CanaryObservatory
 
Human behavior · Instrument dossier

Military Aircraft Airborne

Every 30 minutes the observatory counts aircraft that the adsb.lol database flags as military and that are airborne with a public position. Tankers, transports and surveillance aircraft that choose to broadcast are a visible part of military activity. A count far above the usual for that hour of the week is a real change in what is publicly visible.

Current reading

51 military-flagged aircraft observed airborne at the latest collection. Not enough data yet for a historical comparison.

Reading time:

Global where receivers exist. Many military flights do not broadcast at all, so this is only the visible part.

Collector availability
Delayed
Collection freshness
Last successful collection . Collection is delayed; this is not a live reading.

Historical comparison

Not enough data yet to draw a series in this range. History begins when collection begins.

Interpretation

Not enough data yet. The available history cannot establish whether this reading is typical or unusual.

What movement could mean
  • A count well above the same hour of earlier weeks
  • A rise in tanker or transport types

Not established. Visible military flights follow training and logistics schedules as much as events. Source-reported severity, statistical deviation and real-world risk are different questions. This reading does not independently support a hypothesis about intent or cause.

Evidence and limitations

Cadence and latency
Collection is scheduled every 30 minutes. Collection cadence is not source latency; no measured end-to-end latency is provided here. Source publication and revisions can delay what is visible.
Known false-positive patterns
  • Announced exercises and airshows
  • Database flag changes
  • Receiver coverage changes
Coverage and blind spots
  • Only aircraft that choose to broadcast appear; most sensitive flights are invisible.
  • The military flag comes from a volunteer-maintained database and can be wrong.
  • Training schedules and exercises create large, routine swings.

The history contains stored count snapshots, not individual aircraft positions or flight tracks. Live aviation positions shown elsewhere are not stored history.

Technical detail
Measurement definition
Number of airborne aircraft flagged military in the source database, with a live position.
Raw metric
airborne_military
Method
Reads adsb.lol's military list each run, keeps airborne aircraft with a position, stores the count and a by-type breakdown. Compared with the same half-hour of the week in earlier weeks.
Stored observations
1

Normal versus unusual

A baseline cannot yet be established. The observatory needs more history before it can say what "normal" looks like for this signal, so no anomaly score is shown.

0 historical samples so far · Latest snapshot vs. the same half-hour of the week (±30 min) in earlier weeks; std floored at √mean; small absolute excess ignored

Source severity

The label the publishing agency assigns (e.g. NWS 'Severe'). Shown verbatim.

Statistical anomaly

How far today's value sits from this signal's own history. Says nothing about consequences.

Real-world risk

A judgment the observatory does not make. Consult official sources for safety decisions.

Airborne by model

latest snapshot ·
  • C17 C17
    6
  • H60 H60
    5
  • C30J C30J
    4
  • AS65 AS65
    4
  • HAWK HAWK
    3
  • Learjet 35 LJ35
    2
  • BE20 BE20
    2
  • CN35 CN35
    2
  • V22 V22
    2
  • A332 A332
    2
  • A400 A400
    2
  • Bombardier Challenger 600 series CL60
    2
  • BE9L BE9L
    1
  • Bombardier Global Express/6000 GLEX
    1
  • B737 B737
    1
  • Gulfstream V/G550 GLF5
    1
  • K35R K35R
    1
  • Unknown type unknown
    1
  • EC45 EC45
    1
  • E390 E390
    1
  • EH10 EH10
    1
  • Cessna Citation V/Ultra/Encore C560
    1
  • L410 L410
    1
  • C130 C130
    1
  • T204 T204
    1
  • SU95 SU95
    1
  • AS50 AS50
    1

Observations in range

Recent collection runs

  • · success · 2 stored

How this works

Every 30 minutes the observatory reads the adsb.lol list of aircraft flagged military, keeps the ones in the air with a live position, and stores the count and a breakdown by type.

'Normal' is the count at the same half-hour of the week in earlier weeks. No judgement is shown until three weeks of history exist.

Live positions on the map come straight from the source when you open it and are not stored.

FAQ

Does this show all military flights?
No. Only those broadcasting a public position. Many military aircraft fly with transponders off or filtered.
Are business jets counted here too?
No. An aircraft is counted in one group only: anything flagged military is removed from the business-jet count.