Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Comments on Social Stealth and My Opinions

As promised, here are the comments from my post on Social Stealth. There seems to be a lot of interest in this subject and I will be posting more in the very near future. I am NOT an expert in this field of study....just a student. And I hope we can continue to learn and share our thoughts together. For me Blogging is a two way street, I give some knowledge and information and I take some too. Your comments make me ask questions of myself that I may have never thought of were it not for your interaction. Thank you for your time and effort in commenting here for all to see and learn from. Here are the comments and MY OPINION on each. I want to hear yours as well.
Hermit Jim Said : "One way to stay hard to see in the city...always stay near the middle of a crowd instead of the front or the back. Also, never give the appearance of being in a hurry, even if you are. It irritates people and that draws attention!"
Hermit Jim, Running with the pack instead of in front of or behind the pack is very good concealment, blending into the surroundings. Never appear to be in a hurry- Excellent advice.
Catman Said : "Plain jane, non-descript vehicle. No flashy wheels, loud pipes, decals, bumper stickers or graphics.Think about the vehicles you saw today.Now realize how many you can't remember.The ones you remember are the ones you do not want to emulate.The same goes for manner of dress, hair styles, etc. for an individual.You'd be amazed at how badly I stand out in a Bass Pro Shop, but disappear at a pow wow or at a rock concert."
Catman, Also Excellent advice. Do nothing to draw attention to yourself. Remember that shadows are the part that the light doesn't shine on. Do not be in the light of attention.
Ol' Remus Said : "My experience: invisiblility for "alternate routes" in the Big City is all but guaranteed with a hardhat and nerd clothing. Neither needs explaining and the hardhat does double duty."
Ol' Remus, I would have never thought of the hardhat disguise. Very true, they go un dected and dual purpose. Not sure how it would work out with nerd clothing and a hardhat and the same time. That would get my attention.
Preparedwarrior Said : "I am not so sure staying in the middle of a crowd is always a good idea. If you don't really belong in that group, the group can easily turn on you. If you are in stealth mode, you are not part of a particular crowd.I used to know a guy who was always being overlooked in any group setting. He was a manager but he always succeeded in being overlooked when tasks were being handed out. It was like he was totally invisible. It wasn't like he blended in or that he was so bland that he was in camouflage.He said he just was able to turn off his mind so that people didn't sense him and would bypass him for someone else. Said he thought it was sort of like in the movie Star Wars where Obi Wan does his thing with the guards. He was present, but nobody sensed him. Yeah, I know sort "twilight zoneish" but I witnessed it on several occasions.The guy said he had been doing the stealth thing since he was a kid avoiding being called on in class. Gotta go practice being senseless."
Preparedwarrior, The middle of the crowd may not always be the best place to be, it depends largely on the situation at hand. If one has done their recon work in advance one should know the behavior and direction of said crowd. If I want to be able to get away quickly if detected then the middle is not the place for me. On the other hand, if I just want to go in the same direction as said crowd then the middle will work best for me. It a decision that must be made in advance before you meet up with the crowd as to were your placement will be best suited to your mission at hand.
Thanks to all for your comments. I look forward to hearing your thoughts and opinions as we continue on this subject. More on Social Stealth to come.....
This is Bullseye.....OUT !!!

7 comments:

Catman said...

One other thing you might add is language. Jargon, colloquialisms, local expressions, regional accents and speech patterns.

Someone from Massachusetts is going to be branded a "Yankee" in Georgia. Even if the Yankee could fake a Southern Drawl, I think if he didn't use "all y'all" and "y'all" in the proper context it would be a dead give away.

Then there's the physical mannerisms. I've understand that in Russia people do not smile at each other in public, and do not make eye contact with strangers. Russians tend to be extremely reserved in public. This is how Russian criminals target tourists. Westerners smile frequently and are outwardly engaged, and are therefore easy to spot.

Japanese do not laugh in public. Like most of wouldn't stick out like a sore thumb anyways in Japan, so I guess maybe that isn't a good example. But you get the idea.

Cygnus MacLlyr said...

Prepared Warrior; if stealth was the point, seems like your friend who was "always passed over" played it right; good point about fast escape and being recognized as the wolf in sheeple's clothing, though.

Catman: right on. a solid vehicle, 10 years or older. easy to maintain. less expensive all around.

Ol' Remus: yessir. when in Rome,wear a toga...

and catman again- good lookin' out.
know "your" territory. a shut mouth and open ears and eyes never hurt anyone, i'd bet...

C.

Cygnus MacLlyr said...

oh- Thanks, Bullseye...

Ken said...

...Mornin' Bullseye...studying body/physical language,facial expressions/subconsious gestures,tone changes in speak patterns,(all hobbies of mine...what can i say,i'm an observer,prior to action...lol)has to play its part in the stealth equation,ya hafta 'understand' to 'fit in'...Cygnus,right on the money...Dad used to say something to same effect..."God gave ya two eyes,two ears,and only one mouth...so ya look and listen twice as much as ya speak"(using one or the other,depending on the situation)...

Mayberry said...

Catman has that one right.... I knew a guy from Brooklyn, and listenin' to him try to say "Hyowdee Ywall" was hilarious. But some are pretty good at faking accents. I passed for an Aussie one day, as a joke, though I'd probably get busted amongst Aussies.....

Bullseye said...

You guys are really thinking outside the box on this subject. These are great comments that we can all benifit from. Thanks for taking time to respond and be part of this blog.

Tracy said...

Prepared Warrior's comments about being senseless are right on target, if you will forgive the pun. I call it "defocusing"; and it works on people just as well as on deer stepping into a clearing that you are "not" watching.