What happened to the mysterious Colorado drones?

[9 NEWS]

Drone sightings have significantly dropped off, but we can’t definitively say why.

DENVER — It was only a few weeks ago that questions about mystery drones spotted in the sky above Colorado’s Eastern Plains dominated national headlines.

But, the updates about the drones – a mystery which prompted a task force involving dozens of agencies as well as private searches – have seemingly disappeared.

And so have the drones themselves. At least in one county. 

Next with Kyle Clark viewer named Patricia wanted to know if the lack of new information is “some kind of a cover-up?”

While we can’t say if that’s the case, what is known is that reported drone sightings have dropped off significantly. Is that because something was there and then left?

Or is it because state investigators determined that a good number of the drone reports weren’t actually unmanned aircraft systems, but rather stars or airplanes?

That’s one explanation offered by the Colorado Department of Public Safety (CDPS) on Jan. 13, when it issued a news release alleging that a vast majority of the drone reports it received weren’t mysterious at all and were likely already-identified objects in the sky. 

Nevertheless, the agency said it had been investigating drone sightings until Nov. 23. As for now? Morgan County Sheriff Dave Martin said he hasn’t received a single drone report in a week.

As of this writing, no one has come forward to claim the drones, which witnesses said were spotted flying in a grid-like pattern in counties across northeastern Colorado and southwestern Nebraska.  

9NEWS contacted the Air Force as well as companies like Google, Amazon and Uber – which have waivers to fly at night and outside the line of sight. None of these entities said the drones were theirs.

Gov. Jared Polis (D-Colorado) and Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colorado) also issued statements expressing concerns about the drones. Gardner’s spokesperson said he met with the Morgan County sheriff regarding drone activity on Jan. 17, and that same day, he also discussed drones with Liteye Systems in Centennial. 

The public can still continue to submit their drone sightings at this link, though the CDPS is no longer doing proactive investigations: http://bit.ly/35JtSGQ

By Allison Sylte