Over the past few weeks, law enforcement agencies have been bombarded with reports of mysterious drone sightings in the night sky over Nebraska and Colorado. In addition to the large number of reports, the drones seem to be operating in coordination with one another, appearing at the same time and flying in groups. Residents in Colorado, for example, have reported seeing groups of six to ten drones with six-foot wingspans hovering or cruising through their area between 7 and 10 pm, usually flying about a couple hundred feet in the air and sometimes in grid-like patterns. No one has come forward as the operator of the drones, prompting widespread speculation about what’s going on. Several companies and government agencies have said the drones don’t belong to them, including Amazon and U.S. military organizations. Local and federal authorities are investigating the reports and a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said the agency will be proposing a rule change that would allow law enforcement and federal security agencies to remotely identify drones that fly through their jurisdictions. Read more at The Denver Post, USA Today, and The New York Times.

If your utility has observed malicious or suspicious drone activity over its property, please report such incidents to WaterISAC via the online Confidential Incident Reporting Form or by contacting staff at analyst@waterisac.org or (866)H2O-ISAC. For drone activity that occurred over the past three months, from October to December 2019, your utility can also report these incidents as part of WaterISAC’s currently running Security Incident Survey.