The post has been UPDATED with this good reader-submitted photo by Susan Wolf!

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As is often the case when the whirlybirds start rattling Humboldt County windows, the metaphorical LoCO office phone started ringing off the hook this morning just after 11 a.m. Everyone wanted to know: What in the Lord’s name was that?!?

This time the sight was a little more impressive than average. Residents from Eureka north to McKinleyville reported a tight formation of six black choppers, clearly military, moving north in ominous fashion. What the… ?

Come on up out of your bunkers, guys. As the links above should demonstrate, this is not all that terribly unusual. Once in a while the military flyboys like to touch down on our shores to gas up their iron steeds. Sometimes they’re headed from this place to that; sometimes they’re just tooling around the coast for training purposes.

Cody Roggatz, Humboldt County’s director of aviation, told the Outpost a few moments ago that he didn’t have a whole lot of information to share about their mission.

“They appear to be military and quite honestly we’re not privy to the details of the mission or what they’re up to,” Roggatz said. “They may have just needed to fuel up. I haven’t checked with staff to see if they’ve been fueled up yet. They were definitely military assets.”

Roggatz checked back in shortly after this conversation to affirm that they had, in fact, needed to fuel up, and that they’ve now moseyed on up the coast.

The Outpost checked in with a flight tracking map while the helicopters were still within our borders and confirmed that at least one of the military assets belonged, specifically, to the United States Army.

Now, what do you think, everyone? Is it time to retire the LoCO tradition of playing Rod Deal every time a helicopter is spotted?














It is NOT!