WEBVTT - Episode Four: Little Known Facts 0:00:03.560 --> 0:00:08.480 Previously on OBSCURUM: Invasion of the Drones. 0:00:09.119 --> 0:00:11.920 The items were in a I guess what you would 0:00:11.960 --> 0:00:14.360 call kind of a mesh bag, and then there was 0:00:14.800 --> 0:00:18.040 a frozen mass in there. They were picked up in 0:00:18.040 --> 0:00:21.159 an area where drones had been seen traversing, you know, 0:00:21.720 --> 0:00:22.400 back and forth. 0:00:22.960 --> 0:00:25.400 So what do you really think is going on with all? 0:00:25.480 --> 0:00:25.680 Though? 0:00:26.720 --> 0:00:29.200 I don't know. But the weirdest thing is is, you know, 0:00:29.320 --> 0:00:33.159 people are seeing strange lights in this area forever. 0:00:33.560 --> 0:00:36.400 I know that one sheriff's office put out a notice 0:00:36.440 --> 0:00:39.199 thing they wanted to have people looking for such and 0:00:39.280 --> 0:00:43.120 such a vehicle. Within an hour, that whole thing had 0:00:43.159 --> 0:00:45.440 been reversed and they said, there's nothing to see here. 0:00:46.040 --> 0:00:49.919 Do you feel like this drone was targeting you specifically? 0:00:50.560 --> 0:00:51.919 Yeah? Absolutely? 0:00:53.560 --> 0:00:53.800 Yeah. 0:00:59.360 --> 0:01:02.720 I took this alien blow up doll and I filled 0:01:02.720 --> 0:01:04.000 it full air and put it out in front of 0:01:04.040 --> 0:01:06.280 my house with Christmas lights on it, just so it's 0:01:06.280 --> 0:01:09.480 sparkled because everybody's driving around looking for these drones and 0:01:09.520 --> 0:01:12.840 this big old It lit up pretty good. So but 0:01:13.240 --> 0:01:15.560 I wanted to take some helium and put in it 0:01:15.640 --> 0:01:18.360 and hang it in Dead's cornfield to let it up 0:01:18.400 --> 0:01:19.880 there about one hundred feet in the air, but he 0:01:19.920 --> 0:01:21.040 said he'd get shot down. 0:01:21.160 --> 0:01:31.080 So what started out is a few eerie reports about 0:01:31.280 --> 0:01:34.960 unknown objects in the nice sky was quickly sparking more 0:01:35.000 --> 0:01:39.679 coverage in local news outlets to add speculation into what 0:01:39.880 --> 0:01:43.240 was behind the sightings. By the first full weekend of 0:01:43.280 --> 0:01:48.440 twenty twenty, the mysterious aircraft were increasing an area in number. 0:01:48.960 --> 0:01:53.200 They now spread from northeast to Colorado and southwest Nebraska 0:01:53.400 --> 0:01:57.640 into central Nebraska and parts of Kansas. I learned a 0:01:57.680 --> 0:02:01.680 few key things. Witnesses may have been victims of illegal activity, 0:02:02.080 --> 0:02:06.000 strange aerial occurrences had happened in the region before the 0:02:06.080 --> 0:02:10.720 flying objects had chased vehicles, and if drones were dropping anything, 0:02:11.160 --> 0:02:14.960 they weren't dropping track logs. None of the unknown craft 0:02:15.080 --> 0:02:18.480 had posed a direct threat to scheduled flights, but that 0:02:18.720 --> 0:02:23.120 was about to change when something nearly collided with a 0:02:23.200 --> 0:02:40.120 helicopter Chapter seven Game of Drones. 0:02:42.440 --> 0:02:44.919 It was a routine medical call out East when a 0:02:44.960 --> 0:02:48.320 mission to save a life almost ended in disaster. 0:02:48.000 --> 0:02:49.880 And a drone just went right underneath us, probably about 0:02:49.880 --> 0:02:50.560 one hundred feet. 0:02:50.600 --> 0:02:52.920 It all happened within a couple of seconds. Like for 0:02:53.000 --> 0:02:54.640 Life pilot Kirk People's. 0:02:54.320 --> 0:02:55.760 It happens very very fast. 0:02:55.880 --> 0:02:57.840 Couldn't even see what type of drone it was. 0:02:58.000 --> 0:03:01.799 They're not telling anybody who they are, where they're going, 0:03:01.840 --> 0:03:02.480 what they're doing. 0:03:02.720 --> 0:03:05.880 When the sun sets, people's and the team rely on 0:03:05.960 --> 0:03:07.840 night vision goggles and each other. 