February 18, 2025 • 25 mins
With rumors and drone sightings multiplying across northeast Colorado, Kansas, and southwest Nebraska, Gabe Lenners turns to the highest governmental authorities for answers. He uncovers plans for a closed-door meeting with high level agencies. Contradictions and unsettling revelations emerge. Is Gabe actually getting closer to the truth, or being drawn into something far stranger?
This episode covers:
Chapter Seven - Game of Drones
Chapter Eight - Brush
https://www.obscurumseries.com/podcast/invasion-of-the-drones/little-known-facts
Music by Epidemic Sound
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Previously on OBSCURUM
Speaker 2 (00:09):
The items were in a I guess what you would
call kind of a mesh bag, and then there was
a frozen mass in there. They were picked up in
an area where drones had been seen traversing, you know,
back and forth.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
So what do you really think is going on with all?
Speaker 4 (00:25):
Though?
Speaker 5 (00:26):
I don't know. But the weirdest thing is is, you know,
people are seeing strange lights in this area forever.
Speaker 6 (00:33):
I know that one sheriff's office put out a notice
thing they wanted to have people looking for such and
such a vehicle. Within an hour, that whole thing had
been reversed and they said, there's nothing to see here.
Speaker 5 (00:46):
Do you feel like this drone was targeting you specifically?
Speaker 4 (00:50):
Yeah? Absolutely?
Speaker 5 (00:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (00:59):
I took this alien blow up doll and I filled
it full air and put it out in front of
my house with Christmas lights on it, just so it's
sparkled because everybody's driving around looking for these drones and
this big old It lit up pretty good. So but
I wanted to take some helium and put in it
and hang it in Dead's cornfield to let it up
there about one hundred feet in the air, but he
(01:19):
said he'd get shot down.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
So what started out is a few eerie reports about
unknown objects in the nice sky was quickly sparking more
coverage in local news outlets to add speculation into what
was behind the sightings. By the first full weekend of
(01:43):
twenty twenty, the mysterious aircraft were increasing an area in number.
They now spread from northeast to Colorado and southwest Nebraska
into central Nebraska and parts of Kansas. I learned a
few key things. Witnesses may have been victims of illegal activity,
strange aerial occurrences had happened in the region before the
(02:06):
flying objects had chased vehicles, and if drones were dropping anything,
they weren't dropping track logs. None of the unknown craft
had posed a direct threat to scheduled flights, but that
was about to change when something nearly collided with a
helicopter Chapter seven Game of Drones.
Speaker 8 (02:42):
It was a routine medical call out East when a
mission to save a life almost ended in disaster.
Speaker 7 (02:48):
And a drone just went right underneath us, probably about
one hundred feet.
Speaker 8 (02:50):
It all happened within a couple of seconds. Like for
Life pilot Kirk People's.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
It happens very very fast.
Speaker 8 (02:55):
Couldn't even see what type of drone it was.
Speaker 7 (02:58):
They're not telling anybody who they are, where they're going,
what they're doing.
Speaker 8 (03:02):
When the sun sets, people's and the team rely on
night vision goggles and each other.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
I watched a video of the report, then work to
set up an interview with an FAA official. Coincidentally, while
coordinating the time, I heard about a cluster of unexplained
aircraft that was even more concerning. These were spotted near
Denver International Airport, where planes constantly take off and land.
(03:31):
After a few emails, I was put in touch with
Commander Carl Smalley of the Adams County Sheriff's Department in Strasburg.
Speaker 4 (03:40):
When you first started to hear about these things, what
did you think was going on? I didn't really know
because we've had we've had so many reports. There's definitely
something there. On January fourth, one of our deputy's deputy
bishop received a call for service. He was able to
see several strange lights in the area that appeared briefly
(04:04):
stationary and then would move in various and random directions.
He tried to count the number of objects with the
same light pattern he was guessed in the elevation to
be about three to five hundred feet.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
With his description of strange lights, Smally was careful when
giving information about the craft.
Speaker 4 (04:22):
Were these things drones? He said, Well, I couldn't tell
for sure. Okay, yeah, I get that. I mean, all
we got to do is just report the facts, you know,
referred to as objects with the same light pattern. Well,
he was trying to count the objects, you know. It
says that he heard a buzzing sound, and of course
(04:43):
it was a real windy night, so that's really odd
that they would be out flying on a windy night.
So they disappeared just as quickly as they had appeared.
That location there is probably about ten miles east of
Denver International Airport.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
I could tell Commander Smally wanted answers just as much
as me. My next conversation was with Bill Bowerley, with
his experience flying in and out of DIA, he'd have
a unique point of view on what I learned. What
do you know about drones in defense? Like as far
(05:25):
as like if a drone would come into an airspace
like it DIA.
