If this story of the Obama-era military doesn't alarm you -- either because they're not telling us something we need to know or because, goodness gracious, they really don't have a clue about who's firing missiles off Catalina Island -- then you've certainly got steadier nerves than most.I mean, we're talking about missiles here! Just a few miles from the California coast! And the Pentagon, Navy, Air Force, Defense Department and North American Aerospace Defense Command all are shrugging their shoulders as they study the available evidence -- a videotape made by a TV news helicopter crew!
Come on, people. Do we really not know if there's a Commie sub 3o miles off our coast? Don't we have radar, satellites, our own ships? Can't we ask a surfer?
I'm afraid that Col. Dave Lapan, the Pentagon spokesman, provided nothing but unintended comic relief when: 1) He admitted complete ignorance of what the sightings were or even what they could have been. "So far, we've come up empty with any explanation;" 2) He tossed out the idea that the "object" could have been launched by a private company. Huh? Are those cats from MythBusters shooting an episode under the Catalina waters? Do we really have private companies capable of making and firing missiles that we're not tracking? If so, that's every bit as scary as not being able to follow Chinese subs.
And finally, 3) Col. Lapan delivered this wise and measured conclusion, "At this point, until we know more information about what it may have been, there is not alarm. But that could change depending on what we find out."
Am I alone in imagining this line being delivered by Leslie Nielsen? Indeed, doesn't this whole thing seem more of a Hollywood farce than reality-- shades of Pink Panther, McHale's Navy, maybe the Marx Brothers in Duck Soup?
Let's just hope that we're laughing at the end of the story.
