These were the folk who put together the picture of the pattern of movement for the renditions in Europe, they identified certain aircraft, and their flight patterns were unusual for that type of aircraft.
Once the ownership had been established, and added to testimny from abductees, it was possible to work out in some cases wether those abductees were telling the the truth. Turns out they were, further checks found named individuals from US security forces having stayed at certain hotels, yup, identities have actually been revealed.
Result is that rendition flights now use differant airports, and the torture has been moved to countries with tighter controls on observation, some of these are former eastern bloc nations.
Haven’t there been some cases in which plane- or trainspotters have actually been of help in some sort of dangerous circumstance (reporting damage only they noticed, or some such)?
I am a very occasional planespotter, and I think it has given me an insight into the plane/train spotter mentality. There is something romantic and exotic about seeing a plane take off or land at Heathrow and the thought that it is bound for, or has come from somewhere like Singapore or New York. If your life is dull, that is an exciting thought to think when you see a 747 looming overhead. Hooray for planespotters and their imaginations.
I parked at the end of one of Heathrow’s runways once, just when Concorde came in to land. It was awe-inspiring, nothing nerdy about it.
As mentioned, the guy was probably just plane watching. Some people just dig various modes of transportation and, let’s face it, planes are pretty cool. But if you ever did see something that you thought was suspicious and worth reporting, you would report it to the nearest FBI office. I can tell you that they normally follow up on these types of reports to the best of their abilities.
A former cow-orker who talked me into riding trains from Boston across Canada and then back from S.F. to Chicago (where I got on a plane back to Beantown) used to tell me about the rail buffs that would write down the serial number of every car on every freight train that ever passed by them.
You got the M upside down. Tedious Wankers[sup]TW[/sup]
Ehhh… whatevever floats your boat. I use to pan for gold. I’d like to do it again. Sit in muddy water and hope for a glimmer. I have tiny tiny bit. It’s in a test tube and you need a magnifying glass to see it.
I wasn’t very good… But it got me out, and exploring. I’m sure that my wife thought I was a bit of a nut to be so excited about a speck of gold. But then she’s a distance athlete. That’s a bit over the top too. :shrug:.
Plane and train spotting seems pretty strange to me, but it beats being stuck inside watching CNN over and over and over again.
I have to ask: did you by chance see anything on the tail? Two letters? An “M”, an “L”, a “F” or an “T”? I’ve got a certain base in the soft spot of my heart, and I’m wondering if one of 'em didn’t have to come in for a landing at the 934th AW.
Having been around flightlines for most of my life, I’ve seen just about everything take off. I do have two cool moments though:
On a flight from Newark to Phoenix on a commercial flight (back in college), I noticed a light grey ‘Batwing’ airplane several thousand feet below us crossing about 45 degrees from right to left. I later figured out it was the B-2.
Whilst driving up the NJ Turnpike around Exit 5 one day, I saw a small, pencil-like thing with stubby wings zip across the highway. I wonder if it wasn’t a Tomahawk.
That’s all I’ve got for now.
Tripler
I like airplanes. Good thing I joined the Air Force. . .
I guess I can kind of understand the hobby. Maybe not the documenting of everything they see, but I certainly enjoy watching planes take off and land, or even just watching them fly by.
I once stayed in a hotel right next to Pearson airport in Toronto, and the planes seemed like they were passing right in front of us as they landed. Once every 3 or 4 minutes, it seemed! I had fun just watching them go by as I ate breakfast or whatever.
Back in Hamilton, we lived near the flight path that the Warplane Heritage Museum used when they flew their Avro Lancaster out towards Toronto and back. I miss seeing that plane go by! I think it was nearly every Saturday around 3pm in the summer. I only took one picture, though; on D-Day, I’m not sure what year. 2004, maybe. If I had the money, I would have loved to take a flight in it. The membership that allows you to fly in it is 2000$.
I can’t begin to count the number of times I’ve been reported to the police for birdwatching. It’s gotten so bad the last few years that I’ve pretty much given up on my favorite spotting scope, which is duct taped to a regular rifle stock.
Could the guy possibly have been a birder refering to his ID book and recording sightings? Then when a plane landed, turn his attention on a slow day to watch the big birds land?
There is certainly a set of creatures who I term “Aeroplane Nerds.” Many of them become pilots. They live and breath aeroplanes to a point where they basically don’t have a life. The ones who aren’t pilots, can be found hanging around airports, aeroclubs, airshows etc with a notebook. I’m not sure of the attraction. I understand the looking at aeroplanes part, but not the note taking .
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