About one week before Christmas, Eastern Colorado and North Western Nebraska started seeing mysterious drone sightings once the sun went down. These drones have been spotted with up to a 6 ft wingspan, often flying 200-300 ft off the ground, at a very fast pace. Many have seen drones fly in clusters as big as 30 at a time. Witnesses feel their privacy is being invaded, but the FAA says these drones are flying at the legal height above 200 ft and would be too high to see into windows. Sheriffs say no laws are being broken, but if a homeowner where to shoot one down it would be a federal offense because a drone is considered an aircraft.

As far as who is behind the flying of these drones, no one knows. To eliminate any possibilities, the US Navy and Army say the drones do not belong to any nearby bases. Local companies also denied responsibility. Authorities do say this is a bigger situation then someone just flying for fun. Some think drug lords are behind this to distribute drugs, and some say it could be something as small as private companies flying to map oil or natural gas, pipeline inspections, or satellite communications. Final thoughts people have are that the military are doing search and rescue training or drone flying practice for drone shows put on during sportings events. 

Who’s helping get to the bottom of this? The FBI, FAA, and the US Airforce are all contributing to uncover the truth behind the secret. Unknown sources suspected a box trailer with antennas or possibly a large suspicious van could be behind the drones. Unfortunately, no one has made much progress with uncovering the mystery. But the Mayor of Yuma is taking things into his own hands. He proposed new laws to restrict personal drones flying on personal property and require anyone who wants to fly outside personal property to have a permit. 

Drones could potentially be a hazard because they could meet paths with another aircraft. This actually happened to a Flight for Life Pilot. He came about 200 ft to a drone while answering a call. In 2019, pilots reported 2150 drones while flying nationwide. A test was done to record damage a drone could do. A drone flying at average speed flew directly through the wing of an airplane. Just because a drone is small, it is still metal and can do severe damage. 

These drones may be suspicious and nerve racking, but luckily no dangerous or illegal reports have been made. The mystery remains unknown and may, or may never be solved.