'Flying Aliens' Harassing Village Are Actually Illegal Miners With Jetpacks (vice.com) 73
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Motherboard: The mysterious attacks began on July 11. "Strange beings," locals said, visiting an isolated Indigenous community in rural Peru at night, harassing its inhabitants and attempting to kidnap a 15-year-old girl. [...] News of the alleged extraterrestrial attackers quickly spread online as believers, skeptics, and internet sleuths around the world analyzed grainy videos posted by members of the Ikitu community. The reported sightings came on the heels of U.S. congressional hearings about unidentified aerial phenomenon that ignited a global conversation about the possibility of extraterrestrial life visiting Earth.
Members of the Peruvian Navy and Police traveled to the isolated community, which is located 10 hours by boat from the Maynas provincial capital of Iquitos, to investigate the strange disturbances in early August. Last week, authorities announced that they believed the perpetrators were members of illegal gold mining gangs from Colombia and Brazil using advanced flying technology to terrorize the community, according to RPP Noticias. Carlos Castro Quintanilla, the lead investigator in the case, said that 80 percent of illegal gold dredging in the region is located in the Nanay river basin, where the Ikitu community is located.
One of the key pieces to the investigation was related to the attempted kidnapping of a 15-year-old girl on July 29. Cristian Caleb Pacaya, a local teacher who witnessed the attack, said that they "were using state of the art technology, like thrusters that allow people to fly." He said that after looking the devices up on Google, he believed that they were "jetpacks." Authorities have not made any arrests related to the attacks, nor named the alleged assailants or their organization directly. However, the prosecutors office claimed that they had destroyed 110 dredging operations and 10 illegal mining camps in the area already in 2023.
Members of the Peruvian Navy and Police traveled to the isolated community, which is located 10 hours by boat from the Maynas provincial capital of Iquitos, to investigate the strange disturbances in early August. Last week, authorities announced that they believed the perpetrators were members of illegal gold mining gangs from Colombia and Brazil using advanced flying technology to terrorize the community, according to RPP Noticias. Carlos Castro Quintanilla, the lead investigator in the case, said that 80 percent of illegal gold dredging in the region is located in the Nanay river basin, where the Ikitu community is located.
One of the key pieces to the investigation was related to the attempted kidnapping of a 15-year-old girl on July 29. Cristian Caleb Pacaya, a local teacher who witnessed the attack, said that they "were using state of the art technology, like thrusters that allow people to fly." He said that after looking the devices up on Google, he believed that they were "jetpacks." Authorities have not made any arrests related to the attacks, nor named the alleged assailants or their organization directly. However, the prosecutors office claimed that they had destroyed 110 dredging operations and 10 illegal mining camps in the area already in 2023.
I for one welcome our new robot^H^H^H^H^Halien (Score:1)
overlords.
Oh wait, these weren't aliens? Well never-mind then.
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Well, they were alien to the indigenous locals.
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Well, then, I want one of these "jetpacks" that don't make any noise, stay in the air for an hour, and are essentially invisible.. since a villager took a photo and there's no jet pack visible. The current jetpack technology is noisy and only keeps you up in the air for 10 to 15 minutes until the fuel runs out.. plus it's clear they're wearing something..
And hey, if it's illegal gold miners why would they call so much attention to themselves with such a stupid prank.. basically inviting the army to their o
Re: I for one welcome our new robot^H^H^H^H^Halien (Score:1)
Pics or it didn't happen (Score:2)
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At least one of the larger jetpacks has a thrust of 530lbs (at sea level) and weights 115 empty + 35lbs/fuel (so say 350 total with a 200lbs pilot-smaller pilot will give more capacity to carry). So you could carry a 120lbs person off. Though it is possible they had the idea to carry a person off and never actually calculated/tested if it was possible with the given device and pilot.
Given the price of the jetpacks, I would think they would only have them if the gang was well funding (since around US $400
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You use your hands to steer the jetpack.
So there's no way to carry another person, especially if uncooperative.
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Better (and more likely for someone to have) is something like a heli-basket hanging under a helicopter. Possibly with some added "rotors" and or other stuff to make it less obvious that it is a heli-basket slung under a helicopter flying higher up. Add a few larger drone rotors (that really aren't doing anything-except possible controlling some horizontal movement) and you have sound effects and most people won't realized that the rotor area is too small to be what is actual keeping it in the air. La
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Re: Pics or it didn't happen (Score:2)
Which is probably why it failed.