Speaker 9 (05:30):
I know of nothing there. The only thing I can
tell you is from my profession. The big area we
had trouble was a quarter going into New York. We
had a lot of near missage of airlines coming in
on final approach, so many miles out, so they're down low,
and drones want to go and by the windshield, you know,
(05:51):
one of those going in an engine, even though it's
gonna be a couple of pounds, can take that engine out.
That engine can take out another part of the airplane
and bring an airplane. So I don't know what the
defense mechanisms they've got for them. The rumor and some
of the articles we had access to said the Israelis
(06:11):
aircraft had basically transmitters around the airplane that put a
bubble around it so that if anything got within so
a certain distance of that airplane, that transmitter would break
the ground control of it. Great idea, but don't certainly
(06:32):
have to have somebody controling them. They could be pre programmed.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
There was another scenario I wanted to run by Bill.
Commander Smalley's deputy seemed sure the unknown aircraft he'd seen
weren't tiny airplanes, but could they be? After all, they
were seen near the third busiest airport in the world.
Speaker 9 (06:53):
What's the percentage of people that actually saw something that
was a drone and not an airplane or a satellite
or a star or anything else. You know, it's tough.
It's tough to say, yeah, that's one right there. That's
why I don't trust my naked eye on it, because
I've been fooled. I mean, flying into Europe, you're coming
(07:14):
out at nighttime, the sun is coming up, which happens
very fast. It goes from dark all of a sudden,
you start getting light. You get the morning star. Venus
pops up first, one up and as it comes through
the atmosphere, you're traveling east. It's traveling this way, and
the rotation of the Earth makes sunrise happen extremely fast.
I have won a lot of bets for who's going
(07:37):
to buy the refreshments and that that is not an airplane,
that's a planet because it's setting there, blinking off and
on red white, red white, red white, red white, red white,
red white, bah it's Venus. It's moving through that atmosphere
so fast going upward that it changes and it looks
(07:59):
like it's blinking. I mean, I first time I would
have believed so relate that to this and there's some
of this is like explanations and it is not a drum.
But people, I think tend to believe what they want
to go out and believe.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
Chapter eight brush. When I finished talking with Bill, I
checked the social media group brod Miller and his crew
were active on. There were now hundreds of people sharing
candid observations about the sightings. Before I had time to
go through the posts, FAA spokesman Ian Gregor agreed to
(08:48):
visit with me.
Speaker 5 (08:49):
I bet you've just been Yeah, just been totally flaunted. Yeah,
pretty much in your investigations so far into what's been
happening in northeast color Out. Have any laws been broken?
Speaker 10 (09:04):
I've given that we don't have any real concrete evidence
of what's been occurring. I do not want to speculate
about anything to do with these reports. I just I
don't want to weigh in on whether it's something does
or does not or Quota could not comply with the regulations,
(09:25):
because you know, absence concrete reports is really nothing to
base the determination on it this time. Sorry, I'm meant
to say concrete evidence. I really don't want to speculate it.
I really don't want to speculate about whether you know
something whether a report of a certain activity would potentially
(09:45):
comply or violate the regulations, because we just don't have
any any concrete evidence to base an assessment on at
this time.
Speaker 5 (09:54):
What confirmation and evidence have you seen that would suggest
that these in fact or ones or could they be
something else?
Speaker 10 (10:03):
Well, you know, at this point, we have reports, we
don't have any concrete evidence. So, you know, rather than
try to speculate about what people might be seeing, I'm
just gonna I'll just say that at this point, we
don't know.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
Ian told me he had no idea what was happening
in the airspace the FAA regulates. Given the number of
sidings that was disturbing.
Speaker 5 (10:27):
We can see flocks of birds on weather radar.
Speaker 4 (10:31):
Would you.
Speaker 5 (10:33):
Not be able to see what people are describing as
six to nine foot drones on radar?
Speaker 10 (10:40):
Well, there's a couple of things at play here. First
of all, if you're not near an airport, the purpose
of radar is to look way up into the sky
to track aircraft. If you are closer to an airport,
you know radar would radar does catch your aircraft that
are closer to the ground. But you know, a small
a small object such as a drone typically would not
(11:02):
get picked up on the regular radar.
Speaker 5 (11:05):
There was a report out of Fort Morgan that a
helicopter was flying Flight for Life and had a drone
come within one hundred feet of that aircraft. Would that
constitute an f AA violation?
Speaker 10 (11:22):
One of the one of the key rules for drone
operation is that you cannot interfere with the flight of
any manned aircraft. You know, we in twenty nineteen, we
you know, it's not it's not uncommon for pilots to
report drones in flight. We received about twenty one and
fifty drone siding reports from pilots nationwide in twenty nineteen.
(11:45):
And well, you know, we don't doubt the veracity of
the reports that we received. We're not able to validate
the mind.
Speaker 5 (11:57):
What is your you know what?
Speaker 10 (11:59):
Hang on kind of day?
Speaker 5 (12:01):
There you go.