0:03:11.080 --> 0:03:13.760 I watched a video of the report, then work to 0:03:13.800 --> 0:03:18.680 set up an interview with an FAA official. Coincidentally, while 0:03:18.680 --> 0:03:22.400 coordinating the time, I heard about a cluster of unexplained 0:03:22.440 --> 0:03:26.520 aircraft that was even more concerning. These were spotted near 0:03:26.600 --> 0:03:31.239 Denver International Airport, where planes constantly take off and land. 0:03:31.840 --> 0:03:34.680 After a few emails, I was put in touch with 0:03:34.760 --> 0:03:39.840 Commander Carl Smalley of the Adams County Sheriff's Department in Strasburg. 0:03:40.080 --> 0:03:42.440 When you first started to hear about these things, what 0:03:42.520 --> 0:03:45.000 did you think was going on? I didn't really know 0:03:45.200 --> 0:03:49.640 because we've had we've had so many reports. There's definitely 0:03:49.720 --> 0:03:54.960 something there. On January fourth, one of our deputy's deputy 0:03:55.520 --> 0:03:59.760 bishop received a call for service. He was able to 0:03:59.760 --> 0:04:04.640 see several strange lights in the area that appeared briefly 0:04:04.680 --> 0:04:07.680 stationary and then would move in various and random directions. 0:04:08.080 --> 0:04:11.160 He tried to count the number of objects with the 0:04:11.200 --> 0:04:13.720 same light pattern he was guessed in the elevation to 0:04:13.760 --> 0:04:15.680 be about three to five hundred feet. 0:04:16.040 --> 0:04:20.240 With his description of strange lights, Smally was careful when 0:04:20.279 --> 0:04:22.280 giving information about the craft. 0:04:22.880 --> 0:04:25.880 Were these things drones? He said, Well, I couldn't tell 0:04:25.960 --> 0:04:29.720 for sure. Okay, yeah, I get that. I mean, all 0:04:29.720 --> 0:04:33.000 we got to do is just report the facts, you know, 0:04:33.480 --> 0:04:38.080 referred to as objects with the same light pattern. Well, 0:04:38.120 --> 0:04:40.400 he was trying to count the objects, you know. It 0:04:40.480 --> 0:04:43.760 says that he heard a buzzing sound, and of course 0:04:43.800 --> 0:04:48.279 it was a real windy night, so that's really odd 0:04:48.320 --> 0:04:51.039 that they would be out flying on a windy night. 0:04:51.200 --> 0:04:55.720 So they disappeared just as quickly as they had appeared. 0:04:56.160 --> 0:05:01.200 That location there is probably about ten miles east of 0:05:01.680 --> 0:05:03.200 Denver International Airport. 0:05:05.279 --> 0:05:08.960 I could tell Commander Smally wanted answers just as much 0:05:09.000 --> 0:05:13.120 as me. My next conversation was with Bill Bowerley, with 0:05:13.160 --> 0:05:16.800 his experience flying in and out of DIA, he'd have 0:05:16.839 --> 0:05:21.320 a unique point of view on what I learned. What 0:05:21.360 --> 0:05:25.520 do you know about drones in defense? Like as far 0:05:25.560 --> 0:05:28.120 as like if a drone would come into an airspace 0:05:28.240 --> 0:05:29.839 like it DIA. 0:05:30.120 --> 0:05:32.960 I know of nothing there. The only thing I can 0:05:33.000 --> 0:05:37.200 tell you is from my profession. The big area we 0:05:37.240 --> 0:05:39.479 had trouble was a quarter going into New York. We 0:05:39.560 --> 0:05:43.000 had a lot of near missage of airlines coming in 0:05:43.040 --> 0:05:46.479 on final approach, so many miles out, so they're down low, 0:05:47.000 --> 0:05:51.680 and drones want to go and by the windshield, you know, 0:05:51.880 --> 0:05:53.680 one of those going in an engine, even though it's 0:05:53.680 --> 0:05:56.280 gonna be a couple of pounds, can take that engine out. 0:05:56.880 --> 0:05:59.120 That engine can take out another part of the airplane 0:05:59.120 --> 0:06:02.280 and bring an airplane. So I don't know what the 0:06:02.320 --> 0:06:06.400 defense mechanisms they've got for them. The rumor and some 0:06:06.480 --> 0:06:11.120 of the articles we had access to said the Israelis 0:06:11.920 --> 0:06:16.839 aircraft had basically transmitters around the airplane that put a 0:06:16.839 --> 0:06:19.919 bubble around it so that if anything got within so 0:06:20.600 --> 0:06:25.520 a certain distance of that airplane, that transmitter would break 0:06:26.800 --> 0:06:32.679 the ground control of it. Great idea, but don't certainly 0:06:32.760 --> 0:06:36.280 have to have somebody controling them. They could be pre programmed. 