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The indigenous Zaparo/Iquito people from Alto Nanay district across the Allpahuayo-Mishana natural reserve probably live in quite precarious conditions. They probably do not walk around with a mobile phone; it's not clear how many locals have access to electricity at all.
Besides, according to the story they were trying to fight "aliens" from abducting a 15 year old girl. What should they do, record so they can collect internet points?
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They probably do not walk around with a mobile phone
A generation ago, as people earned money, the first thing they would buy would be a radio, then a TV, then a refrigerator.
Today, the first thing they buy is a cell phone.
I've been to some very poor countries, and cell phones are common in all of them.
Google says that 88% of Peruvian households have a cell phone.
it's not clear how many locals have access to electricity at all.
A villager can buy a solar panel with a USB charging port. Then he can charge his neighbors a small fee to recharge their phones, and the panel will quickly pay for itself.
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Google says that 88% of Peruvian households have a cell phone.
They must have better 5G coverage than we do.
Probably bought their system from Huawei.
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They must have better 5G coverage than we do.
More likely 4G but not unheard of. There's no other system to compete with so this is the one people care about. Cellular systems have completely transformed many rural areas of "third world" countries. Prepaid phone credits began to be used as a form of banking and have now been converted to complete payment systems. The technology they have is often far in advance of more "advanced" / richer countries. If all your money depends on something people tend to put an effort into making it work right.
Probably bought their system from Huawei.
That would
Re: Pics or it didn't happen (Score:2)
How will he get all of this technology? Amazon? Delivered to their cliff?
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How will he get all of this technology? Amazon? Delivered to their cliff?
There is a Walmart in Peru: Peru Supercenter [walmart.com].
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Fuck me, though, this is a new twist on the cargo cult.
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Isn't that what it's all about these days?
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It was at night and night + no optical zoom and limited ability to light something a ways off, equals little or no video even possible or any good. If what video they had included audio that might have been the best give away of it being jetpacks. They main use may be to scout mining locations since you would have to get someone on the ground to identify if there is something worth mining. Overhead video from a drone would not be good enough by itself (I would think) to determine it was a good mi
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They main use may be to scout mining locations
At night?
I'd be surprised if they were scaring off the locals at night. Can't see the jet pack guys. Maybe hear the engines but that's about it. I don't know if I'd even want to fly over a jungle at night with one of these either. Get hung up in a tree and die 20 yards from a footpath because you can't see shit through the jungle canopy.
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This would be more to raid a village to kidnap someone and general terrorizing.
I would assume they have some night vision equipment. And they may have been dropping into a larger clearing that they had scouted near the village in the daylight.
I rescue basket/heli-basket attached to a helicopter seems more likely (easier to build/buy) and only requires a helicopter capable of carrying it. It would allow a drop-off a few few raiders/miners at a desired location and for the pickup of the raiders/miners and
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Paint it up to look like something werid to add to the confusion.
But why at night? The locals can't see your fancy paint job.
I suppose a chopper and basket could be used for a night time kidnapping. But night vision flying isn't that easy. Just review the US Marines track record of night ops accidents. That kidnap victim must be a very high value target.
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If you are willing to be an illegal miner/criminal I would not bet you really consider the risks. If one did not know the US history of night-time crashes/incidents they may not consider exactly how dangerous night time flying is. The night time flying may be less dangerous if they were willing to use IR illumination (not something someone would do if you were raiding someone that you expect to have night vision hardware).
If the locals get close enough the fancy paint job would confuse that it is really a
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Most communities have at least a few people with cell phones
Not communities were there is no cell coverage. If you look at cell coverage maps for Peru, the province in question has almost no cell coverage except in the provincial capital. This is a province the size of Pennsylvania, but which is almost all literally trackless forest without any cell coverage.
Outside the capital most of the named places are very small villages along the rivers with no roads or airfields. Some of the named "villages" are just two or three buildings surrounded by hundreds of square k
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There were several links in TFS so it's excusable to not follow all of them this one [rpp.pe] has a picture of a girl with a picture of a jetpack dude on her phone. Scroll down.
Not sure if she took video. I don't speak Spanish, and too lazy to go translate it.
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They did capture at least one pic, in fact: a teenage girl caught one of these on her phone camera, and...it is indeed unmistakably a dude wearing a jetpack.
