Night time drones a mystery in Colorado

[Eldorado]

"The purpose of recent nighttime drone flights over northeast Colorado has remained a mystery to authorities who are trying to learn the identities of the operators.

"The drones have flown over Phillips and Yuma counties for the last week, the Denver Post reported Monday.

"The Phillips County Sheriff’s Office cannot explain where the drones are coming from or who is flying them.

"The Federal Aviation Administration, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Air Force, and the U.S. Army Forces Command said they do not have information about the aircraft."

Full report at GOP USA: http://www.gopusa.com/night-drone-flights-remain-a-mystery-to-colorado-authorities/

 

"A band of large drones appears to be flying nighttime search patterns over northeast Colorado — and local authorities say they don’t know who’s behind the mysterious aircraft.

"The drones, estimated to have six-foot wingspans, have been flying over Phillips and Yuma counties every night for about the last week, Phillips County Sheriff Thomas Elliott said Monday."

At the paywalled Denver Post: https://www.denverpost.com/2019/12/23/drones-mystery-colorado/

[Piney]

Probably some neocon militia or other domestic terrorist organization testing their toys. 

[Eldorado]

2 minutes ago, Piney said:

Probably some neocon militia or other domestic terrorist organization testing their toys. 

I was thinking dope deliveries.

[Piney]

Just now, Eldorado said:

I was thinking dope deliveries.

Too many of them and they are doing search patterns. Dope deliveries would be more discreet. 

[acute]

Looking for UFO wreckage. They wouldn't go to all that trouble for a missing person.

[Space Commander Travis]

Most probably NSA, DEA or ICE. LOL.

[Piney]

5 hours ago, Dumbledore the Awesome said:

Most probably NSA, DEA or ICE. LOL.

I don't think they make a "sniffer" like the DEA uses small enough. 

[Dejarma]

they could be alien drones controlled by humans looking for a particular DNA set to stop the aliens from destroying us all.

something like the film: 'Cabin In The Woods' kinda scenario 

[cathya]

Shoot one down and see what it is, then see if the flights continue.

[Jon the frog]

Nobody have an AR-15 over there?

[moonman]

If you have enough money you can buy all the drones you want and the software exists for them all to be controlled by one person.

Money + boredom = stuff like this.

[Calibeliever]

There is nothing in Yuma or Phillips counties but farmland so in all seriousness, they are probably agricultural drones. The grid pattern is probably being used to take gps tagged soil/crop imagery and they are flying after sundown so they can look at the soil in infrared. I would have no idea why they're doing that because I'm not a farmer. 

[Space Commander Travis]

2 hours ago, cathya said:

Shoot one down and see what it is, then see if the flights continue.

see which representatives from which Department of Three Letter Abbreviations come knocking on the door. 

[rashore]

That's drone mapping on a large scale. Recently I've gotten acquainted with drone mapping- it's an up and coming thing to use for stuff like land development, cemetery plotting, road or off road quality of travel or power surveillance. All stuff small enough to probably not have to file flight action... and also all so small it's more like 1-2 little drones with maybe a n 18-24 inch wingspan over a small area or following a road or river... Way smaller stuff than what's in the article. Still fairly new mapping tec in a lot of ways and not cheap. Mapping like that also requires a database and system for utilizing that mapping information.

The article has a couple counties, lots of square miles, and a lot of really big drones. On an outside, it could be a more local government effort to map the area in general for various reasons, with a fat **** budget to pay for it- not likely and that mapping would be daytime. If it was daytime, might have a mapping agency like GoogleMaps or maybe something ComAG- but these are night flights.

Night flights, in winter, bigger GOV got no idea who it is yet... But whoever it is, they got some fat cash to spend on something like this. Not daylight visual mapping. Mapping for what then? Something that shows up better in the winter cold night? Heat signatures or testing night vision?

Hmmmmm.... interesting.

