I hear NCR troops talking about rangers "chasing ghosts in baja" and I'm just wondering what they mean.

For starters, I know they mean Baja California. As for the ghosts, beats me

NCR Rangers are searching for paranormal activity. They're famously superstitious and are taking EVP readings.

"Is there anyone in Baja who would like to speak to us tonight?"

"Whoa....what was that?"

My theory is that Rangers nighttime jobs are ghostbusters

Probably enclave or some other faction the NCR sees as a threat. I think enclave though because they say ghosts, as in someone from the past, or someone who haunts them etc.

Most likely its the Circle of Steel. Which is essentially Brotherhood Spec Ops.

The guy who says it is Chief Hanlon, you know the cynical guy; he basically thinks that the NCR has sent the Rangers there looking for some threat that isn't real.

Bingo

Do you know that for sure? It could be the whole Baja Peninsula for all we know.


That would be my guess as well. But then again sending Rangers to me tells me there is a threat, they just don't know what yet. NCR people could be getting killed, so they send rangers to find out who is doing the killing.

Some possibilities.

As Lt said the Circle of Steel. Nightkin, Holograms or something else we just don't know yet.

I didn't think that there was any disagreement on this, the Rangers have been sent on a [censored] mission to Baja and Chief Hanlon and his boys sent to pissy outpost so that Oliver and the NCR Army can get the glory.

I'm not sure who these ghosts are, my best bet is Enclave remnants refusing to give up the fight. Still, troopers in the Mojave often mention the rangers are "on their way from Baja", which suggests Hoover Dam is a higher priority or they've given up searching for these ghosts. Circle of Steel is a possibility as well. We've seen in the Mojave how the Brotherhood tries to hide patrols (in sandstorms in this case) when they're outmanned.

I don't get why anybody thinks anything is there, "chasing ghosts" as in chasing something which isn't real; not chasing stealth-boy weilding gurrilla fighters.

But there has to be something there in order to send Rangers. Are we to believe the NCR just sent their best people the Baja to search for nothing? There as to be something there. Since they don't know what it is, but there has to be something worth sending rangers. It could only be something or some group that is stealthy. Gets in, kills NCR people, and then gets the hell out without being detected.

I highly doubt that Kimball woke up one moring and said:

"we are sending rangers to Baja!"

"Why sir?"

"I don't really know why.... just let me know what they find."

I think so yeah, they were sent their on false pretenses or because of Brahmin Barons or other rich [censored]s had them sent there; Chief Hanlon certainly thinks it's all a waste of time and I think he'd be reliably enough informed, probably from Rangers who are actually there - you know him being in0charge and all.

I am sure the Brahmin Barons would have had a good reason to want Rangers to protect property in Baja. It's possible that whatever they were sent there for has gone away or went into hidding.

So when the Rangers got there they were like "ok so what the hell are we looking for?" and the people there explain to them that there was a threat they just don't know what exactly.

I also feel that Hanlon isn't the best source of info. He was screwing things up on purpose. He should be shot for what he did. He is going to talk bad about the NCR because he wants to cause chaos and bring it down. So yeah he isn't the best source.

Or their just skeeving pricks who want "the best of the best" to protect their stuff from trivial raider issues.


Who says that they're "looking" for anything, because Hanlon says "chasing ghosts"? That's just the expression, similarly you can use the phrase "on a wild goose-chase" to refer to people who aren't actually looking or chasing something. People are drawing things from this that aren't there. "Chasing ghosts" doesn't explicably mean that they are chasing something illusive, it's a snide-term used to infer that they're wasting their time.

Bottom line, Rangers have been in Baja and Hanlon doesn't think there was reason for them too be. Hanlon, as the most senior Ranger of all probably has a fairly good idea of what they are doing there. I don't think that chasing down power-armoured gurrilla fighters is something to just dismiss. I mean, "chasing ghosts" implies that it's all a waste of time right? Surely just killing or catching one of these Circle of Steel or what-ever is proof of their existance and therefore not something to just be so casually disregarded. So have they not accomplished anything down there, or is there just nothing there to accomplish which is entirely what Hanlon himself is saying.


I disagree, he doesn't even dwell on the point just lists it off with another:

"NCR's senate has got funds tied up at the http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Boneyard and President http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Kimball ordered our most experienced rangers to chase ghosts down in Baja. "

These are some of the reasons for his increasing disillusionment; not part of his lies. Considering he's the only person whom suggests offers any other information besides "the Ranger Vets have been in Baja" claiming he's not a source just leaves us with some NCR Rangers have been in Baja, in-which-case so what?

He is actively working against the NCR. Is isn't becoming disilliusioned. He is beyond disillusioned. He is a freaking traitor having commited treasonous acts against the NCR.

So I don't believe he is a good source.

Guys, the question was about what the quote means, not about whether there was a threat in Baja. The Enclave got it right the first time.

The obvious context of the sentence suggests otherwise. But what-ever then, I guess there were some Rangers in Baja and now they're not; mystery over.

In-addition the following are all his lies, nothing he says gives hints too his actual motivations for disillusionment with the NCR:

-The NCR haven't drained lots of lakes and aquifers of water.
-Senate elections are not coming up, local representatives don't necessarily want to keep funds from the Mojave and the war isn't that unpopular.
-Hanlon never told Kimball he needed more Rangers in the Mojave.
-Power armoured infantry are not protecting the private interests of Brahmin Barons against "small time raiders", in-fact Brahmin Barons might just be something he made up because they aren't referenced by anyone else I don't think.