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Most communities have at least a few people with cell phones. Where's the videos?
Yup, because if there's one thing an "isolated community, which is located 10 hours by boat from the Maynas provincial capital of Iquito" is bound to have it's top-quality 5G cellphone service.
Scooby Doo, Where are You? (Score:5, Funny)
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But, for the love of Father Dagon and Mother Hydra, no puppies!!!
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They say life imitates art, but wow, Hanna Barbara art? The 21st century is one helluva wild ride.
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I think the villagers need skeet training and equipment
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No need - with a jetpack, it can only be George Jetson [youtube.com] after his divorces...
Must be pretty small miners (Score:3)
AFAIK the only commercial jetpack has a payload limit of 100kg. You won't be kidnapping many people using that unless you're the size of a 5 year old yourself!
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Have you met any Peruvians? Or indigenous people in the mountain regions? They're not giants.
Nor are they in any position to afford a jetpack.
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That's absurd (Score:3)
Low-budget illegal miners are using more advanced jetpacks than DARPA projects, operating 'jetpacks' in the jungle to harass and scare indigenous people off their land?
And those miners get shot at with both rifles and shotguns and then float away without evidence except spent shell casings?
None of that passes the smell test.
The natives reported some kind of red & silver discs on the feet of the kidnappers allowing them repulsive force in the forest. 'Jetpacks' just ignores the scant evidence available - the description is closer to Tony Stark.
Those could be yet-undisclosed technology used by e.g. US Special Forces (in theater due to current political machinations) but a huge 'why' still exists.
A further stretch would be related to the 'alien threat' narrative being spun up in Congress but you're not going to find that tech on a Google Image Search.
It's still more likely to be US Special Forces with secret tech than Space Aliens but the 'miners with jetpacks' story is less likely than Space Aliens.
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From the early days of jet pack tech, the US military experimented with all sorts of things. Today we have all sorts of multi-rotor and micro-jet stuff being fooled around with by amateur daredevils.
Generally speaking, the military gave up on the tech because of range limitations, and the fact that it puts a soldier up in the air as an easy, unarmoured target.
Still, for quick hops in a jungle environment with clearings too small for a helicopter, against minimally equipped inferior forces it might seem lik
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Or for scouting new mining locations to determine if it is worth cutting a trail to the location.
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Since they say this was at night, maybe the "device" was really hanging from a helicopter much further in the air that could only be heard. A semi-enclosed capsule hanging under a helicopter and able to hold a several people would be simple enough for someone to build/buy(commercially available) and would make taking limited cargo easier. And at night some may not consider that there is a wire attached to it. There are various mesh baskets that can be bought that could be used on a helicopter and carr
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Re:That's absurd (Score:5, Interesting)
Well, well, well... [portside.org] Tinfoil hat is on, but the attacks began on the 11th of July? Guess whose Air Force, Navy and Marines started landing in Peru that very month?
Yes, it could be a pure coincidence. But the world's most advanced standing army using the remote jungles as a testing ground for new tech is far more plausible than a rag-tag bunch of miners using a 100 grand piece of advanced equipment just to spook random villagers away from their mine.
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Re: That's absurd (Score:2)
* The coup government, under whose auspices the U.S. troops will be operating, is a creature of conservative political parties and the business establishment. In April it announced plans to privatize lithium mining, thus reversing President Castilloâ(TM)s efforts to nationalize the processing of lithium.*
Crazy you do not hear about that in mainstream news.
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You might be underestimating the budget groups like these have. I've read about South American drug runner gangs using custom-built subs that were - quite frankly - ingenious pieces of engineering, clearly built for long-term use and containing comfort features you would not expect in a vehicle built in the jungle by a bunch of drug runners.
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Yours is a common case of overengineering [xkcd.com]. Illegal miners in Latin America are a nasty bunch of armed thugs with very little regard for human life. If they need land they just threat and displace.
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I feel like that comic gets overused (not as badly as competing standards) but it's fitting here. No doubt brute force is cheap and easy out there.
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There is exactly one [gravity.co] jetpack I'm aware of that is in any way viable, and they are super expensive, require extensive training, and still largely limited to the company that is developing and demonstrating them.
I'm sure others have been working on their own versions, but there's no way to get around the enormous cost and complexity of micro turbines.
And, they're loud. There would be no mistaking the sound.