0:06:37.120 --> 0:06:40.200 There was another scenario I wanted to run by Bill. 0:06:40.680 --> 0:06:45.080 Commander Smalley's deputy seemed sure the unknown aircraft he'd seen 0:06:45.640 --> 0:06:50.400 weren't tiny airplanes, but could they be? After all, they 0:06:50.400 --> 0:06:53.600 were seen near the third busiest airport in the world. 0:06:53.760 --> 0:06:56.800 What's the percentage of people that actually saw something that 0:06:56.920 --> 0:06:59.600 was a drone and not an airplane or a satellite 0:07:00.160 --> 0:07:04.440 or a star or anything else. You know, it's tough. 0:07:04.680 --> 0:07:08.000 It's tough to say, yeah, that's one right there. That's 0:07:08.040 --> 0:07:09.960 why I don't trust my naked eye on it, because 0:07:10.000 --> 0:07:14.720 I've been fooled. I mean, flying into Europe, you're coming 0:07:14.720 --> 0:07:17.040 out at nighttime, the sun is coming up, which happens 0:07:17.120 --> 0:07:19.280 very fast. It goes from dark all of a sudden, 0:07:19.280 --> 0:07:22.920 you start getting light. You get the morning star. Venus 0:07:22.960 --> 0:07:25.000 pops up first, one up and as it comes through 0:07:25.040 --> 0:07:29.560 the atmosphere, you're traveling east. It's traveling this way, and 0:07:29.600 --> 0:07:33.600 the rotation of the Earth makes sunrise happen extremely fast. 0:07:34.280 --> 0:07:37.720 I have won a lot of bets for who's going 0:07:37.760 --> 0:07:41.200 to buy the refreshments and that that is not an airplane, 0:07:41.280 --> 0:07:43.680 that's a planet because it's setting there, blinking off and 0:07:43.760 --> 0:07:49.120 on red white, red white, red white, red white, red white, 0:07:49.200 --> 0:07:54.440 red white, bah it's Venus. It's moving through that atmosphere 0:07:54.760 --> 0:07:59.000 so fast going upward that it changes and it looks 0:07:59.000 --> 0:08:02.240 like it's blinking. I mean, I first time I would 0:08:02.280 --> 0:08:07.440 have believed so relate that to this and there's some 0:08:07.600 --> 0:08:10.560 of this is like explanations and it is not a drum. 0:08:12.800 --> 0:08:16.520 But people, I think tend to believe what they want 0:08:16.520 --> 0:08:17.400 to go out and believe. 0:08:27.400 --> 0:08:33.760 Chapter eight brush. When I finished talking with Bill, I 0:08:33.880 --> 0:08:36.920 checked the social media group brod Miller and his crew 0:08:36.960 --> 0:08:40.280 were active on. There were now hundreds of people sharing 0:08:40.440 --> 0:08:44.560 candid observations about the sightings. Before I had time to 0:08:44.600 --> 0:08:48.839 go through the posts, FAA spokesman Ian Gregor agreed to 0:08:48.960 --> 0:08:49.520 visit with me. 0:08:49.800 --> 0:08:54.400 I bet you've just been Yeah, just been totally flaunted. Yeah, 0:08:54.559 --> 0:08:58.679 pretty much in your investigations so far into what's been 0:08:58.679 --> 0:09:02.800 happening in northeast color Out. Have any laws been broken? 