I don't want to sound faceacious here but if you're just going to question what he says, irrespective of context, then everything he says is "questionable" right? As far as I am concerned these are his motivations and in speaking too him again I can see that actually what I said about the Rangers has precendence; I didn't know upon first writing that NCR heavy infantry was being used to protect Brahmin Barons.

You really don't get why people think anything's there, and then you state a pretty solid reason for why many people think anything's there?

"Chasing ghosts" as either chasing something that isn't real, just like ghosts (excluding the ghost from Fallout 2)
Or chasing something that appears very much like a ghost - out from nowhere and pretty much transparent - like a stealth-boy wielding guerilla fighter.

See what I've said later, I mean really; it's a snide-expression (see chasing-a-wild-goose) not a description of what they are doing. In-fact you've even said that so wtf? You think he tailored his chastising expression just to fit what the Rangers were going? He says, "Money's tied up in the Boneyard and Kimball's got the Rangesr chasing ghosts in Baja", he's not telling you what they are actually doing; just listing off things that he doesn't like the about the NCR.

He says "Rangers chasing ghosts in Baja", not "Rangers looking for something in Baja, chasing ghosts if you ask me"; can you see the difference, when he just says "chasing ghosts" it doesn't mean they are chasing anything - just that what they are doing is a waste of time. If they were actually chasing something with the abillty to be one-step ahead of them then there'd be a definate threat and not something Hanlon would be [censored]ing about.

I don't get why people are reading Hanlon's bitter comment about the NCR's squandering of resources as a factual appraisal. It just means that, what-ever they are doing, they're just wasting their time there in his opinion when Hanlon wants them in the Mojave fighting the Legion.

"Chasing Ghosts" however, is not exactly the same expression as "wild goose chase." From what I understand, "chasing ghosts" is sometimes used as an expression in technical fields, as in looking for something that keeps popping up and then disappears again at random. Like a strange glitch or bug in a software system for instance. One which you can't pin down and doesn't have a definite source that you can just fix and get done. Not necessarily something like a "snipe hunt" or "goose chase." Now very well that could be all Hanlon is referring to, but certainly not definitely. It seems to me its just if not more likely its actually referring to the NCR hunting something in Baja with its Ranger forces. You know, the troops which are essentially the NCR special operations core and would be most suitable for a mission of that type (hunting a group or organization which is very hard to find.)

Regardless, Hanlon might not think they are there, but his factual appraisal might not exactly be the most relevant. After all, he thinks the entire NCR operation against the Legion is just a waste of lives, and despite this the Legion is a very real threat to the NCR.

There's little doubt in my mind that Kimball has the Rangers tied up in Baja fighting something and not just wasting their time away sitting on their butts or looking for something which actually doesn't exist. Is it possible? Yeah, but personally I think its more likely that they are actually fighting something down there and the most likely candidate would be the Circle of Steel: wearing stealth boys and acting as the Brotherhood guerrilla fighters and special operations forces after BOS- NCR war went south for the Brotherhood.

Makes sense enough.

It could just be an expression. Doesn't necessarily mean the NCR rangers are trying to track someone or something down.

When asked about this, Mr. Sawyer replied with his catchphrase: "mysteries".

If he doesn't have an answer, there isn't one yet.

Well I've never heard of the expression a "snipe-hunt" (and those doesn't even sound like a snide-expression eiher) either so I'm not willing to settle on one definative answer for the phrase "chasing ghosts"; I think people are interpretating it far too literally though. Hanlon also says that NCR Power Armoured infantry are put on guard details for Brahmin Barons so I don't think that the NCR always uses it's elite or special forces in necessarily the most pragmatic methods.

Again, have these Rangers chasing these "ghosts" not had any results? Surely capturing or killing a single member of the Brotherhood down there with a stealth-boy on his arm would be instant proof of what's going on. In regards to the Legion, I don't think it's that Hanlon doesn't see the Legion as a threat but more the NCR's presence in Nevada as a waste-of-lives for the imperial ambitions of those in Shady Sands; of course the Legion are a threat, it was he who asked Kimball for moreRangers.

Unitl I get more than half of a snarky sentence I'm not going to say that the NCR's fighting some secret Brotherhood of Steel organisation. Does that not seem like something of an extrapolation? It's a phrase that means something isn't there and if they are indeed looking for something then they must be doing a terrible job (unbecoming of past victories against the Brotherhood) because they haven't found a single bit of proof?

Frankly I always thought it was because Oliver nobbled Kimball to send them there so that the NCR Army can get the glory for beating the Legion, you know the same reason that Hanlon himself is in-charge of an out-of-the-way base despite his tactical expertise? That's what's clearly going on to me and has far more precedence. Chasing ghosts is an expression about chasing something that isn't there and fits the context of the sentence complaining about the NCR, it doesn't mean anything about stealth-boys; what if there were super-mutants down there would he have said:

"NCR's senate has got funds tied up at the Boneyard and President Kimball ordered our most experienced rangers to chase mutants down in Baja."

EDIT: Have you heard his story about Baja if you speech him. Years ago him and some Ranger elite got sent to protect an NCR settlement down in Baja; after quite a trek they got there to find it was just six shacks and abandonned well some NCR people had hung a flag over. There's resource management for you.

Your probably going to say "well that's why he's so dismissive", except that he's in-charge of the Rangers and word get's back to him; it's a clear example of NCR folly in Baja. This is probably what he's got the Rangers doing, securing easy territorial conquest as the elections are coming up.