concerning secret gov "stealth planes"

[greg alexander]

What is the law concerning taking a pic of a classified government plane while on public property? Can they force me to turn it over or take me into custody if I talk about it?

 

[Zigner]

What is the law concerning taking a pic of a classified government plane while on public property? Can they force me to turn it over or take me into custody if I talk about it?

define Public Property

 

[greg alexander]

define Public Property

A shopping mall parking lot.

 

[greg alexander]

And???????????????

 

[Zigner]

And???????????????

And what? What makes you think that a "Mall Parking Lot" is public property?

What is the name of your state?

What makes you think you have a picture of a secret government stealth plane?

 

[racer72]

I didn't see a stealth airplane fly over my house the other day.

 

[Zigner]

I didn't see a stealth airplane fly over my house the other day.

I think you're on to something. I visited a control tower a few weeks back. There were dozens not showing up on the radar...

 

[greg alexander]

I am serious on wanting advice. This isn't a joke. I looked around and I am pretty sure this is what I photographed:

http://www.thestealthblimp.com

 

[HomeGuru]

I am serious on wanting advice. This isn't a joke. I looked around and I am pretty sure this is what I photographed:

The Stealth Blimp

**A: post the actual photo you took and from where.

 

[mlane58]

I am serious on wanting advice. This isn't a joke. I looked around and I am pretty sure this is what I photographed:

The Stealth Blimp

Kids! this is why you don't do crack.

 

[HomeGuru]

Kids! this is why you don't do crack.

**A: I can't find the Bigfoot photos.

 

[greg alexander]

I came here seeking advice. I'm not a nutjob. I am interested in selling my photos and not giving them away. I was hoping to get information on what lawyers would be familiar with precedents in this area.

 

[Zigner]

I came here seeking advice. I'm not a nutjob. I am interested in selling my photos and not giving them away. I was hoping to get information on what lawyers would be familiar with precedents in this area.

There is nobody on this forum who can advise accurately as to the legality of what you propose. You can offer first-hand experience for future photographers of stealth airships by posting back on the outcome of your situation.

Thank you for your participation.

 

[quincy]

As a very general rule, you are allowed to photograph anything in a public place. A private individual has given up most rights to privacy when in a public place, and the government cannot restrict your right to photograph people or objects in a public place, unless it can be shown to be in the government's interest to do so.

The greatest restrictions on photography imposed by the government will be at military bases (especially of installations and equipment that is classified) and on photographing currency, although there are also many other government restrictions (placed on the photographing of federal insignias and federal trademarks, for instance).

Shopping malls are private property, and they, too, can impose restrictions on the taking of photos on their property. If they have a no-photo policy, the mall will generally notify the public of it through posted signs.

If the plane is considered secret and classified and wound up in the mall parking lot due to an accident or crash of the plane, THEN you could be forced to turn over your photos. The photos you took, and the publishing or selling of the photos, could get you in a whole lot of trouble. Even the media is restricted from photographing such crash sites.

But if the plane did not crash, the odds are pretty good that the government did not park one of their secret stealth planes in a mall parking lot. The photographing of the plane in that case would probably not be restricted and the selling of photographs would probably not be restricted either.

Perhaps your wisest course of action, if you are concerned about the legality of your "stealth" plane photos, is to contact the mall for their policy on photography and ask them about the plane you saw in their parking lot. Ask if there were any restrictions on photographing it.

Or you could contact a public information officer at a military base near you and ask about the plane and your photos of it.

Or you could show the photos to an attorney in your area (wherever your area happens to be) and see if any of the photos have insignias or anything else that could cause legal headaches for you.

 

[justalayman]

generally, the pics would be yours to do with what you want. IF the gov deems it a matter of national security, the pictures will be taken from you by the guys in black coats. Then they will use that flashy thingy to make you lose your memory....wait, that's from the movie.

did anybody notice the "stealth blimp" at that website looked a lot like the big warships from the first Star Wars movie?

if you got pictures of the thing, either it isn't very stealthy or they really don't care if you saw their object of misinformation, I mean, stealth blimp.