0:09:04.520 --> 0:09:11.079 I've given that we don't have any real concrete evidence 0:09:11.240 --> 0:09:14.000 of what's been occurring. I do not want to speculate 0:09:14.600 --> 0:09:17.960 about anything to do with these reports. I just I 0:09:18.000 --> 0:09:21.240 don't want to weigh in on whether it's something does 0:09:21.360 --> 0:09:25.120 or does not or Quota could not comply with the regulations, 0:09:25.200 --> 0:09:28.880 because you know, absence concrete reports is really nothing to 0:09:29.559 --> 0:09:33.320 base the determination on it this time. Sorry, I'm meant 0:09:33.320 --> 0:09:36.800 to say concrete evidence. I really don't want to speculate it. 0:09:36.920 --> 0:09:39.520 I really don't want to speculate about whether you know 0:09:39.720 --> 0:09:45.360 something whether a report of a certain activity would potentially 0:09:45.960 --> 0:09:49.040 comply or violate the regulations, because we just don't have 0:09:49.160 --> 0:09:52.840 any any concrete evidence to base an assessment on at 0:09:52.840 --> 0:09:53.280 this time. 0:09:54.640 --> 0:09:59.160 What confirmation and evidence have you seen that would suggest 0:09:59.240 --> 0:10:02.040 that these in fact or ones or could they be 0:10:02.200 --> 0:10:02.839 something else? 0:10:03.520 --> 0:10:06.560 Well, you know, at this point, we have reports, we 0:10:06.600 --> 0:10:10.000 don't have any concrete evidence. So, you know, rather than 0:10:10.080 --> 0:10:13.680 try to speculate about what people might be seeing, I'm 0:10:13.720 --> 0:10:16.640 just gonna I'll just say that at this point, we 0:10:16.640 --> 0:10:17.040 don't know. 0:10:18.000 --> 0:10:21.160 Ian told me he had no idea what was happening 0:10:21.200 --> 0:10:24.800 in the airspace the FAA regulates. Given the number of 0:10:24.840 --> 0:10:27.079 sidings that was disturbing. 0:10:27.840 --> 0:10:30.880 We can see flocks of birds on weather radar. 0:10:31.040 --> 0:10:31.559 Would you. 0:10:33.080 --> 0:10:36.200 Not be able to see what people are describing as 0:10:36.240 --> 0:10:39.000 six to nine foot drones on radar? 0:10:40.600 --> 0:10:42.480 Well, there's a couple of things at play here. First 0:10:42.520 --> 0:10:44.800 of all, if you're not near an airport, the purpose 0:10:44.840 --> 0:10:47.320 of radar is to look way up into the sky 0:10:47.440 --> 0:10:50.720 to track aircraft. If you are closer to an airport, 0:10:51.000 --> 0:10:54.200 you know radar would radar does catch your aircraft that 0:10:54.240 --> 0:10:58.000 are closer to the ground. But you know, a small 0:10:59.200 --> 0:11:02.480 a small object such as a drone typically would not 0:11:02.880 --> 0:11:05.160 get picked up on the regular radar. 0:11:05.920 --> 0:11:09.080 There was a report out of Fort Morgan that a 0:11:09.160 --> 0:11:13.240 helicopter was flying Flight for Life and had a drone 0:11:13.559 --> 0:11:17.480 come within one hundred feet of that aircraft. Would that 0:11:17.679 --> 0:11:20.600 constitute an f AA violation? 0:11:22.679 --> 0:11:25.960 One of the one of the key rules for drone 0:11:26.000 --> 0:11:30.240 operation is that you cannot interfere with the flight of 0:11:30.280 --> 0:11:34.600 any manned aircraft. You know, we in twenty nineteen, we 0:11:34.679 --> 0:11:37.240 you know, it's not it's not uncommon for pilots to 0:11:37.280 --> 0:11:41.080 report drones in flight. We received about twenty one and 0:11:41.120 --> 0:11:45.760 fifty drone siding reports from pilots nationwide in twenty nineteen. 0:11:45.880 --> 0:11:51.400 And well, you know, we don't doubt the veracity of 0:11:51.520 --> 0:11:54.120 the reports that we received. We're not able to validate 0:11:54.160 --> 0:11:54.760 the mind. 0:11:57.160 --> 0:11:59.000 What is your you know what? 0:11:59.480 --> 0:12:00.480 Hang on kind of day? 0:12:01.679 --> 0:12:02.000 There you go. 0:12:02.679 --> 0:12:05.360 While we while we don't doubt the veracity of the 0:12:05.360 --> 0:12:09.360 reports we see we receive, we're not unable. So boy 0:12:09.480 --> 0:12:11.080 or boy, try that one more time. 0:12:11.640 --> 0:12:12.120 You're great. 