Helicopters are frequent and sometimes menacing sights in the sky of Night Vale, patrolling the town for a variety of unknowable and possibly malevolent forces. Over time, Night Vale citizens have learned to identify the affiliations of these helicopters by their colors and markings.
Helicopters do not need fuel and it is classified how they are able to move. [1]
Affiliations and activities[]
The affiliations of most of Night Vale's helicopters can be determined by observing their colors and markings. These include:
- Black helicopters are World Government and are considered vaguely malevolent by the citizens of Night Vale.[2] However, in Desert Bluffs, it is implied that the black helicopters are owned by StrexCorp.[3]
- Blue helicopters are the Sheriff's Secret Police, observing Night Vale and hardly ever abducting children.[2]
- Helicopters painted with complex murals depicting birds of prey diving are not controlled by any known organization and were once considered extremely dangerous by the Sheriff's Secret Police.[2] Later, these helicopters abducted all of the children in Night Vale, but soon returned them unharmed and "much more well-behaved," leading Night Vale residents to conclude that the mysterious helicopters are "just as safe as the other helicopters".[4]
- Yellow helicopters bearing triangular logos with an orange letter 'S' are controlled by StrexCorp, and were considered threatening by the Night Vale City Council when they first appeared, patrolling in packs of three or more and eventually raining mysterious StrexCorp leaflets upon the town.[4] After StrexCorp purchased Night Vale Community Radio from the mysterious unseen forces who founded it centuries ago, Cecil Palmer proclaimed the yellow helicopters to be "completely safe, even safer than safe," apparently under duress. Tamika Flynn and her militia shot one down with slingshots during "Yellow Helicopters", and, as of "The Woman from Italy", they were disappearing from the sky as quickly as StrexCorp could supply them.
- Pink helicopters are used by Double Secret Police. [5]
Helicopter pilots[]
When children began disappearing in December of 2013, apparently recruited by Tamika Flynn's anti-StrexCorp militia, suspicions were first directed towards Night Vale's mysterious helicopters, which had been known to abduct children in the past. In response, helicopter pilots working for the major organizations came forward to deny their involvement.[6] These pilots included:
- Sheila Nowitzki, a pilot of one of the black helicopters, claimed to be a "harmless spy from the World Government," and said she would never harm an American child "without a direct order"
- Marco Padilla, a pilot of one of the blue helicopters, said nothing, but Cecil Palmer claimed that "you could see in his face that he meant no harm to our kids"
- A shadowy haze, a pilot of one of the mysterious helicopters painted with complex murals depicting birds of prey diving, announced via telepathy that, while their helicopters had indeed recently abducted all of the children in Night Vale, they had brought them back unharmed. "Get off of me," the shadowy haze demanded, exasperated, "God, you take a bunch of kids one time, one time. Geez"
References[]
- ↑ It Devours!
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Episode 1 "Pilot"
- ↑ Episode 19B "The Sandstorm (Part B)"
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Episode 32 "Yellow Helicopters"
- ↑ Episode 111 "Summer 2017, Night Vale, USA"
- ↑ Episode 35 "Missing"