Attention!

goblin

Member
Please be proactive in the interest of national security! Be suspicious of questions like: Number of navy planes? Sometimes the question may seem harmless. A good example is the latest movie version of Pear Harbor. The Japanese called a local citizen to see what the weather was like and asked if the boats where in the harbor. Another example is a recent post stating:
Number of navy planes. “Ive been watching this site for several months as I figure out my semi-new tank here and have found tons of valuable info. There seems to be a wide variety of of people on here with lots of info and i have an off-topic question for anyone who may know the answer. In a recent discussion (the contents of which are not rellevant to this question) about the U.S. military, one person brought it to my attention that nowdays the U.S. Navy actually has more planes in the air than the Airforce. I'm just curious to know if this is true or not and if anyone knows anything about this, I would appreciate your response. thankyou.”
This is his very first post and his first question isn’t how do I cycle my tank? It’s about how many navy planes does the US military have, not OUR military. And this is his first question on the very same day he has joined the site. Simple questions like this spread out over many different web sites could add up to the big question that the enemy is really wanting to ask. Spot the red flags when you see a suspicious question. This could be a legitimate person asking an honest question. But then it could also be terrorist.
PLEASE DO YOUR PART IN THE FIGHT AGAINST TERROR AND KEEP OUR LOVED ONES PROTECTING OUR COUNTRY SAFE. REPORT POSTS LIKE THE ONE STATED ABOVE.
 

beth

Administrator
Staff member
I understand your concerns, but why go to a fish board to find out about planes? Would anybody who had legitimate access to such information, spill the beans on a bb?
And, I believe the question was "is it true that the Navy has more planes than the Airforce?", not how many planes are there.
 

ophiura

Active Member
Also note that much of this information is easy to obtain online with some research. I agree that there is no reason to come to a saltwater fish board to find this out. Rather, it seems more like someone who didn't want to bother to research elsewhere, to just see if someone had some ideas on this.
While it was an odd question, it is not at all uncommon for people to surf this board for sometimes a year or more without contributing, and by starting with an off topic question. An odd question, to be sure, but I don't think it is information that they would find here, or that is not available elsewhere. I just did a basic google search and found FAR more details than just actual numbers.
In addition, it was a totally open ended question. Fighter aircraft? Support aircraft? What?? One could have 10 times the planes of another but if they are all support craft versus fighters...I mean really, I think this was just an innocuous question.
If the enemies of this country have sunk so low as to come to a saltwater hobby message board to find this sort of information...I think we are in good shape. That being said, I am significantly concerned about our national security which I won't go into, but I don't think this was one incident. I think this was an innocent question stemming from another discussion. I mean, for those who have little experience with military issues, it might sound odd that the air force might have fewer aircraft than the navy (again, not distinguishing between support/combat). It wouldn't personally surprise me at all.
Be vigilant for sure, but sometimes there are just simple questions.
Thanks for calling attention to this, and we'll keep an eye out...
 

goblin

Member
I can see your skepticism on why would terrorist come to a fish board to find answers. Lets say you have a group of ten people, you assign them different forum groups to try and find what information you can. Lets say you wanted to find out information about the Navy. What is the most likely hobby that someone in the Navy might be interested in? Most people that join the Navy have a love for the sea. Saltwater fish? So I would do a search for saltwater fish and say at least 15 forum boards pop up. It’s a fishing game, throw some bait out and see what you get. You might find a young Marine or Navy man that are overly proud of their branch of service and might start boasting a little too much. Eventually after conversing with this young individual for a couple weeks, months, and now I would have all of this information that he supplied. Now I have blackmail material. I want this information now or I will turn you in and you’ll spend the rest of your life in Levinworth. Again we are talking about young men and women, and now their scared. You now might be saying that this couldn’t happen, it has.
How many hobbies now a days have there own forums? Just about every hobby you can think of. And a lot of forums have special sections just for military personal. Again it could start out as a simple question that could snowball. So I just wanted to bring this to peoples attention, and for them to be aware. The threat is real and we all need to do our part.
 

beth

Administrator
Staff member
While we are at war with terrorists, we must also keep in mind the preservation of our values as a society, such as not accusing someone of something without "proof" of wrong-doing.
Anyone on this forum can contact all of the moderators with concerns via the report feature. This is always preferable to making accusations publicly.
 

tazsbaby99

Member
i totally understand where goblin is coming from...when i first read that message i thought the same exact thing....(it being an odd question and all) I dont think he means any harm or accusing the guy...just trying to make us all aware and to be cautious of answering certain question.
I mean it is possible...he could be on the wrong side...and then again he may just be some board kid...
Im not trying to cause a an argument but i understand both sides....more goblins side...but anywhoo...

Thanks for making us aware Goblin
Everyone always says..."it wont happen to me"
 

havenoclue

New Member
Wow, the paranoia propoganda machine is apparently working on someone here. Beth responded correctly when she pointed out that I asked if the Navy has more planes than the Airforce. Not how many of anything are there. You don't think it's a bit of an interesting irony if the Navy really does have more planes? I did a search and simply didn't find an answer, but also didn't want to simply take this persons word for it. I also didn't post the nature of the conversation that this question arose from, because I wasn't interested in an in depth discussion, just the answer to a simple piece of trivia, not detailed schematics on the workings of OUR military (yes I am an american citizen). I really don't think this is an issue of national security. As far as your attack on my legitimacy on this board. I've been lurking for a long time here and found tons of info on this board while starting my 20 gallon reef tank with two cinnamon clowns, one cleaner shrimp, a variety of crabs and snails, one feather duster, a finger leather, three different types of mushroom polyps, a very small open brain, and pulsing zenia, not to mention all the cool little copepods and brittle stars that have appeared, incorporating 20 lbs of live rock and a deep sand bed, over the last 8 months. In my humble opinion its looking beautiful, and everything is healthy, my only casualties have been two snails shortly after I first introduced my clean up crew, thanks in great part to info found on this site. Pretty much every question I've come up with, especially the starter questions like "how do I cycle my tank" as you say, has been answered time and time again here. A person can get a looong way with their tanks by reading the info on this site and never saying a word. I've even seen people post their dismay in people asking the same questions over and over without looking through the archives. I have also read through the posts on this aquarium board from time to time and seen many many subjects discussed by people with varying interests and backgrounds, some of whom seem to be very knowledgable, hence my thought that someone here might have an answer to my silly piece of trivia. I have to say that this is the first time that anyone has reffered to me as a terrorist threat. Thank you for the warm welcome(thats sarcasm by the way). And remember, be very wary of those who try to inject a paranoia into everyday mundane life at such a magnitude that it interferes with the true feelings of freedom that this country has worked so hard to allow. Anyone remember Mcarthyism?
Truth be told, a preposturously unfounded accusation such as the one you just made is not a trivial matter, and is much more of a threat to our freedom than the question that I posed.
 

beth

Administrator
Staff member
Havenoclue, hopefully this 1 experience will not sour your opinion of SWF and its many members. As you pointed out, you have silently gotten a great deal from this site in pursuit of advancing into this hobby. Obviously, there are many people here with varying interests, and varying degrees of exp in this hobby.
I say lets put this incident to rest. I'm sure all of us, including Goblin, will be able to sit back and have a nice little chuckle down the line.

In the interest of pursuing "fish" matters, I will close this topic now. Hope to see you both posting in the fish-topic forums.
 
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