0:12:12.400 --> 0:12:15.320 While we're while we don't doubt the veracity of the 0:12:15.360 --> 0:12:19.400 reports so that we receive, we are unable to verify 0:12:20.000 --> 0:12:21.880 the vast majority of them. 0:12:22.160 --> 0:12:24.920 As I listened to Ian, I couldn't help but feel 0:12:24.960 --> 0:12:27.040 as if he'd been briefed on what to say. 0:12:27.200 --> 0:12:29.520 And I know, and I understand, there was an aircraft 0:12:29.559 --> 0:12:33.000 that went up and tried to gather some some data 0:12:34.040 --> 0:12:36.839 based on these reports. Can you can you explain a 0:12:36.880 --> 0:12:37.839 little bit more about that? 0:12:38.880 --> 0:12:41.280 You know, going forward, we are not going to talk 0:12:41.320 --> 0:12:46.600 about any of the details of the initiatives that that 0:12:46.679 --> 0:12:48.640 any of us undertake to try to get to the 0:12:48.640 --> 0:12:49.679 bottom of what's going on. 0:12:50.880 --> 0:12:53.960 When Ian and I finished visiting, I was connected to 0:12:54.040 --> 0:12:57.959 Mickey Trost from the Colorado Division of Homeland Security and 0:12:58.040 --> 0:13:02.920 Emergency Management to get perspective on the ongoing investigation. 0:13:03.240 --> 0:13:06.560 There was an airplane that went up last night to investigate. 0:13:07.240 --> 0:13:09.360 Can you tell me a little bit more about the 0:13:09.400 --> 0:13:11.400 plane and what exactly happened. 0:13:11.960 --> 0:13:17.120 So, the Colorado Department of Public Safety has several divisions. 0:13:18.040 --> 0:13:21.920 All of these divisions are supporting the efforts to identify 0:13:22.000 --> 0:13:26.520 what's happening with the drones in Northeast Colorado. So as 0:13:26.559 --> 0:13:30.640 part of that, we have technology and experts that are 0:13:30.679 --> 0:13:34.600 supporting the efforts. But because it's an investigation, I can't 0:13:34.640 --> 0:13:38.840 go into any of the specifics from that technology or 0:13:39.200 --> 0:13:41.440 what they're finding or how they're finding information. 0:13:41.600 --> 0:13:45.920 To this point, Nicky works as the strategic communications director. 0:13:46.400 --> 0:13:50.680 At first, she wouldn't share many specifics. I pushed harder, 0:13:50.920 --> 0:13:52.000 is there anything. 0:13:51.600 --> 0:13:54.440 That would suggest outside of the planes that these are 0:13:54.520 --> 0:13:55.920 in fact drones? 0:13:57.520 --> 0:14:02.080 You know, last night as part of joy In operations, 0:14:02.559 --> 0:14:05.800 we were able to get all of those calls from 0:14:06.080 --> 0:14:10.920 the local community, send folks out to identify them, and 0:14:11.520 --> 0:14:16.840 we did not identify any verified drones last night during 0:14:16.920 --> 0:14:18.120 any of the operations. 0:14:18.520 --> 0:14:22.920 If Homeland Security couldn't verify these aircraft or drones, then 0:14:22.960 --> 0:14:24.320 what was everyone seeing. 0:14:24.440 --> 0:14:28.440 We have analysts who pull together information from local, state, 0:14:28.520 --> 0:14:33.360 and federal partners and verify it, analyze it, and turn 0:14:33.400 --> 0:14:38.160 it into actionable intelligence for local law enforcement. 0:14:37.680 --> 0:14:38.400 To work offers. 0:14:38.720 --> 0:14:41.480 There are all these agencies that are involved with this. 0:14:41.720 --> 0:14:44.440 We're going on, I believe week four now. How can 0:14:44.960 --> 0:14:48.640 those divisions in Colorado not be aware of something that 0:14:48.800 --> 0:14:51.840 could potentially be picked up on radar? 0:14:52.600 --> 0:14:55.400 I would say that we are aware that something is 0:14:55.480 --> 0:14:59.800 happening that isn't part of the discussion. What we are 0:15:00.040 --> 0:15:02.880 trying to do is work with all of the partners 0:15:02.920 --> 0:15:07.560 in this joint operation to identify what is happening. Is 0:15:07.600 --> 0:15:14.440 it truly drones? You know, we've had several of the 0:15:14.480 --> 0:15:16.720 objects of the drones that have been reported that are 0:15:16.760 --> 0:15:22.640 simply commercial aircraft. Really, we have to either find one 0:15:22.640 --> 0:15:26.160 of the drone operators or be able to get something 0:15:26.240 --> 0:15:31.600 to absolutely verify what is happening in Colorado. 0:15:32.120 --> 0:15:36.080 It seemed like there was confusion in many unanswered questions. 