Police Helicopter Crew Says Mysterious Craft They Chased Was “Not Like Any Other” Drone
June 23rd, 2021This is extraordinarily strange.
What quad or hex copter is going to maintain 100mph (into 40mph headwinds) for over and hour and climb to 14,000 feet???
Via: The Warzone:
In February 2021, what was described as a “highly modified drone” was able to evade and outrun helicopters operated by both U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Tucson Police Department (TPD) after entering sensitive airspace. An FBI investigation was announced shortly after, in which the bureau sought the public’s help for information related to the case. The War Zone has now obtained the TPD’s official Case Summary Report from the incident, which shows the air crews aboard the two helicopters that chased the drone were mystified by the capabilities it displayed.
The drone was first spotted above fuel tanks just west of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, and flew into controlled airspace surrounding the base and Tucson International Airport after the TPD and CBP helicopters began their pursuit. The law enforcement helicopters followed the drone northwest out of the city before losing it in the clouds around 14,000 feet.
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The Case Summary also confirms our earlier reporting that the drone featured a single green light on its underbody and was difficult for the TPD helicopter’s spotter to observe through night vision goggles.
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The report’s “Supplement Notes” section was authored by the helicopter’s pilot and details the coordination between the TPD, Tucson Air Traffic Control (ATC), and the CBP helicopter crew. The TPD helicopter pilot wrote that the crew “had hoped the uas would exhaust its battery reserves and be forced to land,” but that “unfortunately, this was not the case.”
The pilot also stated that the drone “was very sophisticated/specialized and able to perform like no other uas” he had observed previously, able to fly circles around his helicopter as the TPD pursued it up to 14,000 feet at speeds “well in excess of 100mph.” The pilot also felt that it was “obvious that the controller had clear sight of both the helicopters tracking it by the way it would orbit us and abruptly fly behind us and attempt to avoid our visual contact.”
The ‘green light’ got me thinking. A beacon for a ground-based laser/maser remote charging system?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FW8KbDfwgx8