbers, etc.). Until this year, the army publicly denied that they had _any_ unmarked helicopters. Then, the army staged a couple of un-announced “urban assault” wargames in or near populated areas. (The populations there were, of course, major ticked-off at the army about this.) And the army has since admitted that, during these wargames, they used _unmarked helicopters_. Now, unmarked helicopters in a wargame are a far cry from the usual paranoid stories about black helicopters descending into rural areas and abducting neo-militia survivalists. But the fact that the U.S. military has now _confirmation_ that they have unmarked helicopters of _any_ kind, when they’d previously denied they had anything of the sort, is surely going to add fuel to the conspiracy theorists’ fires. * * * Quick-N-Dirty Aviation: Trading altitude for airspeed since 1992. ---
**Author:** ![Oblio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/c4cdca/32.png) [@Oblio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oblio)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 1999, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-black-helicopters/4863/9 "1999-11-20T00:56:00Z")
Sighting report … I have seen several black helicopters land behind my house on a civilian airfield. They were dark, Chinooks from what I could tell. I heard they were special OPS from a nearby base. The operation I noticed was a quick cigarette & leak in the dark. Haven’t seen (or heard, they make a racket when at full pitch) them for a year or two. Oblio ::Locking doors and hiding in attic:: ---
**Author:** ![mr\_john](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@mr\_john](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr_john)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 1999, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-black-helicopters/4863/10 "1999-11-20T00:59:00Z")
I warned you. Those copters are controlled from moble centers in the trailors of unmarked semis, not even license tags.Over all command is centered in other semis with only the word FISH in relativly inconspicuos size. but all the more obvious because it is the only marking. FISH Federal Insidiously Sneaky Helicopters. * * * “Pardon me while I have a strange interlude.”-Marx ---
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 1999, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-black-helicopters/4863/11 "1999-11-20T13:22:00Z")
- - - Oh yea, mr john like you are _so_ full of shit. The FISH semis are only where they refuel - -F.I.S.H.- - ## Fuel Ichneumon System( 🙂 Helicopters - - - The real command centers are the train boxcars marked “No Humping”. It’s so obvious it seems silly to say, but: -N.O. H.U.M.P.I.N.G.- - ## New-world Order Helicopter Urban Military Panic Initiation Network Group - - - Now you’re probably wondering where Jesse Ventura fits into all this. During the 60’s, Jesse visited Stalingrad and visited Nikita Khrushchev, and was given a gift: a small ceramic pig inscribed with the multilingual phrase "Huudenmot salii dovop ---
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 1999, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-black-helicopters/4863/12 "1999-11-20T13:25:00Z")
DammiT!!! I didn’t want that smiley there! THey’re onto me/gotta go gota burn the house down. get lost for awhile I will contact when I am able ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 1999, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-black-helicopters/4863/13 "1999-11-21T16:46:00Z")
\FNORD\ And now I have to kill you all.(SIGH) I was **SO** hoping for a quiet weekend. Ah, well. A S.G.A.'s (Sinister Government Agent) work is never done. * * * Is an appreciation of beauty a function of the human soul? ---
**Author:** ![hflathead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecb155/32.png) [@hflathead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hflathead)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2000, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-black-helicopters/4863/14 "2000-06-23T18:29:42Z")
I know this is a late reply, but I did a search before starting a new thread. ( getting slightly smarter at this) Back in 1982, my wife and I did a motorcycle camping trip through Florida. When we left Ocala Nat. Forest heading north to Jacksonville on S.R.21, a weird thing happened. We each rode our own bikes, and there was no other traffic on this section of 2 lane deserted road. I noticed up ahead, a chopper at tree level, crossing the road about a mile ahead. In a couple of minutes, off to our immediate left, was a totally flat black chopper( looked like a Huey )with no insignias, or numbers. The scarey thing was he was pacing us at tree level, maybe 40 yards away, and the door was open, with a manned machine gun pointed at us! He continued this for about 45 seconds (seemed alot longer) and then banked off and disappeared. That is truely enough to make you soil your pants. I was flight crew in the Navy for 4 years and never saw anything like this. later, Tom ---
**Author:** ![SilentKnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8e8cbc/32.png) [@SilentKnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SilentKnight)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2000, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-black-helicopters/4863/15 "2000-06-23T18:49:44Z")
I’ve heard many reports similar to hflathead’s. People driving on deserted highways with black choppers following them for a short while. Other reports claim that the men in the choppers spray chemicals over the land doing biological warfare weapons testing on U.S. citizens. A really good site to check out is: [http://www.parascope.com/](http://www.parascope.com/) It should have some info on the mysterious “black helicopters.” ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2000, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-black-helicopters/4863/16 "2000-06-23T18:59:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* > > Until this year, the army publicly denied that they had _any_ unmarked helicopters. Then, the army staged a couple of un-announced “urban assault” wargames in or near populated areas. (The populations there were, of course, major ticked-off at the army about this.) And the army has since admitted that, during these wargames, they used _unmarked helicopters_. > \*\* Really! Cool! Must have been in all the major newspapers and I missed it…Darn it! I never saw this story! Do you have a news item/mass media reference of some kind for this so I could find out more? ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2000, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-black-helicopters/4863/17 "2000-06-23T20:13:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* > > ``` > I've heard many reports similar to hflathead's. People driving on deserted highways with black choppers following them for a short while. Other reports claim that the men in the choppers spray chemicals over the land doing biological warfare weapons testing on U.S. citizens. > > ``` > > \*\* This sort of activity has been going on since the late 1940’s. There is a documented case about spraying an area of Minneapolis to test how fallout would move around, or so sayth the government. A number of people got sick and one school in particular had students that grew up with much higher than average instances of cancer. This was in the news including on CNN, however I have not been able to kind anything on the internet about it. I did send an email to senator Paul Wellstone’s office, as of now, I haven’t heard back. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2000, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-black-helicopters/4863/18 "2000-06-23T21:40:20Z")
> [@](#): > > Do you have a news item/mass media reference of some kind for this so I could find out more? > **[U.S. Department of Defense](https://www.defense.gov/)** > > The Department of Defense is America's largest government agency. With our military tracing its roots back to pre-Revolutionary times, the department has grown and evolved with our nation. I don’t have a link, but I did remember reading somewhere that journalists had taken photos of all-black, unmarked helicopters that had landed on the beach somewhere during Operation Urban Warrior. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2000, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-black-helicopters/4863/19 "2000-06-23T21:40:44Z")
I stepped across the street to have a smoke and Marine I flew by with two black attack helicopters. “Hey! I’m off campus! Don’t shoot!” They were of course the usual army or marine dark green, but they did appear jet black. An optical dellusion, no doubt. Has anyone seen MC and Hunter S. Thompson at the same time? ---
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2000, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-black-helicopters/4863/20 "2000-06-24T15:23:14Z")
> [@](#): > > Really! Cool! Must have been in all the major newspapers and I missed it…Darn it! I never saw this story! Do you have a news item/mass media reference of some kind for this so I could find out more? - astro - - - It’s no bullshit, astro; I don’t have a reference, but I saw it on the news when it happened, too- this was a few years back. The television report had videotape shot by someone who lived in a high-rise, on maybe the sixth or eighth floor. The sun had just set, and the helicopters were visible enough to see that they were black with no normal aircraft markings, and were flying around in between the high-rise buildings at about the sixth-floor level. You could see streets with car traffic, gas stations, stores and the like on the ground below. - MC [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-black-helicopters/4863.md?page=2)