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I'll agree that the "explanation" appears to be just a wild guess to loosely tie it in with another problem they are having. Didn't seem to be a guess based on evidence, but rather circumstantial guessing.
However, on the other side, I'd take the first hand accounts with a huge grain of salt too. Based on the videos, they only get to try to observe at a distance in the dark. Accounts of a closer look might be misunderstanding, exagerrated, or outright fabricated in the context of the general craziness of
Flying Monkeys (Score:2)
Follow The Yellow Brick Road.
The commercial feasibility doesn't seem there. (Score:3)
At 400k$ for limited mobility jetpacks, doesn't seem quite like a good business plan. Just how much is this "scaring" the villagers worth with an overhead of 400k$ per illegal miner flying a few feet above ground over a very short distance ?
Re: The commercial feasibility doesn't seem there. (Score:2)
It's not a jet pack. It's a craft one stands on. Assuming it even exists the build cost is likely under 50k USD.
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It's not a jet pack. It's a craft one stands on.
No green body paint, no exploding gourds? They really missed an opportunity there.
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Ah yes, the man operated drone. Only 150k a pop, not even a year on the market :
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/tra... [nzherald.co.nz].
Totally makes this story not Science Fiction.
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Or, potentially, no one is standing on these things at all.
Imagine you want to scare locals, drones with some sort of person-looking thing on top flown at a distance would probably result in similar testimony. The video "proof" is at a distance in the dark. If they had confidence in their decoration, they might go in to buzz a young local real close, resulting in the "attempted kidnapping" scenario.
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Yeah, that's a very good and sensible explanation. I've seen a lot of whimsical flying creations that it can be hard to believe can even fly. But if you've got a computer doing the job it takes a lot of the stress out of it... even just a RC "gyro" unit is kind of miraculous.
Easily solved (Score:3)
Just give these guys a couple of shotguns and the problem and the "mystery" will be solved in no time.
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Sounds like they do have firearms and have shot at the ... whatever it is. However looks to be at a distance and in the dark so low likelihood of actually hitting the target, and there's a high likelihood that if they were really concerned, they'd have some armor on (presuming they are actually manned at all, I know the people say they see people, but the video suggests they probably couldn't really tell if drone or person). When you got "weirdness" to start with, the eyewitness testimony becomes exceedin
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Sounds like they do have firearms and have shot at the ... whatever it is. However looks to be at a distance and in the dark so low likelihood of actually hitting the target, and there's a high likelihood that if they were really concerned, they'd have some armor on (presuming they are actually manned at all, I know the people say they see people, but the video suggests they probably couldn't really tell if drone or person). When you got "weirdness" to start with, the eyewitness testimony becomes exceedingly unreliable. People make up stories to participate, people extrapolate from what they see (e.g. a drone harassing a person up close might be assumed to be a "kidnapping attempt" with a person trying to grab the person).
Particularly if it's trying to "scare the locals away" (admittedly, a wild guess by the folks), then it'd be easy to imagine rigging up some figures on some drones at night and letting the locals imagination take it from there.
This, anyone who's done a bit of clay Pidgeon shooting knows that beyond 50m it's not really that effective. Birdshot may go as far as 100m, slugs maybe 150m... Drones or "jetpacks" will be far further away than that. This is rural Peru, so a few probably already have shotguns or rifles and pistols, but many wont because they're rather expensive for farmers in a 3rd world country, those that do won't be marksmen who can hit a moving target at 500m. The ammo will likely be substandard as a commercially produ
Jetpack images of French jet man (Score:2)
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Re: Jetpack images of French jet man (Score:2)
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Also seriously? Miners in Jetpacks
Of course. An adult would realise that Jetpacks are a silly idea so it stands to reason that only minors would use them.
Don't know about the "are actually" (Score:3)
Sounds like they came to investigate, didn't have any evidence, and just did a circumstantial guess based on there being unwanted miners also in the area.
Don't know if I can blame them, they came to investigate and the only thing they have to go on is the testimony of a panicked community with limited observation and a lot of "filling in the blanks", with no way of knowing how much testimony is accurate and fast based versus extrapolated, imagined, exagerrated, or outright made up. The actual evidence is uselessly vague. Saying "I don't know" would lead to "ALIENS!", but in practice, there just doesn't seem to be enough to go on to really guess.
I've seen this one! (Score:2)