At first I thought it might be local dipshits getting shots of Xmas lights for their IG, until I heard how large they are (allegedly)
D’Kid asked me last night if i knew anything about them from work, and I replied “My security clearance doesn’t allow me to know about such things and I couldn’t tell you if I did, anyway”
Our school district has a team that puts on very good drone shows. It started large scale last summer. We still have people ask what the lit up dragon they saw flying over town was freaking out on local Facebook groups.
Cool! I’ve never been to a drone show but we’re getting one in Prospect Park in Brooklyn this year in lieu of fireworks due to the drought. Looking forward to it.
Anyway, it’s the alleged size of these things that has really got me interested. I’m sure someone’s going to tell me they’re common in a bunch of applications but I’m just not aware of car sized drones, and to imagine lots of them flying around unmonitored in a densely populated area with multiple airports and military basis…it beggars belief that this is both actually happening and noone knows about it. Feels like one of those has to be incorrect.
I think the phrase is “begs belief” but I’ve never heard it used this way
Also, who is this “Noone” person? You think they know something?
Thirdly, and more seriously, as someone who lives below the flight path for incoming & outgoing planes from PHL, it’s hard to estimate/guess-timate the size of something up in the air, especially at night
There’s a UPS 747 that flies over my house everyday, about 9:30-10:00 in the morning, and it looks pretty big, even 2 miles up; a 757 is smaller, but if it’s lower, it looks even bigger
Yeah, I strongly doubt the reports of SUV-sized drones. The video in the OP is shot at night, so it’s very hard to judge size and scale but they sure didn’t look SUV-sized to me.
Militaries operate larger drones, but they’re understandably very expensive compared to civilian use drones. A good example in the news lately is the Turkish Bayraktar TB2 that they’re supplying to Ukraine. I’ll post a pic with men in the shot to give you an idea of the size–similar to a small car. But they come with a price tag of 1-2 million per.
The last two hikes I’ve done off the Blue Ridge Parkway were relatively short (1h) moderate efforts to rocky outcrops with excellent panoramic views. Relatively high foot traffic given the location, views, and difficulty. Both times there was someone at the top buzzing a drone around overhead, completely indifferent to the fact that they were ruining the experience for everyone else.
I’ve seen multiple stories of people shooting them out of the sky. I feel that.
New Jersey is a big state. What “interference” should they provide? Jammers all over the place (which would interfere with legal drone use)? Scramble some fighters from Joint Base MDL? Pre-position helicopters everywhere?
If someone starts to sell a drone that doesn’t sound like a mosquito buzzing in your ear it should be a big seller. Or maybe not since apparently people who actually fly drones don’t care about bothering other people.
I’ll admit, I have always sort of wanted a drone, but then I learned that I wouldn’t be able to fly it anywhere that I would actually want to use one. Which I guess has kept me from being another one of those annoying drone users.
I’m not sure what people think is the norm here. People are free to fly their drones all over the country with little to no “interference” so long as they comply with FAA regulations. If these drones are flown at the permissible speeds and altitudes, there’s no reason why anyone would interfere with them, regardless of whether a person observing them knows exactly where they came from or not. If they’re not flown at permissible altitudes and speeds, but not in flight patterns, then they’re likely pretty low priority concerns.
Who is “they” and how will “they” be positioned to spot them in the air be able to follow them home? Unless “they” are already airborne or “they” are on the ground and the drones follow roads, that’s a very difficult task.
