Case · C-086

Colorado and Nebraska: nighttime formations of alleged drones

Northeastern Colorado and western Nebraska · United States · Dec 2019 – Jan 2020

In flight Mixed witness types Video

What happened

Between December 2019 and January 2020, residents and sheriffs on the plains of northeastern Colorado and western Nebraska reported at night groups of aircraft with flashing lights that appeared to move in a grid pattern. On January 6, 2020, more than 70 federal, state and local agencies, including the FBI, the Air Force and the FAA, met in Brush; the FAA checked that neither drone companies nor test sites in the area were responsible. In mid-January Colorado scaled back the searches, attributing most of the verified reports to celestial bodies, aircraft and hobbyist drones.

Proposed explanation

The investigation by the Colorado Department of Public Safety (January 6–13, 2020) attributed 13 of 23 reports to planets, stars or small hobbyist drones and 6 to atmospheric conditions or airliners; in 4 cases the officers confirmed they had seen something without identifying it. The operators of the formations described by the sheriffs in December have not been identified.

Official investigation

FAA; FBI; U.S. Air Force; Colorado Department of Public Safety; sheriffs' offices

Sources

1. The Denver Post, “Colorado Department of Public Safety to scale back search for mysterious drones”, January 13, 2020 (press)
2. VICE, “The Colorado Mystery Drones Weren't Real”, January 29, 2020 (press)
3. Wikipedia – 2019–20 Colorado drone sightings (other)

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