Mysterious Drone Sightings The Subject Of Private Meeting
DENVER (CBS4)- It's a mystery in the night skies over Colorado-- drones spotted flying over rural towns in the Eastern Plains. Now the Federal Aviation Administration is investigating.
Experts are trying to understand what is happening and so are Coloradans living in those areas frequented by the drones.
"It's just odd. I mean it kind of reminds me of 'War of the Worlds,'" said Michelle Ekhoff.
She has seen drones flying at night since mid-December of last year.
"It would rest easy on us if we knew just who was doing it and that we were safe."
The FAA is investigating, but won't comment. Local law enforcement is also looking into it with the Colorado Office of Emergency Management.
"Right now we have not identified any discernable criminal incident related to these flying at night," said OEM spokesperson Kevin McElyea.
That's not to say they aren't taking the matter seriously.
"If our residents are concerned we're concerned. So we're trying to make sure we have a good idea of what's occurring," said McElyea.
Drone enthusiast and salesman Kerry Garrison is also trying to get to the bottom of this. He said drones can fly at night with permission, but he wants to make sure people out looking for them can spot the difference between drones and celestial bodies.
"We have extremely clear skies that are causing space objects such as satellites and rocket boosters and other objects that are up there to be very, very visible," said Garrison.
Garrison also said planes can be mistaken for drones. He said one way to differentiate between the two: drones are required to have one strobe light while planes have more.
"Typically they're white strobes but there's no rule it has to be white," said Garrison.
He thinks with knowledge and eyes in the sky he and the people of Colorado can figure out what's going on.
"If there is something that we cannot explain then we hope to get video or photo of it to prove or disprove that there are drones or not out there," said Garrison.
Law enforcement officials from the areas where these sightings have taken place are having a meeting with their federal partners on Jan. 6 to discuss the investigation. The meeting is not open to the public or the media.
Officials say if you see a drone, do not shoot at it. It's illegal and can cause a fire.