Speaker 10 (12:02):
While we while we don't doubt the veracity of the
reports we see we receive, we're not unable. So boy
or boy, try that one more time.
Speaker 4 (12:11):
You're great.
Speaker 10 (12:12):
While we're while we don't doubt the veracity of the
reports so that we receive, we are unable to verify
the vast majority of them.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
As I listened to Ian, I couldn't help but feel
as if he'd been briefed on what to say.
Speaker 5 (12:27):
And I know, and I understand, there was an aircraft
that went up and tried to gather some some data
based on these reports. Can you can you explain a
little bit more about that?
Speaker 10 (12:38):
You know, going forward, we are not going to talk
about any of the details of the initiatives that that
any of us undertake to try to get to the
bottom of what's going on.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
When Ian and I finished visiting, I was connected to
Mickey Trost from the Colorado Division of Homeland Security and
Emergency Management to get perspective on the ongoing investigation.
Speaker 5 (13:03):
There was an airplane that went up last night to investigate.
Can you tell me a little bit more about the
plane and what exactly happened.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
So, the Colorado Department of Public Safety has several divisions.
All of these divisions are supporting the efforts to identify
what's happening with the drones in Northeast Colorado. So as
part of that, we have technology and experts that are
supporting the efforts. But because it's an investigation, I can't
(13:34):
go into any of the specifics from that technology or
what they're finding or how they're finding information.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
To this point, Nicky works as the strategic communications director.
At first, she wouldn't share many specifics. I pushed harder,
is there anything.
Speaker 5 (13:51):
That would suggest outside of the planes that these are
in fact drones?
Speaker 3 (13:57):
You know, last night as part of joy In operations,
we were able to get all of those calls from
the local community, send folks out to identify them, and
we did not identify any verified drones last night during
any of the operations.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
If Homeland Security couldn't verify these aircraft or drones, then
what was everyone seeing.
Speaker 3 (14:24):
We have analysts who pull together information from local, state,
and federal partners and verify it, analyze it, and turn
it into actionable intelligence for local law enforcement.
Speaker 10 (14:37):
To work offers.
Speaker 5 (14:38):
There are all these agencies that are involved with this.
We're going on, I believe week four now. How can
those divisions in Colorado not be aware of something that
could potentially be picked up on radar?
Speaker 3 (14:52):
I would say that we are aware that something is
happening that isn't part of the discussion. What we are
trying to do is work with all of the partners
in this joint operation to identify what is happening. Is
it truly drones? You know, we've had several of the
(15:14):
objects of the drones that have been reported that are
simply commercial aircraft. Really, we have to either find one
of the drone operators or be able to get something
to absolutely verify what is happening in Colorado.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
It seemed like there was confusion in many unanswered questions.
I felt like these agencies should have a better handle
on what was happening.
Speaker 5 (15:40):
Do you feel as though this could be some type
of government agency or foreign power controlling these drones?
Speaker 3 (15:50):
I can't answer that. We haven't been able to identify
at this point who it is, and our partners have
shared that they are not involved in the activity, So
that is what we currently are operating from.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
I started hearing rumblings of a meeting that was set
to take place in Brush, Colorado. Apparently there were going
to be representatives from at least seventy agencies, including the
Air Force, FAA, and FBI, to discuss one topic, drones.
I did everything I could to be there, but I
(16:31):
wasn't allowed inside. The first piece of information to come
out of the January sixth meeting was the following message
posted to the Phillips County Sheriff's Office Facebook page.
Speaker 11 (16:43):
A strategy meeting was held today in Brush, Colorado, with federal, state,
and local law enforcement agencies regarding the drone issue. None
of the agencies can confirm that the drones are malicious.
A task force has been organized and we are asking
for your assistance. Specifically, we are looking for the command vehicle.
We are looking for a closed box trailer with antennas
(17:05):
or a large van that does not belong in the area.
If you see anything that resembles this description, please call
the Phillips County Sheriff's Office.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
Two days later, on January eighth, a separate message was
shared on the same page.
Speaker 11 (17:19):
The information in the Phillips County Sheriff's Office previously posted
requesting the public's assistance and locating command vehicles associated with
the drone issue is no longer pertinent or irrelevant. The
Phillips County Sheriff's Office is not the task force, and
our jurisdiction does not extend past Phillips County, Colorado. We
will no longer be making any statements or press releases
(17:40):
about the drone incidents. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
In the posted comments, many folks pose the same questions.
Had someone told the Sheriff's department to retract the post?
I was able to get Commander Smally to shed some
light on the situation.
Speaker 5 (17:55):
Were you at that FAA task force meeting in Brush was?
What was your takeaway from that and how did the
whole task force help with the situation.
Speaker 4 (18:05):
We had a big, big turnout. People were getting scared.
I mean, there was a guy from FAA there that
said that they had reports of shots fired at drones.
