The truth is out there…on that light pole near your bus stop

It’s funny, the things you see when you start looking. Really looking. The way only someone with a keen eye and bunker in the backyard can look.

You see that they’re out there, the government agents, watching the masses, “protecting” drivers with their “information,” so eager to manage “traffic flow” and “help” guide citizens around “detours.”

Like these signs, placed in dozens of strategically important spots all over the valley. Black rectangles, just waiting to be lit up.

Aren’t they suspicious looking? Sinister, even?

All ... dark ... and ... electronic.

Thank goodness for the Internet, where there are no secrets.

The signs were outed the other day on conspiracy guru Alex Jones’ website, infowars.com, the same place where folks can read about how Angelina Jolie is part of a “clever corporate scheme” to rake in trillions of dollars through gene patents.

Nearly 500 comments had been posted to the piece about the strange signs in Las Vegas by Thursday afternoon.

Many wondered if they were part of a national program called “Intellistreets,” a system of smart streetlights that can change color, provide music and even give folks wireless Internet access — or perhaps eavesdrop on them.

“1984!” wrote “Anonymous.”

They’re speed limit monitors, guessed another person, coincidentally also called “Anonymous.”

“My guess is they will be intertwined with the RFID chips (implanted in people) so they can properly herd, control, the masses. Those without the chips will send a electronic message to the authorities so they can intercept, detain and properly send to FEMA camps for retraining or elimination,” wrote yet another “Anonymous.”

Are these fancy signs, in fact, some sort of plot to spy on people? Are they part of a national effort to keep us “safe”?

It was time for an investigation. An email went out. A phone call was placed. A search of the Review-Journal’s archives was initiated.

All that digging turned up this:

■ A government agency does own these signs.

■ A completely different government agency monitors and controls them.

■ They’ve been in place for years, like a team of sleeper agents.

■ They have nothing to do with Intellistreets.

■ They’ve been dubbed “trailblazers,” which sounds totally innocuous, as you would suspect.

Brian Hoeft, director of the Regional Transportation Commission’s FAST system, said these signs are owned by the Nevada Department of Transportation.

His agency, which is responsible for keeping traffic flowing smoothly around town, operates and maintains them.

They were first installed in 2004. There are 136 of them in town, mostly near the major freeways.

Their purpose is to warn drivers when there is a major disruption on the freeway. These aren’t so much for crashes, but for freeway closures. A different system of warning signs on the freeways deals with accidents.

The trailblazers were used last year and the year before when the entire Interstate 15 was closed for bridge construction.

Sounds ... reasonable.

Way back in 2007, the Review-Journal’s Road Warrior column let the cat out of the bag: “The signs consist of a vertical electronic message board with a highway shield shape in the center. When the shield is illuminated, it means there is a major problem on the freeway. Also illuminated will be an arrow pointing drivers toward a detour.”

And there it is in black and white.

These signs are all about the government telling people where they can and cannot go. For their own good.

Sounds perfectly Orwellian.

Contact reporter Richard Lake at rlake@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0307.