Did You Fly Anywhere During The Last 15 Years? If So, You May Have Been Being Watched

Hello, y’all.

How many of you were aware of a program known as Quiet Skies? If you’re not, it’s a program that was started back in 2010, with the intention of putting an increased security spotlight on potential threats posed by airline passengers. Security experts that were working with the Department of Homeland Security devised a series of risk identifiers that, at one time, might have been able to identify legitimate threats based on a person’s behavior or belongings that they were trying to board a flight with. But like most government programs, it soon found itself being warped into a perverse pattern of abuse and overreach.

Now, up until 2018, this program was kept very hush-hush. But that year, the Boston Globe published their report on the program, citing that “Federal air marshals have begun following ordinary US citizens not suspected of a crime or on any terrorist watch list and collecting extensive information about their movements and behavior under a new domestic surveillance program that is drawing criticism from within the agency.”

Well, surely there must have been definitely dangerous patterns of behavior to target someone as a security risk, right? But according to the marshals that the Globe interviewed, here are some of the suspicious behaviors that could land someone on the watch list:

• A random businesswoman, a flight attendant for Southwest Airlines, and a fellow air marshal were all targets over the fact that they had once happened to travel through a hotspot in the Middle East.

• If someone had a “cold penetrating stare.”

• A person who (gasp) slept on a flight.

• Had a “jump” (what the hell is that?) in their Adam’s Apple

• Someone who stops and quickly turns around (maybe their preferred bathroom was occupied)

• An attempt to change their appearance by changing clothes (God forbid someone wears comfortable clothes for a long flight and changes before landing for an important meeting or event)

• Last to board the plane (I haven’t flown in a while, but isn’t it still a controlled entry at the gate, and being last has a degree of randomness to it?)

• Oh, and here’s the real tipoffs: excessive fidgeting, flushed face, sweaty palms, strong body odor, exaggerated emotions, excessive face touching, and wringing of hands (or maybe they just get nervous flying).

More from the Globe article on how these dastardly people were treated after being identified:

“When someone on the Quiet Skies list is selected for surveillance, a team of air marshals is placed on the person’s next flight. The team receives a file containing a photo and basic information — such as date and place of birth — about the target.”

Now, at lot of Americans who kept up with politics (even marginally) first heard more about this program back in 2024 when former Democratic Congresswoman and current Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard revealed that she had landed on the Skies list for enhanced observation. (I’m surprised she hasn’t blown the whistle on whoever it was in the “Biden” White House who put her on the list, given her role in the Trump Admin with the access granted to her by her current role.)

When she first came out with this revelation, Gabbard was of the opinion that she had been placed on the list because of critical comments she had made against former VP Cackles Harris. It’s possible, given the “Biden” White House’s history of politically motivated harassment against perceived enemies. Or maybe she fell asleep on the plane, or thought she needed to use the restroom and then decided she didn’t. The official story, as reported by the New York Times when this came to light, was that Gabbard was targeted, according to two anonymous senior government officials, due to her having traveled to an event at the Vatican that had been organized by a European businessman who happened to be on the FBI’s watch list. There you have it; she was clearly a menace. Because of the obvious threat she posed, Gabbard and her husband both ended up being marked as needing to receive the Secondary Security Screening Selection, which tacked on an extra 45 minutes to their pre-board process for numerous flights.

But let’s suppose, just for a moment, that Gabbard legitimately landed on the list because she attended an event hosted by a guy the FBI had eyes on? Pretty flimsy justification, but let’s say that’s the real reason, and not because she questioned Cackles intelligence or moral character. And let’s suppose that the Quiet Skies program didn’t get weaponized or showed favor to a select few despite potential concerns, based on the criteria to keep an eye on someone.

Enter one Mr. William Shaheen. Mr. Shaheen is pretty well connected; his wife is Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the senior Democratic Senator from New Hampshire. Mr. Shaheen landed on the Skies list back in 2023. His suspicious behavior? According to the New York Times, Shaheen “traveled multiple times with a known or suspected terrorist” (the individual or individuals in question were not identified). However, despite this, it only took one call from Senator Shaheen to the Transportation Security Administration to have her hubby removed from the list and instead had him transferred to the Secure Flight Exclusion List, thus preventing TSA from checking him out or watching him regardless of his behavior or who he chose to associate with. Guess it helps to have friends in high places.

Fortunately, this all came to an end on June 5th of this year, when DHS Secretary Kristi Noem officially shut Quiet Skies down. The official memorandum was issued in the aftermath by DHS, and reflected concerns that had been brought forth by GOP Rep. James Comer (R-KY) and the Chair of the House Oversight Committee; the memorandum is excerpted as follows:

“Shaheen was not the only high-profile individual that was placed on this exclusion list: this list also included members of foreign royal families, political elites, professional athletes, and favored journalists…documents, correspondence, and timelines that clearly highlight the inconsistent application of Quiet Skies and watch listing programs have been uncovered. It is clear that the Quiet Skies program was used as a political rolodex of the Biden Administration—weaponized against its political foes and exploited to benefit their well-heeled friends.

[After nearly 15 years, it] “failed to stop a SINGLE terrorist attack while costing US taxpayers roughly $200 million a year. The Trump Administration will return TSA to its true mission of being laser-focused on the safety and security of the traveling public. This includes restoring the integrity, privacy, and equal application of the law for all Americans.”

Has there been a single government program that was supposedly created in good faith that doesn’t end up being abused by the government or taken advantage of by far too many of its users? It would be interesting to know (and I wish the Globe had included it in its 2018 report) just how long the Skies program had been being abused like this, given it started back in 2010 when Barry was in office. And yes, I will acknowledge that Trump’s first term overlapped the time period this program was in effect, but I’m not certain he was aware of the problems, given he was having to spend too much of his time fending off impeachment efforts and had too many Swamp creatures in his Cabinet who wouldn’t be honest with him. But I can definitely see Joey’s puppeteers taking advantage of this program out of sheer pettiness.

Well, at least now it’s over, and the TSA can get back to serious business, like keeping an eye on those suspicious grandmothers who might have bombs hidden in their bloomers.

Thanks for reading.