0:15:36.320 --> 0:15:39.120 I felt like these agencies should have a better handle 0:15:39.240 --> 0:15:40.360 on what was happening. 0:15:40.680 --> 0:15:44.480 Do you feel as though this could be some type 0:15:44.520 --> 0:15:48.040 of government agency or foreign power controlling these drones? 0:15:50.600 --> 0:15:55.320 I can't answer that. We haven't been able to identify 0:15:55.360 --> 0:15:59.840 at this point who it is, and our partners have 0:16:00.080 --> 0:16:06.080 shared that they are not involved in the activity, So 0:16:06.120 --> 0:16:08.160 that is what we currently are operating from. 0:16:10.840 --> 0:16:13.760 I started hearing rumblings of a meeting that was set 0:16:13.800 --> 0:16:17.920 to take place in Brush, Colorado. Apparently there were going 0:16:17.960 --> 0:16:22.040 to be representatives from at least seventy agencies, including the 0:16:22.080 --> 0:16:28.320 Air Force, FAA, and FBI, to discuss one topic, drones. 0:16:29.000 --> 0:16:31.480 I did everything I could to be there, but I 0:16:31.600 --> 0:16:35.760 wasn't allowed inside. The first piece of information to come 0:16:35.800 --> 0:16:39.280 out of the January sixth meeting was the following message 0:16:39.480 --> 0:16:43.640 posted to the Phillips County Sheriff's Office Facebook page. 0:16:43.840 --> 0:16:48.040 A strategy meeting was held today in Brush, Colorado, with federal, state, 0:16:48.120 --> 0:16:52.240 and local law enforcement agencies regarding the drone issue. None 0:16:52.280 --> 0:16:55.320 of the agencies can confirm that the drones are malicious. 0:16:55.680 --> 0:16:57.920 A task force has been organized and we are asking 0:16:57.920 --> 0:17:01.800 for your assistance. Specifically, we are looking for the command vehicle. 0:17:02.120 --> 0:17:05.439 We are looking for a closed box trailer with antennas 0:17:05.920 --> 0:17:08.040 or a large van that does not belong in the area. 0:17:08.840 --> 0:17:11.760 If you see anything that resembles this description, please call 0:17:11.800 --> 0:17:13.400 the Phillips County Sheriff's Office. 0:17:13.720 --> 0:17:17.919 Two days later, on January eighth, a separate message was 0:17:17.960 --> 0:17:19.720 shared on the same page. 0:17:19.840 --> 0:17:23.040 The information in the Phillips County Sheriff's Office previously posted 0:17:23.320 --> 0:17:27.040 requesting the public's assistance and locating command vehicles associated with 0:17:27.080 --> 0:17:30.680 the drone issue is no longer pertinent or irrelevant. The 0:17:30.720 --> 0:17:33.600 Phillips County Sheriff's Office is not the task force, and 0:17:33.600 --> 0:17:37.159 our jurisdiction does not extend past Phillips County, Colorado. We 0:17:37.200 --> 0:17:39.960 will no longer be making any statements or press releases 0:17:40.000 --> 0:17:41.679 about the drone incidents. Thank you. 0:17:42.680 --> 0:17:46.439 In the posted comments, many folks pose the same questions. 0:17:46.840 --> 0:17:50.240 Had someone told the Sheriff's department to retract the post? 0:17:50.680 --> 0:17:53.399 I was able to get Commander Smally to shed some 0:17:53.560 --> 0:17:54.800 light on the situation. 0:17:55.080 --> 0:18:00.359 Were you at that FAA task force meeting in Brush was? 0:18:00.680 --> 0:18:03.119 What was your takeaway from that and how did the 0:18:03.160 --> 0:18:05.640 whole task force help with the situation. 0:18:05.920 --> 0:18:09.240 We had a big, big turnout. People were getting scared. 0:18:09.320 --> 0:18:12.159 I mean, there was a guy from FAA there that 0:18:12.280 --> 0:18:15.160 said that they had reports of shots fired at drones. 