Oh right. Helicopters.
The helicopters flying over parts of Denver tonight [yesterday] are part of a U.S. Department of Justice training exercise, according to Denver police.
"They gave us a heads up," said Det. John White, spokesman with Denver police.
Few details were known about the exercise Monday.
It was not clear where the helicopters were taking off from.
A spokesman for the Colorado National Guard said they were not flying out from Buckley Air Force Base.
Last night there were about six black helicopters circling over Denver--what appeared to be pairs of three different types of choppers. They would fly over/around 1999 Broadway, possibly landing and taking off, as well, hard to tell, then head south circling around the west side of town, back north and east a few blocks shy of the ballpark, and around again to 1999. This happened in a few waves from around sunset through dusk and into the evening. At least that's what we saw in our neighborhood, looks like maybe there were more:
Wonder why you saw choppers?
By Tillie Fong, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)
Originally published 09:17 p.m., June 16, 2008
Updated 11:18 p.m., June 16, 2008
A helicopter flies over downtown Denver as part of a U.S. Department of Justice training exercise, according to Denver police. Several helicopters were part of the exercise and would occasionally land and then take off again from the roof of the 1999 Broadway building.
Black Hawk helicopters buzzed downtown Denver and other neighborhoods Monday evening in a training exercise to prepare for a possible terrorist attack.
The flights had people all over town calling authorities to find out what was going on.
"It’s nothing more than Special Operations Command training with local authorities," said Lt. Nathan Potter of Special Operations Command, which has authority over special forces with all branches of the military.
Potter would not say which branch of the military was flying the choppers over Denver.
The training has nothing to do with preparation for the Democratic National Convention, which will be held in Denver in August, Potter said.
"It’s routine preparation for the global war on terrorism," he said.
Several Black Hawk helicopters were seen flying low near Coors Field during a home game of the Colorado Rockies.
Denver police received a number of calls about the helicopters.
"We’ve gotten quite a few calls, but it’s a training exercise that the DPD is involved in, and there’s nothing going on," said a Denver police dispatcher. "The vast majority of people, after we tell them what’s going on, they say, 'Oh, OK.'"
Potter said that the exercise will be taking place off and on in the city for the rest of the week.
The exercises will be conducted in the afternoon to evening hours, but he could not reveal any other details about the training due to its sensitive nature.
"The media will not be allowed to cover this training or conduct any interviews with those involved in the exercise," said Potter.
He said that Special Operations Command (SOCOM) has been conducting similar exercises in other cities.
"It gives us a chance to train with local authorities and give the SOCOM guys a chance to get familiar with the larger cities," said Potter.
But Denver Direct disagrees with the RMN:
Denver - Local Invasion of Black Helicopters
reported from the scene by Pat Manning:
Denver, City Park West, 8:00 pm - According to a Denver Police spokesperson, the invasion of black helicopters with uniformed men hanging off of them, experienced by this neighborhood this evening, is a practice run of Navy Seals and SWAT teams, landing at the Civic Center, Childrens Hospital, and City Park, in preparation for the Democratic National Convention.
Other sources cited sightings over the Pepsi Center, as well.
So I wonder what source Denver Direct has, if any?
Manu was also hypothesizing that they could also be using it for general city training. Which I thought could be an interesting theory given, in my quite limited experience, the general difficulty of flying around Denver: the mountains, the heat, the air streams. However, it does usually calm down in the evenings, so that may not really have been much of a factor last night.
"They gave us a heads up," said Det. John White, spokesman with Denver police.
Few details were known about the exercise Monday.
It was not clear where the helicopters were taking off from.
A spokesman for the Colorado National Guard said they were not flying out from Buckley Air Force Base.
Last night there were about six black helicopters circling over Denver--what appeared to be pairs of three different types of choppers. They would fly over/around 1999 Broadway, possibly landing and taking off, as well, hard to tell, then head south circling around the west side of town, back north and east a few blocks shy of the ballpark, and around again to 1999. This happened in a few waves from around sunset through dusk and into the evening. At least that's what we saw in our neighborhood, looks like maybe there were more:
Wonder why you saw choppers?
By Tillie Fong, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)
Originally published 09:17 p.m., June 16, 2008
Updated 11:18 p.m., June 16, 2008
A helicopter flies over downtown Denver as part of a U.S. Department of Justice training exercise, according to Denver police. Several helicopters were part of the exercise and would occasionally land and then take off again from the roof of the 1999 Broadway building.
Black Hawk helicopters buzzed downtown Denver and other neighborhoods Monday evening in a training exercise to prepare for a possible terrorist attack.
The flights had people all over town calling authorities to find out what was going on.
"It’s nothing more than Special Operations Command training with local authorities," said Lt. Nathan Potter of Special Operations Command, which has authority over special forces with all branches of the military.
Potter would not say which branch of the military was flying the choppers over Denver.
The training has nothing to do with preparation for the Democratic National Convention, which will be held in Denver in August, Potter said.
"It’s routine preparation for the global war on terrorism," he said.
Several Black Hawk helicopters were seen flying low near Coors Field during a home game of the Colorado Rockies.
Denver police received a number of calls about the helicopters.
"We’ve gotten quite a few calls, but it’s a training exercise that the DPD is involved in, and there’s nothing going on," said a Denver police dispatcher. "The vast majority of people, after we tell them what’s going on, they say, 'Oh, OK.'"
Potter said that the exercise will be taking place off and on in the city for the rest of the week.
The exercises will be conducted in the afternoon to evening hours, but he could not reveal any other details about the training due to its sensitive nature.
"The media will not be allowed to cover this training or conduct any interviews with those involved in the exercise," said Potter.
He said that Special Operations Command (SOCOM) has been conducting similar exercises in other cities.
"It gives us a chance to train with local authorities and give the SOCOM guys a chance to get familiar with the larger cities," said Potter.
But Denver Direct disagrees with the RMN:
Denver - Local Invasion of Black Helicopters
reported from the scene by Pat Manning:
Denver, City Park West, 8:00 pm - According to a Denver Police spokesperson, the invasion of black helicopters with uniformed men hanging off of them, experienced by this neighborhood this evening, is a practice run of Navy Seals and SWAT teams, landing at the Civic Center, Childrens Hospital, and City Park, in preparation for the Democratic National Convention.
Other sources cited sightings over the Pepsi Center, as well.
So I wonder what source Denver Direct has, if any?
Manu was also hypothesizing that they could also be using it for general city training. Which I thought could be an interesting theory given, in my quite limited experience, the general difficulty of flying around Denver: the mountains, the heat, the air streams. However, it does usually calm down in the evenings, so that may not really have been much of a factor last night.