If you see low-flying helicopters over the Las Vegas strip during the next few days, don’t be alarmed. The U.S. Department of Energy is conducting surveillance flights to make sure any potential terrorists aren’t able to sneak a dirty bomb into the tourist destination. And, believe it or not, it’s the kind of surveillance that’s been happening since the 1970s, even if it doesn’t always get a public announcement.
The low-flying aircraft are operated by the National Nuclear Security Administration under a special group called the Nuclear Emergency Support Team, which was established almost 50 years ago to protect the U.S. from nuclear threats.
The flights are scheduled for Friday, Dec. 29 and Sunday, Dec. 31 to prepare for the big New Year’s Eve celebrations in Las Vegas.
“The public may see NNSA’s twin-engine Bell 412 helicopter, which is equipped with radiation-sensing technology,” the Department of Energy said in a press release on Wednesday.
“The helicopter will fly in a grid pattern over the areas at 150 feet (or higher) above the ground at a speed of approximately 80 mph. Flyovers will occur only during daylight hours and are estimated to take approximately two hours to complete per area,” the press release continued.
The helicopter flights first measure the amount of background radiation that’s naturally occurring in a major city and allow investigators to look out for any abnormal radiation, which would be present if terrorists ever constructed what’s called a “dirty bomb” from nuclear material.
The NEST task force was first set up in 1975 after a number of nuclear threats against major American cities, many of which didn’t make the evening news and were only revealed decades later in the book Defusing Armageddon by Jeffrey T. Richelson. Some of the threats turned out to be just kids, like the 14-year-old who threatened to blow up Orlando in 1970 if he didn’t get $1 million. But other threats stemmed from instances where actual nuclear material was stolen from U.S. labs.
And that’s why NEST has been in action ever since, largely working behind the scenes, as many Americans have no idea that the Department of Energy is even monitoring for such things. But they’re constantly monitoring for nuclear threats, especially during large events like the Super Bowl or New Year’s Eve celebrations in a city like Las Vegas.
The exceptional part is the fact that NNSA is announcing their plans to monitor a particular city at a specific time. Thanks to the Freedom of Information Act, I received a fascinating government-produced video from the 1970s about how this special group monitors for potential nuclear threats. And while the technology deployed is almost certainly more advanced by now, the overall methods appear to be the same.
“These surveys are a normal part of security and emergency preparedness activities. NNSA is making the public aware of the upcoming flights so citizens who see the low-flying aircraft are not alarmed,” the press release explained.
If you’re in Vegas this weekend and see a low-flying helicopter, don’t get worried. Those are people from the Department of Energy just doing their job—and they’re on call 24/7 and 365 days a year.
