How many ways can you say “UFO?”
In the past couple of weeks, we have seen in print such terms as “unidentified aerial phenomena” (or simply “aerial object”), “unidentified high-altitude lights” and “unknown object flying,” as well as various versions thereof. Less whimsical but probably more accurate is “suspected Chinese spy balloon.”
Just when visions of greeting ET started dancing though our heads, we get a chilly splash of realism.
Before someone climbs onto the roof and paints a not-so-nice greeting in a language the owners of the aerial objects are likely to understand, it should be noted only one of them has been confirmed as Chinese.
North American air space is being violated. The only question is, by whom. The Chinese are not the only ones to have expressed a certain… interest… in North American military systems and technology, lately.
However, most of us would agree with our prime minister, that there is probably a pattern. In other words, Chinese, not Russian.
That pattern has clearly become annoying, or possibly embarrassing – NORAD started shooting down the things, whatever they are.
It is a pity the same thing is not happening with certain other invasions of our space – especially cyberspace.
In the past couple of years, municipalities, hospitals, universities and businesses have had their computer systems attacked and held for ransom.
These are not in the same league as garden variety computer or phone scams. Instead of netting thousands of dollars for the perpetrators, the computer system attacks net millions.
Whether these attacks are connected to some foreign government, are the work of criminals operating independently, or possibly a combination thereof, they are a threat to us.
Unlike the mysterious balloons, which may or may not have some nefarious purpose, there is no question about the malicious intent of cyberattacks – and no doubt at all about the impact.
Even if a business, municipal government or hospital is not the victim of an attack, there is still a lot of money being spent on security measures and insurance. Those attacks are hurting our economy.
There have been attempts, via computer, to interfere with elections in this country as well as south of the border. Apparently, the perpetrator was the Russian military, although one must not discount the possibility of homegrown efforts to mess with the electoral process of either country.
One must also not discount the demoralizing impact of having our homes electronically invaded by assorted bullies, thieves, scammers and other criminals on a daily basis.
For every UFO we have read about, we have probably received (and hopefully deleted) dozens of questionable emails and text messages about parcels awaiting pickup, opportunities to invest in Bitcoin, fraudulent use of our Visa card, and demands we pay our overdue taxes immediately – with iTunes cards.
One has to wonder why the unidentified aerial things get major headlines, and have more than a few of us gazing up at the night sky wondering if anything is looking back, when computer attacks and scams usually get little more than a few paragraphs on an inside page. Perhaps the answer comes from binge-watching one too many science fiction movies.
We almost long for the days when a UFO had the potential of being giant ants from Alpha Centauri, or even a sweetly charming creature like ET, instead of a spy balloon taking pictures of suburban clotheslines and the snowmobile version of crop circles. There is an old line, that when one is up to one’s ears (or other parts of one’s anatomy) in alligators, it is hard to remember that the objective is to drain the swamp.
In this case, the alligators may or may not be real, but they certainly catch the imagination. We must remember the swamp is full of all kinds of other dangerous flora and fauna that are quite real. On with the drainage project!
Protecting national security by going after cyber criminals may not be as exciting as shooting down aerial things over Lake Huron, but will surely be more effective.