There was I guess the report that there was one
shot down in Nebraska. Somebody admitted to it but later
said he just wanted to attention on social media. That's right,
(18:27):
So that didn't pan out. Sheriff Elliott and Phillips County
had a report, you know, a couple of bands with
a report of drones located at a gas station up
there in Phillips County had a Nebraska license plate. They've
had reports of a van in you Ma County. The
driver didn't want to make any eye contact with the cops.
You know, Oh, if I don't look at him, you
(18:48):
won't see me.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
This sounded like a scene straight out of the Jason
Bourne films. Only thing missing was the Treadstone logo branded
on the side of those vans.
Speaker 4 (18:58):
Question came up, can they be controlled by his satellite?
It's possible. They also talked about could this be a
government agency that's doing this. Well, obviously everybody's denying that.
I mean, we had guys from the FBI there, FAA,
Homeland Security. The FBI says they have no information that
this is occurring.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
With everyone at the meeting. Something had to have been
said about that special plane used to search for drums.
Speaker 4 (19:25):
Colorado has what they call a multi mission aircraft, they
call it an MMA, and it's utilized a lot for wildfires,
so they can go out and map that by air.
We thought, oh, this is this would be a good
use for it. So they went out and flew this,
I think for two nights and come up with nothing.
They can pinpoint of a stray cap in the middle
(19:46):
of a wildfire somewhere. Oddly enough, as our Air Force
representative this meeting didn't seem to be a bit concerned
about them, So that's odd. So we have more questions
than answer here.
Speaker 5 (20:00):
Have you had any follow up from that task force meeting?
Speaker 4 (20:03):
Did the FAA.
Speaker 5 (20:04):
Follow up or did that kind of fizzle out.
Speaker 4 (20:07):
This thought, I mean fizzled out, and we haven't heard
another peak pen.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
Following the meeting in Brush, the Colorado Department of Public
Safety released a report breaking down the mysterious drone sightings.
It was presented in two main parts. The first focused
on all the reports received in Colorado, and the second
analyzed data gathered during a field investigation. The information was
(20:34):
a bit confusing. I did my best to break it down.
From November twenty third to January thirteenth, twenty twenty, there
were ninety drone reports. Of those, fourteen were confirmed to
be hobbyist drones and none fit the description of large
wingspan drones traveling in groups in eastern Colorado. When the
(20:56):
Colorado Department of Public Safety conducted its field investigation from
January sixth to January thirteenth, there were twenty three drone reports.
Thirteen of those were determined to be planets, stars, or
small hobbyist drones, six were ruled as atmosphereic conditions or airplanes,
(21:17):
and four four were confirmed to be sightings of something,
but officials weren't able to figure out what witnesses saw.
Stan Hioke, the executive director, of the CDPs was quoted
as saying, despite all of the reported activity, we're still
unaware of any crime being committed. Well, I can't conclusively
(21:40):
say that we've solved the mystery. We have been able
to rule out a lot of the activity that was
causing concern. Math may not have been my strongest subject
in school, but I could tell there were still a
large number of reports from before the CDPs field operation
that didn't appear to be analyzed, and that was just
(22:01):
in Colorado. Groups of mysterious aircraft continued to be seen
nightly by hundreds, if not thousands of people through January fifteenth,
twenty twenty. While sightings decreased after that, many folks continued
to see weird objects in the night sky. I wasn't
(22:21):
able to assess what I didn't know, but going forward,
I couldn't rely on government agencies I'd connected with to
share transparent information related to the sidings. Whether I wanted
to admit it or not, it was time for me
to stop covering this mystery and begin actively investigating it.
(22:43):
I owed it to my hometown to get answers, and
I wasn't stopping until I had them coming up on
obscure invasion of the drums.
Speaker 6 (23:02):
Is that gunshots are He was saying, there were the
ones you know that we're doing this stuff.
Speaker 2 (23:09):
Now something found out more from it, and they just
kind of.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
Disappear, he wrote, rather than going out at night to
look up at the lights, look at the ground to
see what these drums are hunting. We want to hear
(23:34):
from you if you have any information surrounding the events
detailed in this podcast or other obscure stories in rural
America we should look into. Please visit our website at
obscurumseries.com and send us an email. To connect with us.
On social media, you can follow @obscurum_series and @gabelenners on
(24:02):
all social platforms. OBSCURUM is produced by Imagine and Lenners
Entertainment for iHeartMedia. This series is written, hosted, and produced
by Me Gabe Lenners. It's executive produced by Ron Howard,
Brian Grazer, Carl Welker, Nathan Kloke, Nicki Etour and Me.
