A still of one of the drones captured by Omaha NBC affiliate WOWT, brightness and contrast adjusted
A group of UFO (Unidentified Flying Object) chasers from Wichita, Kansas could possibly have been responsible for the mysterious drone sightings that have been reported across Colorado, Kansas and Nebraska.
Michael Spicer of Durango, Colorado, told the Journal-Advocate late Friday afternoon that a group known as ArchAngleRECON from Wichita has been chasing what he believes is the mysterious “unidentified aerial phenomenon” first encountered by a Navy fighter pilot in 2004.
Spicer said his group was trying to track what they believe is a new technology aircraft some have dubbed the TicTac because that’s how it was described in the Navy reports. He said not only was his group tracking the so-called TicTac itself, but also another aircraft they believe was flying underneath it.
Spicer said he couldn’t confirm that all of the stories people told about drones could be attributed to ArchAngelRECON’s flights, but did say the group sends up flights of between six and 12 drones that fly patterns based on longitude and latitude, which was why they appeared to be flying a “grid pattern.”
Residents of northeast Colorado began reporting nighttime drone flights in late December. Reports were so numerous that at one point a task force was formed to investigate Most speculation centered on some kind of government project; one theory even included a hunt for a missing nuclear warhead from one of the many intercontinental ballistic missile sites that dot the prairies of Wyoming, Colorado and Nebraska.
Authorities said they believed the mystery drones had been flown over local hospitals and the Sterling Municipal Airport, and a Flight for Life helicopter pilot reported a near-miss with what he believed was a drone over Morgan County less than two weeks ago.
Spicer said the group was unaware of the stir caused by drones until he was contacted recently by the Federal Aviation Administration. He said he was interviewed by special Agent Michael Bumberger of the FAA’s Investigations and Law Enforcement Assistance Program. He said none of ArchAngelRECON’s drones were ever flown anywhere near any airport, and they did not encounter any other civilian aircraft.
“If there was any interference with any other aircraft, that absolutely was not ours,” he said.
Source: Journal Advocate