Mystery Drones

[Max Peck]

[Punisher]

I'm always worried the FAA will be aware of any transgression I commit while flying my little DJI Mini drone. If they can't even identify something as big as a car, it's probably misplaced worry.

I too have a DJI.
I also live near an airport in NJ.
Not near enough to to be in a no fly zone but near enough that I have to keep applying for a release or whatever from DJI just to take off.
I've been tempted to go up but I also only go up during the day and have filed the whatever with the FAA and labeled the drone with my FAA number.
I'm still super careful and keep it under 200 feet as well.
It's too expensive to FaFo.

[Kraken]

I was thinking of getting a little quadcopter to inspect my gutters and frighten squirrels. Now I wonder if I can weaponize it. Fuck squirrels.

[Punisher]

They are way ahead of you.

Spoiler:

[Max Peck]

The good news is that if the government/military does know what's going on, it's only going to be a month until Trump can't stop himself from telling the world after he's been briefed on the big secret.

As incoming president, he is already getting security briefings.

And he's clearly using that access to help:

[Holman]

So did the aliens all fly home for Christmas, or what?

[Isgrimnur]

Apparently one thing that might be going on is that people on the ground are shining lasers at "mystery drones", while there has been an uptick in reports of pilots being hit in the eyes by lasers.

I remember a case a few years ago when someone was deliberately shining a laser at incoming aircraft; the person went to jail. The feds are pretty serious about lasers and aircraft.

We have a whole thread on it.

I still don't know how the police found my compound where I ran an illegal searchlight depot/covert blimp airfield/fireworks testing range.

[Alefroth]

This kind of surprised me-

https://www.theverge.com/2025/1/14/2434 ... o-fly-zone

For over a decade, you couldn’t easily fly a DJI drone over restricted areas in the United States. DJI’s software would automatically stop you from flying over runways, power plants, public emergencies like wildfires, and the White House.

But confusingly, amidst the greatest US outpouring of drone distrust in years, and an incident of a DJI drone operator hindering LA wildfire fighting efforts, DJI is getting rid of its strong geofence. DJI will no longer enforce “No-Fly Zones,” instead only offering a dismissible warning — meaning only common sense, empathy, and the fear of getting caught by authorities will prevent people from flying where they shouldn’t.

[RM2]

The mystery is solved, all authorized.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/maddow-blog- ... 26227.html

[hitbyambulance]

Yeah it definitely smacks a bit of the "scary clown" hysteria of a few years back.

[Punisher]

Yeah it definitely smacks a bit of the "scary clown" hysteria of a few years back.

Looking forward to the scary clowns flying scary clown drones hysteria.

As an aside I always thought people were overreacting and misidentigying them.
I don't really understand their press release though.
Authorized by the FAA. Are they saying that the FAA knew about the specific research, law enforcement drones and their flights? If so, it doesn't make sense that this info wouldn't have been released when it was going on.
Or is it a generic "Authorized by" the same way my recreational drone is Authorized by the FAA? I don't have to file flight plans or anything but I did have to register it with them. Or at least you are supposed to. While I did do it, I doubt most people do.
I'm gonna chalk this up to a doesn't mean anything/for show release. I'm even willing to bet that nobody did any due diligence on it and just decided to say whatever.

[Isgrimnur]

Sexy clowns is the new hotness.

[Victoria Raverna]

Yeah it definitely smacks a bit of the "scary clown" hysteria of a few years back.

Looking forward to the scary clowns flying scary clown drones hysteria.

As an aside I always thought people were overreacting and misidentigying them.
I don't really understand their press release though.
Authorized by the FAA. Are they saying that the FAA knew about the specific research, law enforcement drones and their flights? If so, it doesn't make sense that this info wouldn't have been released when it was going on.
Or is it a generic "Authorized by" the same way my recreational drone is Authorized by the FAA? I don't have to file flight plans or anything but I did have to register it with them. Or at least you are supposed to. While I did do it, I doubt most people do.
I'm gonna chalk this up to a doesn't mean anything/for show release. I'm even willing to bet that nobody did any due diligence on it and just decided to say whatever.

Maybe it was a research to study people's reaction to mystery drones? Can't do the study if everyone know the drones are not mysterious.

[GreenGoo]

I'm pretty sure they originated in a Chinese lab.

[hepcat]

That would explain why they’re not shaped like Winnie the Pooh.

[Victoria Raverna]

FAA authorized drones from a Chinese lab? MAGA was right? Biden is owned by China?

[GreenGoo]

FAA authorized drones from a Chinese lab? MAGA was right? Biden is owned by China?

Covid carriers, obviously.

[Punisher]

I'm pretty sure they originated in a Chinese lab.

That would explain how they mutated from drones to actual airplanes.

[Blackhawk]

Time for a new wave of conspiracy theories!

Indiana news (a relatively reliable news channel) is reporting that 'mysterious drones' have been hovering over Indiana sites where there have been bird flu outbreaks.

The activity has been reported near outbreak sites where avian influenza has been identified, particularly in Adams, Allen, Jackson, and Jay counties. Drones have also been spotted in Ohio near the Indiana state line.

State officials said the drones are flying over farms identified by the Indiana Board of Animal Health due to bird flu outbreaks. The impacted farms are under quarantine. Some reports indicate the drones have landed on barns, prompting concerns they could transmit the disease from one location to another.

I'm already seeing the conspiracy theories cropping up that the bird flu is man-made and that they're using the drones to spread it.

[Punisher]

I mean, birds fly and drones fly so obviously they can infect one another right?

I'm gonna assume hobbyist, the farmers, or monitoring and/or research.

[Max Peck]

And, of course, birds aren't real. What we think are birds are really government drones. It's all connected!