On December 23, 2019 the Denver Post ran a story about “a band of large drones” that had been spotted in the skies over Phillips and Yuma counties in northeast Colorado. Thomas Elliott, the Sheriff of Phillips County had this to say about the fleet of drones: “The drones stay about 200 feet to 300 feet in the air and fly steadily in squares of about 25 miles, he said. There are at least 17 drones; they emerge each night around 7 p.m. and disappear around 10 p.m.” That's an eerie description, but then again, the whole thing is kind of creepy.
The press interviewed the local authorities, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Army, the Department of Defense, and the Air Force. None of them claimed ownership of the drones and all them said they had no idea what was going on.
In the weeks since the initial sighting, we’ve learned....nothing else. After more sightings, reports, and failed attempts to record or photograph the drones, the Colorado Department of Public Safety flew an airplane over the area in question capable of detecting heat signatures below. After an almost five hour flight, they had nothing to show for it. They couldn't find a fleet of drones or any evidence to support there ever even being a fleet of drones. Nothing.​
That’s not to say this is some hoax or all the eyewitness accounts are wrong; far be it for me to question their experiences from my secret underground bunker here in Nashville. But this lack of evidence has not been lost on drone hobbyists and advocates. They have seen this play before.
There is a long history of the media accepting drone sighting claims at face value, without much fact-checking going on, only for investigators to later determine that whatever was seen was not a drone at all. In fact, only about 3.5% of all reported aviation drone near misses are actually drones. So, if aviation officials can't even get it right, why should we think that civilians can?
The theories surrounding the fleet of drones abound. They range from drone enthusiasts playing a huge prank to terrorists scoping out our nuclear missile silos to the US Government desperately seeking out lost nuclear warheads to, yes, aliens. As for me, well let's just say that you'll have to listen to the podcast to learn what (or who?) is behind the mysterious Colorado drones.