What Killed Birds at Staten Island?

This past December 21st, 2007, many birds mysteriously fell from the sky, dead or dying in the aptly-named Great Kills section of New York's Staten Island.

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Now, we note that the local government has, long before autopsy results will be available (may take weeks, we're told), declared that there's no threat to humans related to these mysterious sudden deaths of dozens of birds. As far as I'm concerned, this reassurance is both responsible and irresponsible, but that's what authorities tend to do so as to prevent panic. That being said, one can only hope that these "authorities" are leaving no stone unturned in determining the cause of these birds' sudden dropping out of the sky, dead and dying, all at once.

Well, not to be falsely reassured by these understandable though very hasty, falsely conclusive claims by local authorities, the Northeast Intelligence Network is conducting its own investigation.

Emphasis mine.

According to information obtained from two separate witnesses, residents on Staten Island complained of a strong, chemical-like odor in the vicinity where the birds died. “It was a ‘heavy’ smell, so strong that I could barely stand it outside,” stated Jonathan B., a witness from the area who asked that only his first name and last initial only be used. “I called emergency services, and they said that emergency personnel were on the way. They told me to stay indoors and make sure my doors and windows were shut,” he added. “I asked what was causing the smell, and the dispatcher said she didn’t know, but they had several calls from the area. It was a strong, acidic smell, nothing like anything I’ve ever smelled before,” he added.

Press reports quote FDNY Battalion Chief John Giacella describing the situation when his department responded: "When we pulled in, most of the birds were on the ground, floundering and foaming at the mouth." Donna Toti, speaking to the press, was quoted: "It was like Alfred Hitchcock's 'The Birds.' Birds were just falling out of the sky. They would land, lie on the ground, flap and die."

The article goes on to discuss some "unexplained helicopter activity" over the harbor a week prior. Any connection between this unexplained activity and the bird deaths and strong chemical odor is unknown at this time.

Research conducted by Northeast Intelligence Network Associate Director Sean Osborne found that the wind direction and speed at the time the odor was noticed by Staten Island residents ranged from 10 to 13 mph and originated from the northeast. Accordingly, it is reasonable that the airborne chemical odor detected by residents of the Port Regalle development in Bay Terrace originated from an undetermined location within Great Kills Harbor – a particularly disturbing finding, considering that the origin would then point to a watercraft. Such an event would raise other disturbing questions and considerations, including the possibility of an intentional release of a toxic gas as part of an operational testing of the effectiveness of both the delivery and lethality of chemical weapons by potential terrorists.

This isn't the first time this sort of thing happened, according to the NEIN. They link to previous reports of this happening elsewhere in America in January and July.

The Left can dismiss the NEIN as a "crackpot" for speculating as to possible cause. But, you know, as the saying goes, "better safe than sorry"...

Besides, the Left is all too happy to accuse the Bush administration of "doing nothing with any information pertaining to the impending terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001" and so on, so who would the Left be to dismiss our reasonable caution and genuine desire to investigate to determine whatever the cause of this mystery was?

It appears that there was a deadly chemical gas of some sort in the air and that the birds flew into it and were killed virtually instantly by it. From the nature of the deaths, I'm reminded of the effects of such gases as have been used/developed for the purpose of killing people. Like, for example, what Saddam Hussein ordered Chemical Ali to do to the Kurdish people...

Might this have been some kind of accident in which a lethal chemical was released into the air?

Might this have been a test of a lethal gas by some who aim to use it in the future on people?

Is this part of a terrorist plot? Are hostiles within conducting experiments in lethal gas dispersal?

Can we afford to dismiss the possibility? Don't we want to know?

Will the authorities and the mainstream media try to cover it all up by hoping the People will forget and not demand answers? What if the answers are frightening? Will the truth be withheld? Or will the truth be told to the People?

We'll see within a few weeks. Actually, I woulnd't be surprised if this is all forgotten by the authorities, the MSM and most folks. It would continue a pattern I've observed during my time blogging as Canadian Sentinel.