(24:28):
Additional production by Jacob Plough. Music and sound effects courtesy
of Epidemic Sound. Brand management and digital design by Labyrinth
Brand Co. Video editing by Alex Semi Kopenko. This project
was mixed and mastered by Jacob Plough. Special thanks to
(24:51):
Dan Bodanski, Josh Hiller, Keeton Storts, Bryson Keyes, Ailey Birchfield,
David Wasserman, Katrina Norvel and my family. OBSCURUM
the Drones is available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
(25:13):
or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. Follow now.
Previously on OBSCURUM
Speaker 2 (00:09):
The items were in a I guess what you would
call kind of a mesh bag, and then there was
a frozen mass in there. They were picked up in
an area where drones had been seen traversing, you know,
back and forth.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
So what do you really think is going on with all?
Speaker 4 (00:25):
Though?
Speaker 5 (00:26):
I don't know. But the weirdest thing is is, you know,
people are seeing strange lights in this area forever.
Speaker 6 (00:33):
I know that one sheriff's office put out a notice
thing they wanted to have people looking for such and
such a vehicle. Within an hour, that whole thing had
been reversed and they said, there's nothing to see here.
Speaker 5 (00:46):
Do you feel like this drone was targeting you specifically?
Speaker 4 (00:50):
Yeah? Absolutely?
Speaker 5 (00:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (00:59):
I took this alien blow up doll and I filled
it full air and put it out in front of
my house with Christmas lights on it, just so it's
sparkled because everybody's driving around looking for these drones and
this big old It lit up pretty good. So but
I wanted to take some helium and put in it
and hang it in Dead's cornfield to let it up
there about one hundred feet in the air, but he
(01:19):
said he'd get shot down.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
So what started out is a few eerie reports about
unknown objects in the nice sky was quickly sparking more
coverage in local news outlets to add speculation into what
was behind the sightings. By the first full weekend of
(01:43):
twenty twenty, the mysterious aircraft were increasing an area in number.
They now spread from northeast to Colorado and southwest Nebraska
into central Nebraska and parts of Kansas. I learned a
few key things. Witnesses may have been victims of illegal activity,
strange aerial occurrences had happened in the region before the
(02:06):
flying objects had chased vehicles, and if drones were dropping anything,
they weren't dropping track logs. None of the unknown craft
had posed a direct threat to scheduled flights, but that
was about to change when something nearly collided with a
helicopter Chapter seven Game of Drones.
Speaker 8 (02:42):
It was a routine medical call out East when a
mission to save a life almost ended in disaster.
Speaker 7 (02:48):
And a drone just went right underneath us, probably about
one hundred feet.
Speaker 8 (02:50):
It all happened within a couple of seconds. Like for
Life pilot Kirk People's.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
It happens very very fast.
Speaker 8 (02:55):
Couldn't even see what type of drone it was.
Speaker 7 (02:58):
They're not telling anybody who they are, where they're going,
what they're doing.
Speaker 8 (03:02):
When the sun sets, people's and the team rely on
night vision goggles and each other.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
I watched a video of the report, then work to
set up an interview with an FAA official. Coincidentally, while
coordinating the time, I heard about a cluster of unexplained
aircraft that was even more concerning. These were spotted near
Denver International Airport, where planes constantly take off and land.
(03:31):
After a few emails, I was put in touch with
Commander Carl Smalley of the Adams County Sheriff's Department in Strasburg.
Speaker 4 (03:40):
When you first started to hear about these things, what
did you think was going on? I didn't really know
because we've had we've had so many reports. There's definitely
something there. On January fourth, one of our deputy's deputy
bishop received a call for service. He was able to
see several strange lights in the area that appeared briefly
(04:04):
stationary and then would move in various and random directions.
He tried to count the number of objects with the
same light pattern he was guessed in the elevation to
be about three to five hundred feet.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
With his description of strange lights, Smally was careful when
giving information about the craft.
Speaker 4 (04:22):
Were these things drones? He said, Well, I couldn't tell
for sure. Okay, yeah, I get that. I mean, all
we got to do is just report the facts, you know,
referred to as objects with the same light pattern. Well,
he was trying to count the objects, you know. It
says that he heard a buzzing sound, and of course
(04:43):
it was a real windy night, so that's really odd
that they would be out flying on a windy night.
So they disappeared just as quickly as they had appeared.
That location there is probably about ten miles east of
Denver International Airport.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
I could tell Commander Smally wanted answers just as much
as me. My next conversation was with Bill Bowerley, with
his experience flying in and out of DIA, he'd have
a unique point of view on what I learned. What
do you know about drones in defense? Like as far
(05:25):
as like if a drone would come into an airspace
like it DIA.
Speaker 9 (05:30):
I know of nothing there. The only thing I can
tell you is from my profession. The big area we
had trouble was a quarter going into New York. We
had a lot of near missage of airlines coming in
on final approach, so many miles out, so they're down low,
and drones want to go and by the windshield, you know,
(05:51):
one of those going in an engine, even though it's
gonna be a couple of pounds, can take that engine out.
