Drone swarms in eastern Colorado spook residents. (Denver, Yuma: home, neighborhood)

[Mike from back east]

It seems that nighttime drone flights in eastern Colorado and western Nebraska are spooking residents who have no idea who is doing it. There are reports of multiple drones flying and some with a wingspan of six feet.

Several articles on the topic exist.

NYTime article says the area is being swarmed by drones.

The Denver post has an article with a short video.

Out There Colorado has some good info: Excerpt: "The group of at least 17 drones have estimated wing spans of 6 feet (1.8 meters) and fly between 7 and 10 p.m., Phillips County Sheriff Thomas Elliott said. The drones remain about 200 to 300 feet (61 to 91 meters) in the air and fly steadily in square patterns of about 25 miles (40 kilometers), Elliott said. “They’ve been doing a grid search, a grid pattern,” Elliott said. “They fly one square and then they fly another square.”

The Liberty Unyielding site has probably the best info, to include some maps.


If they really are doing grid searches, my take is they may be doing one of these things:
- mapping the area for someone like Bing or Google maps. (But why do this at night?)
- checking if crops are robust or puny as that reflects commodity prices for investors and big ag
- checking if crops need herbicide or pesticides applied to them (but what crops are being grown in late Dec?)
- some sort of scanning to see if these areas are ripe for oil or gas fracking, mineral extraction, etc
- looking for illicit marijuana crops, but the DEA says they aren't involved
- checking on water issues such as use of aquifer water, flow direction, moisture level in fields, etc.
- checking air quality or for gasses emitted by fracking

Usually the simplest explanation ends up being the case and in this case the nighttime drone swarms seem to be ag related and may be done at night to avoid collisions with daytime crop dusting planes that also fly low over the fields.

Anyone out there have more on this or want to hazard a quess?

[Vision67]

More info: https://www.facebook.com/YumaCountyS...36704199755606

"We are having a meeting, scheduled for January 6th, that includes Sheriffs Offices, Police Departments and Federal Governmental Agencies. I have talked to an investigator from the FAA and he will be attending the meeting also. Hopefully this meeting will provide some answers, or at least aid in the development of a plan to identify who is in control of the drones. Until then, I would like to reassure you, I am doing the best to get you answers. I received a call from Senator Gardner about these drones and he assured me he is trying to find answers at his post in the Senate. At this time, we are doing what we can, and promise we will pass on any information received as soon as we receive it."

[Gunluvver2]

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

It seems that nighttime drone flights in eastern Colorado and western Nebraska are spooking residents who have no idea who is doing it. There are reports of multiple drones flying and some with a wingspan of six feet.

Several articles on the topic exist.

NYTime article says the area is being swarmed by drones.

The Denver post has an article with a short video.

Out There Colorado has some good info: Excerpt: "The group of at least 17 drones have estimated wing spans of 6 feet (1.8 meters) and fly between 7 and 10 p.m., Phillips County Sheriff Thomas Elliott said. The drones remain about 200 to 300 feet (61 to 91 meters) in the air and fly steadily in square patterns of about 25 miles (40 kilometers), Elliott said. “They’ve been doing a grid search, a grid pattern,” Elliott said. “They fly one square and then they fly another square.”

The Liberty Unyielding site has probably the best info, to include some maps.


If they really are doing grid searches, my take is they may be doing one of these things:
- mapping the area for someone like Bing or Google maps. (But why do this at night?)
- checking if crops are robust or puny as that reflects commodity prices for investors and big ag
- checking if crops need herbicide or pesticides applied to them (but what crops are being grown in late Dec?)
- some sort of scanning to see if these areas are ripe for oil or gas fracking, mineral extraction, etc
- looking for illicit marijuana crops, but the DEA says they aren't involved
- checking on water issues such as use of aquifer water, flow direction, moisture level in fields, etc.
- checking air quality or for gasses emitted by fracking

Usually the simplest explanation ends up being the case and in this case the nighttime drone swarms seem to be ag related and may be done at night to avoid collisions with daytime crop dusting planes that also fly low over the fields.

Anyone out there have more on this or want to hazard a quess?

Mike,
I live in Lincoln and speculation on a couple (KLIN and KFOR) radio stations has been a morning drive topic for a couple of days.
I have friends and relatives in the area but they haven't mentioned anything about this.
However if these objects are actually flying in GRID patterns that suggests to me some kind of mapping activity. Just a WAG but maybe GOOGLE? If I hear anything from friends in the area I will post it here. Happy New Year all.