[+joc]

I think it is very interesting....who has drones that big?  And why?

[Antnanna]

Looking for buried treasure 

[Farmer77]

Bigfoot hunters. .......

Drone mapping makes sense. We've done a decent amount of USGA and DOD mapping in smaller aircraft over the years. It would make sense that drones would be cheaper.

[toast]

First 2 steps of investigation would be to check for the owner of the land that gets overflown on a regular basis and to interview the landlord/s.

[curiouse]

maybe? The Drones are looking for hemp fields.?

[+joc]

On 12/28/2019 at 3:59 AM, toast said:

First 2 steps of investigation would be to check for the owner of the land that gets overflown on a regular basis and to interview the landlord/s.

...and get permission to shoot down a drone while on their property.

Someone with authority needs to take one of these things down and analyze it...forensically!  It is obviously not kids playing around.  Not doing so might be as dangerous and have just as horrible effect as saying...Well, there isn't a law that says flight students have to learn how to land...

Wake up people!  We need to know if these belong to a Cartel...if they belong to Terrorists...so...take one out of the sky and find out!  

[rashore]

2 hours ago, curiouse said:

maybe? The Drones are looking for hemp fields.?

Rather doubtful. It's too cold there right now to be growing fields. A bit more likely would be indoor greenhouses/grows that are kicking off heat signatures- but still rather unlikely that it would be hemp that's growing.

Considering the location of the counties in question.... might be possible the drones are being flown in from Nebraska rather than coming from within Colorado. It might be an actual drone company testing product- only it looks like most of the companies are closer to Denver, and none really in that corner in the state. Nebraska does not have anything in that area either.

[Eldorado]

Colorado's mystery drones show up in western Nebraska

https://www.wowt.com/content/news/Colorados-mystery-drones-show-up-in-western-Nebraska-566538291.html

[+joc]

The DEA and the US Airforce say the drones are not theirs.  Do we believe them?  The FAA says they don't have any information on them.  Do we believe them?  The authorities are telling citizens not to shoot them down because to do so would be breaking Federal Law.  

Obviously to possess and coordinate such a drone swarm fly over night after night after night would take a lot of planning and a lot of money.  And yet no one knows anything about them?  I personally find that impossible to believe.  

Is this some kind of Top Secret thing?  I don't think the Federal Government has the right to lie about such things to the American Public.  I want answers!

[Calibeliever]

28 minutes ago, joc said:

The DEA and the US Airforce say the drones are not theirs.  Do we believe them?  The FAA says they don't have any information on them.  Do we believe them?  The authorities are telling citizens not to shoot them down because to do so would be breaking Federal Law.  

Obviously to possess and coordinate such a drone swarm fly over night after night after night would take a lot of planning and a lot of money.  And yet no one knows anything about them?  I personally find that impossible to believe.  

Is this some kind of Top Secret thing?  I don't think the Federal Government has the right to lie about such things to the American Public.  I want answers!

If a farmer has hired a private agricultural drone company to do a survey of his land I doubt they would have to register that with the FAA if they stay under a certain height. Other organizations above wouldn't have any reason to know either. The simplest solution to this mystery is to go ask the farmer(s) what is flying above their fields. If they don't know then you have a real mystery.

[+joc]

5 minutes ago, Calibeliever said:

If a farmer has hired a private agricultural drone company to do a survey of his land I doubt they would have to register that with the FAA if they stay under a certain height. Other organizations above wouldn't have any reason to know either. The simplest solution to this mystery is to go ask the farmer(s) what is flying above their fields. If they don't know then you have a real mystery.

Those who are on the land being flown over are the very one's reporting it to the local authorities.  These are they who the FAA is telling, Don't shoot down a drone..it's a felony.

How is it that a private agricultural drone company could operate on such a scale...and only the farmers hiring them have knowledge of their existence?  

Something is going on here.  Probably with our Government.  Do you believe them when they say, We know nothing?