That engine can take out another part of the airplane
and bring an airplane. So I don't know what the
defense mechanisms they've got for them. The rumor and some
of the articles we had access to said the Israelis
(06:11):
aircraft had basically transmitters around the airplane that put a
bubble around it so that if anything got within so
a certain distance of that airplane, that transmitter would break
the ground control of it. Great idea, but don't certainly
(06:32):
have to have somebody controling them. They could be pre programmed.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
There was another scenario I wanted to run by Bill.
Commander Smalley's deputy seemed sure the unknown aircraft he'd seen
weren't tiny airplanes, but could they be? After all, they
were seen near the third busiest airport in the world.
Speaker 9 (06:53):
What's the percentage of people that actually saw something that
was a drone and not an airplane or a satellite
or a star or anything else. You know, it's tough.
It's tough to say, yeah, that's one right there. That's
why I don't trust my naked eye on it, because
I've been fooled. I mean, flying into Europe, you're coming
(07:14):
out at nighttime, the sun is coming up, which happens
very fast. It goes from dark all of a sudden,
you start getting light. You get the morning star. Venus
pops up first, one up and as it comes through
the atmosphere, you're traveling east. It's traveling this way, and
the rotation of the Earth makes sunrise happen extremely fast.
I have won a lot of bets for who's going
(07:37):
to buy the refreshments and that that is not an airplane,
that's a planet because it's setting there, blinking off and
on red white, red white, red white, red white, red white,
red white, bah it's Venus. It's moving through that atmosphere
so fast going upward that it changes and it looks
(07:59):
like it's blinking. I mean, I first time I would
have believed so relate that to this and there's some
of this is like explanations and it is not a drum.
But people, I think tend to believe what they want
to go out and believe.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
Chapter eight brush. When I finished talking with Bill, I
checked the social media group brod Miller and his crew
were active on. There were now hundreds of people sharing
candid observations about the sightings. Before I had time to
go through the posts, FAA spokesman Ian Gregor agreed to
(08:48):
visit with me.
Speaker 5 (08:49):
I bet you've just been Yeah, just been totally flaunted. Yeah,
pretty much in your investigations so far into what's been
happening in northeast color Out. Have any laws been broken?
Speaker 10 (09:04):
I've given that we don't have any real concrete evidence
of what's been occurring. I do not want to speculate
about anything to do with these reports. I just I
don't want to weigh in on whether it's something does
or does not or Quota could not comply with the regulations,
(09:25):
because you know, absence concrete reports is really nothing to
base the determination on it this time. Sorry, I'm meant
to say concrete evidence. I really don't want to speculate it.
I really don't want to speculate about whether you know
something whether a report of a certain activity would potentially
(09:45):
comply or violate the regulations, because we just don't have
any any concrete evidence to base an assessment on at
this time.
Speaker 5 (09:54):
What confirmation and evidence have you seen that would suggest
that these in fact or ones or could they be
something else?
Speaker 10 (10:03):
Well, you know, at this point, we have reports, we
don't have any concrete evidence. So, you know, rather than
try to speculate about what people might be seeing, I'm
just gonna I'll just say that at this point, we
don't know.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
Ian told me he had no idea what was happening
in the airspace the FAA regulates. Given the number of
sidings that was disturbing.
Speaker 5 (10:27):
We can see flocks of birds on weather radar.
Speaker 4 (10:31):
Would you.
Speaker 5 (10:33):
Not be able to see what people are describing as
six to nine foot drones on radar?
Speaker 10 (10:40):
Well, there's a couple of things at play here. First
of all, if you're not near an airport, the purpose
of radar is to look way up into the sky
to track aircraft. If you are closer to an airport,
you know radar would radar does catch your aircraft that
are closer to the ground. But you know, a small
a small object such as a drone typically would not
(11:02):
get picked up on the regular radar.
Speaker 5 (11:05):
There was a report out of Fort Morgan that a
helicopter was flying Flight for Life and had a drone
come within one hundred feet of that aircraft. Would that
constitute an f AA violation?
Speaker 10 (11:22):
One of the one of the key rules for drone
operation is that you cannot interfere with the flight of
any manned aircraft. You know, we in twenty nineteen, we
you know, it's not it's not uncommon for pilots to
report drones in flight. We received about twenty one and
fifty drone siding reports from pilots nationwide in twenty nineteen.
(11:45):
And well, you know, we don't doubt the veracity of
the reports that we received. We're not able to validate
the mind.
Speaker 5 (11:57):
What is your you know what?
Speaker 10 (11:59):
Hang on kind of day?
Speaker 5 (12:01):
There you go.
Speaker 10 (12:02):
While we while we don't doubt the veracity of the
reports we see we receive, we're not unable. So boy
or boy, try that one more time.
Speaker 4 (12:11):
You're great.