[karlsch]

With cameras everywhere, why are there no pictures of these drones? Is it possible that a few people have been flying their small hobby type drones at night and the reports of large groups are due to people's imagination? And how do they know how high they are flying? It's almost impossible to judge the height of a blinking light at night.

[ALStafford]

Originally Posted by karlsch

With cameras everywhere, why are there no pictures of these drones? Is it possible that a few people have been flying their small hobby type drones at night and the reports of large groups are due to people's imagination? And how do they know how high they are flying? It's almost impossible to judge the height of a blinking light at night.

There have been multiple news stories with video footage of the drones. I'm local so have been following the news on the story, but it's made national news. Heck, it was on the Today show the other morning, including video footage. Locals have been trying to chase them, with one person driving, and one shooting phone video. As most footage is phone video (these are VERY rural areas, no possibility of other video sources), it's rough and shaky, so information about the drones are based on verbal accounts and these phone videos.

The reports are all very consistent from locals who have witnessed the drones, both in size, altitude flown, number, activities. There are reports from local law enforcement who have witnessed the drones while on normal patrol, and are consistent with local residents.

This is really happening, it is not some sort of imagination. It's not a few people, its multiple reports over large swaths of agricultural land, in at least two states. Law enforcement in the areas experiencing this have confirmed the size, altitude, and speed of the drones. If you would like to see more information, look at Denver area TV news websites; they should answer your questions.

[karlsch]

Originally Posted by ALStafford

There have been multiple news stories with video footage of the drones. I'm local so have been following the news on the story, but it's made national news. Heck, it was on the Today show the other morning, including video footage. Locals have been trying to chase them, with one person driving, and one shooting phone video. As most footage is phone video (these are VERY rural areas, no possibility of other video sources), it's rough and shaky, so information about the drones are based on verbal accounts and these phone videos. .....

........... If you would like to see more information, look at Denver area TV news websites; they should answer your questions.

I just watched the videos. Very unconvincing, in particular, the guy and his girlfriend chasing what they thought were drones for 15 miles at speeds exceeding 70mph. Why were the drones following the highway?

Where are the videos of "up to 30" drones flying in specific patterns?

I'm not saying that people aren't seeing drones, heck, I own three and thousands and thousands were received as Christmas presents. I'm just saying that it is possible that much of what people are reporting is a product of their imaginations.

[hikernut]

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

Anyone out there have more on this or want to hazard a quess?

If they have a 6-foot wingspan it's unlikely they are owned by an individual. Crops are not being irrigated this time of years, so it seems doubtful it could be related by water usage. No crops actively growing this time of year, legal or illegal.

Maybe energy exploration, but that seems like a long shot.

My guess is a government entity, maybe testing some nighttime search capability.

[otowi]

As far as the mapping theory, I don't think it would be the typical Google maps thing since they seem to be often flying after dark. Something like LIDAR, however, does work at night. It seems likely they are doing some kind of mapping or perhaps searching for something.

However, I think I would be creeped out, too, if unmarked large drones were flying a grid over my neighborhood. It does feel like an invasion of privacy or possibly threatening when they are unmarked, unannounced and with unclear intentions.

I have seen a few large fixed-wing drones flying over my neighborhood before, it appeared they were just passing over on the way to somewhere else and I live near a military base so I didn't think much of it. However, my mind did immediately go to how people elsewhere might have a very different reaction to drones and associate them with military strikes, etc.

[davebarnes]

As long as the drone does not look similar to this one, things are probably OK.

[StealthRabbit]

Pretty minor compared to what that region endured during cattle mutilations of the 1970's and 1980's. One could understand why they might be a tad concerned.


But... I am very used to it since our county (not CO) and local Federal area use drones for spying on our properties (sometimes daily). They like to catch zoning infractions (such as delivery truck frequency, any commercial vehicles on property, any home improvements or changes / extra concrete slabs / removing trees or vegetation, adding a garden shed...)

We also have the largest surveillance drone manf company in USA nearby. They are quite large and used by military (and others), and need to be test flown (?).

Get used to it, SOP for the recent past and future.

These reported CO sightings are probably a military testing route. (Surveillance only, not warfare)