0:18:15.680 --> 0:18:18.160 There was I guess the report that there was one 0:18:18.200 --> 0:18:21.840 shot down in Nebraska. Somebody admitted to it but later 0:18:21.880 --> 0:18:27.240 said he just wanted to attention on social media. That's right, 0:18:27.720 --> 0:18:30.960 So that didn't pan out. Sheriff Elliott and Phillips County 0:18:31.240 --> 0:18:33.960 had a report, you know, a couple of bands with 0:18:34.040 --> 0:18:37.560 a report of drones located at a gas station up 0:18:37.560 --> 0:18:40.920 there in Phillips County had a Nebraska license plate. They've 0:18:40.920 --> 0:18:43.399 had reports of a van in you Ma County. The 0:18:43.520 --> 0:18:46.880 driver didn't want to make any eye contact with the cops. 0:18:47.119 --> 0:18:48.600 You know, Oh, if I don't look at him, you 0:18:48.640 --> 0:18:49.159 won't see me. 0:18:50.040 --> 0:18:52.560 This sounded like a scene straight out of the Jason 0:18:52.640 --> 0:18:57.040 Bourne films. Only thing missing was the Treadstone logo branded 0:18:57.040 --> 0:18:58.400 on the side of those vans. 0:18:58.760 --> 0:19:01.320 Question came up, can they be controlled by his satellite? 0:19:01.600 --> 0:19:04.600 It's possible. They also talked about could this be a 0:19:04.640 --> 0:19:08.840 government agency that's doing this. Well, obviously everybody's denying that. 0:19:09.200 --> 0:19:12.440 I mean, we had guys from the FBI there, FAA, 0:19:13.000 --> 0:19:16.879 Homeland Security. The FBI says they have no information that 0:19:16.920 --> 0:19:17.720 this is occurring. 0:19:18.480 --> 0:19:21.440 With everyone at the meeting. Something had to have been 0:19:21.520 --> 0:19:25.360 said about that special plane used to search for drums. 0:19:25.760 --> 0:19:28.359 Colorado has what they call a multi mission aircraft, they 0:19:28.400 --> 0:19:33.639 call it an MMA, and it's utilized a lot for wildfires, 0:19:33.840 --> 0:19:35.800 so they can go out and map that by air. 0:19:36.240 --> 0:19:38.879 We thought, oh, this is this would be a good 0:19:39.240 --> 0:19:40.840 use for it. So they went out and flew this, 0:19:40.960 --> 0:19:43.040 I think for two nights and come up with nothing. 0:19:43.400 --> 0:19:46.720 They can pinpoint of a stray cap in the middle 0:19:46.720 --> 0:19:50.200 of a wildfire somewhere. Oddly enough, as our Air Force 0:19:50.240 --> 0:19:54.920 representative this meeting didn't seem to be a bit concerned 0:19:54.920 --> 0:19:59.520 about them, So that's odd. So we have more questions 0:19:59.520 --> 0:20:00.560 than answer here. 0:20:00.840 --> 0:20:03.600 Have you had any follow up from that task force meeting? 0:20:03.960 --> 0:20:05.040 Did the FAA. 0:20:04.720 --> 0:20:07.400 Follow up or did that kind of fizzle out. 0:20:07.280 --> 0:20:10.480 This thought, I mean fizzled out, and we haven't heard 0:20:10.520 --> 0:20:11.320 another peak pen. 0:20:13.040 --> 0:20:16.840 Following the meeting in Brush, the Colorado Department of Public 0:20:16.880 --> 0:20:21.720 Safety released a report breaking down the mysterious drone sightings. 0:20:22.080 --> 0:20:25.440 It was presented in two main parts. The first focused 0:20:25.440 --> 0:20:29.199 on all the reports received in Colorado, and the second 0:20:29.240 --> 0:20:34.480 analyzed data gathered during a field investigation. The information was 0:20:34.520 --> 0:20:37.680 a bit confusing. I did my best to break it down. 0:20:38.320 --> 0:20:43.120 From November twenty third to January thirteenth, twenty twenty, there 0:20:43.119 --> 0:20:47.480 were ninety drone reports. Of those, fourteen were confirmed to 0:20:47.520 --> 0:20:52.040 be hobbyist drones and none fit the description of large 0:20:52.080 --> 0:20:56.800 wingspan drones traveling in groups in eastern Colorado. When the 0:20:56.840 --> 0:21:01.720 Colorado Department of Public Safety conducted its field investigation from 0:21:01.800 --> 0:21:07.359 January sixth to January thirteenth, there were twenty three drone reports. 