Speaker 10 (12:12):
While we're while we don't doubt the veracity of the
reports so that we receive, we are unable to verify
the vast majority of them.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
As I listened to Ian, I couldn't help but feel
as if he'd been briefed on what to say.
Speaker 5 (12:27):
And I know, and I understand, there was an aircraft
that went up and tried to gather some some data
based on these reports. Can you can you explain a
little bit more about that?
Speaker 10 (12:38):
You know, going forward, we are not going to talk
about any of the details of the initiatives that that
any of us undertake to try to get to the
bottom of what's going on.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
When Ian and I finished visiting, I was connected to
Mickey Trost from the Colorado Division of Homeland Security and
Emergency Management to get perspective on the ongoing investigation.
Speaker 5 (13:03):
There was an airplane that went up last night to investigate.
Can you tell me a little bit more about the
plane and what exactly happened.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
So, the Colorado Department of Public Safety has several divisions.
All of these divisions are supporting the efforts to identify
what's happening with the drones in Northeast Colorado. So as
part of that, we have technology and experts that are
supporting the efforts. But because it's an investigation, I can't
(13:34):
go into any of the specifics from that technology or
what they're finding or how they're finding information.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
To this point, Nicky works as the strategic communications director.
At first, she wouldn't share many specifics. I pushed harder,
is there anything.
Speaker 5 (13:51):
That would suggest outside of the planes that these are
in fact drones?
Speaker 3 (13:57):
You know, last night as part of joy In operations,
we were able to get all of those calls from
the local community, send folks out to identify them, and
we did not identify any verified drones last night during
any of the operations.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
If Homeland Security couldn't verify these aircraft or drones, then
what was everyone seeing.
Speaker 3 (14:24):
We have analysts who pull together information from local, state,
and federal partners and verify it, analyze it, and turn
it into actionable intelligence for local law enforcement.
Speaker 10 (14:37):
To work offers.
Speaker 5 (14:38):
There are all these agencies that are involved with this.
We're going on, I believe week four now. How can
those divisions in Colorado not be aware of something that
could potentially be picked up on radar?
Speaker 3 (14:52):
I would say that we are aware that something is
happening that isn't part of the discussion. What we are
trying to do is work with all of the partners
in this joint operation to identify what is happening. Is
it truly drones? You know, we've had several of the
(15:14):
objects of the drones that have been reported that are
simply commercial aircraft. Really, we have to either find one
of the drone operators or be able to get something
to absolutely verify what is happening in Colorado.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
It seemed like there was confusion in many unanswered questions.
I felt like these agencies should have a better handle
on what was happening.
Speaker 5 (15:40):
Do you feel as though this could be some type
of government agency or foreign power controlling these drones?
Speaker 3 (15:50):
I can't answer that. We haven't been able to identify
at this point who it is, and our partners have
shared that they are not involved in the activity, So
that is what we currently are operating from.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
I started hearing rumblings of a meeting that was set
to take place in Brush, Colorado. Apparently there were going
to be representatives from at least seventy agencies, including the
Air Force, FAA, and FBI, to discuss one topic, drones.
I did everything I could to be there, but I
(16:31):
wasn't allowed inside. The first piece of information to come
out of the January sixth meeting was the following message
posted to the Phillips County Sheriff's Office Facebook page.
Speaker 11 (16:43):
A strategy meeting was held today in Brush, Colorado, with federal, state,
and local law enforcement agencies regarding the drone issue. None
of the agencies can confirm that the drones are malicious.
A task force has been organized and we are asking
for your assistance. Specifically, we are looking for the command vehicle.
We are looking for a closed box trailer with antennas
(17:05):
or a large van that does not belong in the area.
If you see anything that resembles this description, please call
the Phillips County Sheriff's Office.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
Two days later, on January eighth, a separate message was
shared on the same page.
Speaker 11 (17:19):
The information in the Phillips County Sheriff's Office previously posted
requesting the public's assistance and locating command vehicles associated with
the drone issue is no longer pertinent or irrelevant. The
Phillips County Sheriff's Office is not the task force, and
our jurisdiction does not extend past Phillips County, Colorado. We
will no longer be making any statements or press releases
(17:40):
about the drone incidents. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
In the posted comments, many folks pose the same questions.
Had someone told the Sheriff's department to retract the post?
I was able to get Commander Smally to shed some
light on the situation.
Speaker 5 (17:55):
Were you at that FAA task force meeting in Brush was?
What was your takeaway from that and how did the
whole task force help with the situation.
Speaker 4 (18:05):
We had a big, big turnout. People were getting scared.
I mean, there was a guy from FAA there that
said that they had reports of shots fired at drones.
There was I guess the report that there was one
shot down in Nebraska. Somebody admitted to it but later
said he just wanted to attention on social media. That's right,
(18:27):
So that didn't pan out. Sheriff Elliott and Phillips County
had a report, you know, a couple of bands with
a report of drones located at a gas station up
there in Phillips County had a Nebraska license plate. They've
had reports of a van in you Ma County. The
driver didn't want to make any eye contact with the cops.
