You're flying along and suddenly two F-16 fighters pull up alongside your little Cessna 182 and kindly ask that you get the hell down. There's marijuana on-board (allegedly), so …

A) You're paranoid and seeing things; B) They know! C) You're a dumbass who just violated a federal no-fly rule created to make way for President Obama's visit to Los Angeles.

You know, of course, the answer is …

C. But it could be all of the above.*

*All dumbasses are presumed innocent until proven otherwise.

This all happened today 11:30 a.m. right in our own friendly, SoCal skies, according to the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), which states:

Two F-16 fighters scrambled out of March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County, California, to respond to a temporary flight restriction violation by a Cessna 182 aircraft over Los Angeles. After intercepting the aircraft, the F-16s followed it until it landed without incident at approximately 12:30 p.m. MST, where the plane was met by local law enforcement.

An official confirmed that drugs were found on the Cessna after it was forced to land at Long Beach Airport.

It appeared to have happened as Air Force One, carrying Obama, was en route to San Francisco following the president's fund-raising trip and overnight stay in Beverly Hills.

Why did the pilot violate the airspace restrictions (as the plane allegedly had drugs on-board)?

“That would all be part of a follow-up investigation,” NORAD spokesman Mike Kucharek told us.

Blame it on the kush.

[Added at 4:15 p.m.]: U.S. Secret Service spokesman Brian Leary told us this afternoon that “the restricted airspace violation didn't appear to be of any protective interest.”

In other words, we asked him, there was no threat to the president?

“Correct.”

Long Beach police, citing national security, had no comment.

Citing “authorities,” the Los Angeles Times says the alleged marijuana stash weighed in at 10 kilos.

[@dennisjromero / djromero@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]

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