0:21:07.960 --> 0:21:11.639 Thirteen of those were determined to be planets, stars, or 0:21:11.680 --> 0:21:16.960 small hobbyist drones, six were ruled as atmosphereic conditions or airplanes, 0:21:17.560 --> 0:21:21.480 and four four were confirmed to be sightings of something, 0:21:22.160 --> 0:21:25.919 but officials weren't able to figure out what witnesses saw. 0:21:26.920 --> 0:21:31.880 Stan Hioke, the executive director, of the CDPs was quoted 0:21:31.880 --> 0:21:36.320 as saying, despite all of the reported activity, we're still 0:21:36.440 --> 0:21:40.760 unaware of any crime being committed. Well, I can't conclusively 0:21:40.800 --> 0:21:43.680 say that we've solved the mystery. We have been able 0:21:43.720 --> 0:21:46.199 to rule out a lot of the activity that was 0:21:46.280 --> 0:21:50.360 causing concern. Math may not have been my strongest subject 0:21:50.400 --> 0:21:53.119 in school, but I could tell there were still a 0:21:53.280 --> 0:21:57.520 large number of reports from before the CDPs field operation 0:21:58.240 --> 0:22:01.479 that didn't appear to be analyzed, and that was just 0:22:01.520 --> 0:22:06.320 in Colorado. Groups of mysterious aircraft continued to be seen 0:22:06.440 --> 0:22:11.439 nightly by hundreds, if not thousands of people through January fifteenth, 0:22:11.560 --> 0:22:17.560 twenty twenty. While sightings decreased after that, many folks continued 0:22:17.600 --> 0:22:21.760 to see weird objects in the night sky. I wasn't 0:22:21.800 --> 0:22:25.680 able to assess what I didn't know, but going forward, 0:22:26.119 --> 0:22:29.879 I couldn't rely on government agencies I'd connected with to 0:22:29.920 --> 0:22:35.080 share transparent information related to the sidings. Whether I wanted 0:22:35.119 --> 0:22:37.520 to admit it or not, it was time for me 0:22:37.600 --> 0:22:42.439 to stop covering this mystery and begin actively investigating it. 0:22:43.040 --> 0:22:46.439 I owed it to my hometown to get answers, and 0:22:46.520 --> 0:22:56.960 I wasn't stopping until I had them coming up on 0:22:57.160 --> 0:23:01.040 obscure invasion of the drums. 0:23:02.600 --> 0:23:06.359 Is that gunshots are He was saying, there were the 0:23:06.359 --> 0:23:08.320 ones you know that we're doing this stuff. 0:23:09.000 --> 0:23:10.520 Now something found out more from it, and they just 0:23:10.600 --> 0:23:10.840 kind of. 0:23:10.840 --> 0:23:14.600 Disappear, he wrote, rather than going out at night to 0:23:14.720 --> 0:23:17.600 look up at the lights, look at the ground to 0:23:17.640 --> 0:23:34.840 see what these drums are hunting. We want to hear 0:23:34.880 --> 0:23:38.920 from you if you have any information surrounding the events 0:23:39.080 --> 0:23:43.439 detailed in this podcast or other obscure stories in rural 0:23:43.480 --> 0:23:47.640 America we should look into. Please visit our website at 0:23:48.240 --> 0:23:54.360 obscurumseries.com and send us an email. To connect with us. 0:23:54.400 --> 0:24:03.040 On social media, you can follow @obscurum_series and @gabelenners on 0:24:02.040 --> 0:24:08.040 all social platforms. OBSCURUM is produced by Imagine and Lenners 0:24:08.200 --> 0:24:14.360 Entertainment for iHeartMedia. This series is written, hosted, and produced 0:24:14.400 --> 0:24:19.880 by Me Gabe Lenners. It's executive produced by Ron Howard, 0:24:20.480 --> 0:24:27.639 Brian Grazer, Carl Welker, Nathan Kloke, Nicki Etour and Me. 0:24:28.560 --> 0:24:34.480 Additional production by Jacob Plough. Music and sound effects courtesy 0:24:34.520 --> 0:24:40.120 of Epidemic Sound. Brand management and digital design by Labyrinth 0:24:40.240 --> 0:24:46.240 Brand Co. Video editing by Alex Semi Kopenko. This project 0:24:46.320 --> 0:24:51.080 was mixed and mastered by Jacob Plough. Special thanks to 0:24:51.200 --> 0:24:59.080 Dan Bodanski, Josh Hiller, Keeton Storts, Bryson Keyes, Ailey Birchfield, 0:24:59.720 --> 0:25:07.199 David Wasserman, Katrina Norvel and my family. OBSCURUM: Invasion of 0:25:07.240 --> 0:25:12.920 the Drones is available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 0:25:13.040 --> 0:25:18.399 or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. Follow now.