You know, Oh, if I don't look at him, you
(18:48):
won't see me.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
This sounded like a scene straight out of the Jason
Bourne films. Only thing missing was the Treadstone logo branded
on the side of those vans.
Speaker 4 (18:58):
Question came up, can they be controlled by his satellite?
It's possible. They also talked about could this be a
government agency that's doing this. Well, obviously everybody's denying that.
I mean, we had guys from the FBI there, FAA,
Homeland Security. The FBI says they have no information that
this is occurring.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
With everyone at the meeting. Something had to have been
said about that special plane used to search for drums.
Speaker 4 (19:25):
Colorado has what they call a multi mission aircraft, they
call it an MMA, and it's utilized a lot for wildfires,
so they can go out and map that by air.
We thought, oh, this is this would be a good
use for it. So they went out and flew this,
I think for two nights and come up with nothing.
They can pinpoint of a stray cap in the middle
(19:46):
of a wildfire somewhere. Oddly enough, as our Air Force
representative this meeting didn't seem to be a bit concerned
about them, So that's odd. So we have more questions
than answer here.
Speaker 5 (20:00):
Have you had any follow up from that task force meeting?
Speaker 4 (20:03):
Did the FAA.
Speaker 5 (20:04):
Follow up or did that kind of fizzle out.
Speaker 4 (20:07):
This thought, I mean fizzled out, and we haven't heard
another peak pen.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
Following the meeting in Brush, the Colorado Department of Public
Safety released a report breaking down the mysterious drone sightings.
It was presented in two main parts. The first focused
on all the reports received in Colorado, and the second
analyzed data gathered during a field investigation. The information was
(20:34):
a bit confusing. I did my best to break it down.
From November twenty third to January thirteenth, twenty twenty, there
were ninety drone reports. Of those, fourteen were confirmed to
be hobbyist drones and none fit the description of large
wingspan drones traveling in groups in eastern Colorado. When the
(20:56):
Colorado Department of Public Safety conducted its field investigation from
January sixth to January thirteenth, there were twenty three drone reports.
Thirteen of those were determined to be planets, stars, or
small hobbyist drones, six were ruled as atmosphereic conditions or airplanes,
(21:17):
and four four were confirmed to be sightings of something,
but officials weren't able to figure out what witnesses saw.
Stan Hioke, the executive director, of the CDPs was quoted
as saying, despite all of the reported activity, we're still
unaware of any crime being committed. Well, I can't conclusively
(21:40):
say that we've solved the mystery. We have been able
to rule out a lot of the activity that was
causing concern. Math may not have been my strongest subject
in school, but I could tell there were still a
large number of reports from before the CDPs field operation
that didn't appear to be analyzed, and that was just
(22:01):
in Colorado. Groups of mysterious aircraft continued to be seen
nightly by hundreds, if not thousands of people through January fifteenth,
twenty twenty. While sightings decreased after that, many folks continued
to see weird objects in the night sky. I wasn't
(22:21):
able to assess what I didn't know, but going forward,
I couldn't rely on government agencies I'd connected with to
share transparent information related to the sidings. Whether I wanted
to admit it or not, it was time for me
to stop covering this mystery and begin actively investigating it.
(22:43):
I owed it to my hometown to get answers, and
I wasn't stopping until I had them coming up on
obscure invasion of the drums.
Speaker 6 (23:02):
Is that gunshots are He was saying, there were the
ones you know that we're doing this stuff.
Speaker 2 (23:09):
Now something found out more from it, and they just
kind of.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
Disappear, he wrote, rather than going out at night to
look up at the lights, look at the ground to
see what these drums are hunting. We want to hear
(23:34):
from you if you have any information surrounding the events
detailed in this podcast or other obscure stories in rural
America we should look into. Please visit our website at
obscurumseries.com and send us an email. To connect with us.
On social media, you can follow @obscurum_series and @gabelenners on
(24:02):
all social platforms. OBSCURUM is produced by Imagine and Lenners
Entertainment for iHeartMedia. This series is written, hosted, and produced
by Me Gabe Lenners. It's executive produced by Ron Howard,
Brian Grazer, Carl Welker, Nathan Kloke, Nicki Etour and Me.
(24:28):
Additional production by Jacob Plough. Music and sound effects courtesy
of Epidemic Sound. Brand management and digital design by Labyrinth
Brand Co. Video editing by Alex Semi Kopenko. This project
was mixed and mastered by Jacob Plough. Special thanks to
(24:51):
Dan Bodanski, Josh Hiller, Keeton Storts, Bryson Keyes, Ailey Birchfield,
David Wasserman, Katrina Norvel and my family. OBSCURUM
the Drones is available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
(25:13):
or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. Follow now.
Host
Gabe Lenners
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