Chasing Helicopters On Seneca Lake

Yesterday I went out on Seneca Lake, partly to calm down, get away from other thoughts and to just enjoy the beauty of this great body of water. During the week especially, the lake seems pretty quiet. Fewer boaters, water skiers and personal water craft. Although I have a motor boat, I like to go out into the middle of the lake or into an isolated cove, turn off the motor and just sit, drift and think. Sometimes it's the closest thing to meditation that I get to. Listening to ripples of water, watching Osprey, Great Blue Herons or Seagulls brings a certain peace. Every once in a while I'll fish, just to cast the line and reel it in, never really counting on catching anything and I seldom do.

The peace that I speak of above was broken by the constant drone of a helicopter. For a number of years I've seen this event taking place on the lake. Helicopters arrive, do some flyovers and then settle in on a specific area and hover for long periods 100-200 feet above the surface of the lake. I've seen them continue this type of operation for two to three hours at a time. There are times that they may drop something about the size of a 55 gallon drum from a cable and let it settle in the depth of the water while they continue to hover, later lifting the item back into the copter.

I've tried over the years to find out what this is all about with no success. There are lots of theories but no real answers. I've contacted my Congressman, the FAA, and the media. No answers, nobody's talking. Now I don't think it's a deep, dark military secret. My own theory is that it's testing of both the helicopter and sonar. There have been Helicopter facilities in the Southern Tier area for many years and I'm sure officials see this big body of water as an ideal place to do their testing. But yesterday I was angry and frustrated so I decided to take a little action. I saw the Helicopter in the distance on the east side of the lake fairly close to shore doing what it always does, hovering above the water creating little water spouts and swirls of waves splashing. I approached from the northwest and began aiming for the area east of the aircraft close to the eastern shore. As I moved in that direction I noticed the Helicopter moving toward the center of the lake while still hovering. I kept up my movement, now going to the center and coming in from behind the copter. Clearly we were engaged. As I got closer the aircraft suddenly rose, moved forward to the north and turned toward me. Now I was being buzzed. He came in low and got a good look at his stalker, rose again and flew off over the eastern hillside, gone for the day.

I felt like a Greenpeace activist for a moment. I had chased a Helicopter away from an otherwise peaceful place. I remembered a few Februaries ago when one of these aircraft disrupted a flock of a thousand or more Snow Geese. This is for you geese, I thought to myself. Many see the Snow Geese as an invasive species and a nuisance. I feel the same way about the aircraft. It's only one day and one Helicopter but it's a start and I feel better. What's that sound off in the distance? Ah, more work to do.