Drones over my house last night?

In reply to DirtyBird222 :

The FAA considers a drone "aircraft". There can be huge consequences for taking one down  

Two nights in a row I e watched them. They're making a pattern as if they are not being controlled by a person on the ground but more autonomous. All information I can find is that Whitestown has a drone program to assist with crowds at large events, traffic monitoring , accident investigation and missing persons/pursuits. All of these require an officer to launch and control. 
 

I know this all sounds like paranoia but it's more concern and curiosity. This is a town known to overstep their bounds at every opportunity and we aren't even part of their jurisdiction. What are these things doing? It feels like a 4th amendment encroachment and a serious violation of privacy by a govt entity. 
 

I just want answers damnit! Also to note there is no public tracking of municipal drones. 
 

edit: I figured with the vast knowledge base we have here someone would know something about this. Otherwise I wouldn't say anything because they're always watching.........

Document and call the faa. Also report to local police. Were there lights on the drones?  FAA requires lights on drones flown at night that are visible for 2 miles. 

In reply to dean1484 :

Yes these are all running the navigational lights as you'd see in an aircraft 

Looks like WPD was quoted just under $8k per drone last year. If they actually spent that money, they're going to want to get some use  out of them. Your hard earned tax dollars at work of course.

I also saw a thread on an "Indiana boomstick forum" about this topic. I didn't open it, but if you didn't post that as well it might be an interesting read.

STM317 said:

Indiana boomstick...

... is Bob's p0rn name!

In reply to STM317 :

ITS MINE. 

dculberson said:

You've talked about the development going on in your area before - any chance it was a survey / research thing for further development? Building warehouses and distribution centers is expensive, maybe they're just making long term plans.

This!

Just had a survey and energy assessment at a site. Drone mounted thermal cameras view any heat spikes on roof units and any cold air leakage on building exterior. Also take photos of LEDs on posts at each meets and bounds point. 

Or Amazon drone shipment testing? 

If they're Considered aircraft, there are rules about how low they can be and how close to obstacles.

In reply to Advan046 :

At night? Seems there would be limited usage there for that. None of the area is up for development, is not for sale and is currently zoned (and staying that way according to the town council) as farmland/rural. 

In reply to bobzilla :

Maybe I misunderstood I thought they were flying over Amazon warehouses. As I understand, the night flights were to assist with the heat camera not seeing the sun's reflecting energy and the bounds leds are used to help confirm position to correlate back to the survey work done in the daytime. 

I will ask my coworker for more details. 

The first time I saw this was with a drone blimp that was very closely orbiting an office tower. It was spooky. 

In reply to Advan046 :

They are all over the area. Warehouses, farmland, subdivisions etc but only at night. No sightings during actual daylight hours 

So why don't you just stop in to the local police  and ask what's up with the drones?  

914Driver said:

If they're Considered aircraft, there are rules about how low they can be and how close to obstacles.

Nope, the limit is the height. 400' AGL (assuming class G airspace), or 400' above a structure or obstacle, but only within 300' of said obstacle. 
yes, it is an aircraft and if you shoot at it, spray water at it, point a laser at it, or in ANY other way impede it's flight the FAA can come at you as of you did the same thing to a 747 loaded with passengers. 
I had a redneck taking shots at one of my drones. I got it on video and called the cops for the immediate safety concern, and called the FAA. I'm sure they paid him a scary, and official visit. I went back to the area 2 weeks later to re-shoot the job and had no issues.
Think about it. Once you do something to it, the drone will likely not be under the pilots control. That means it could come down on a person, or in a roadway causing an accident. Or if there is suddenly a medical or police chopper in the sky the drone can't safely get out of the way. 
I've been on a few jobs where my spotter or scanner has picked up a life-flight in the area and, even if I can't see the aircraft I have to get out of the sky until it's clear. I landed in backyard of people I didn't know that were a mile from where I was.

NOHOME said:

are there any limits to how much u invade a persons privacy using drone technology? 

with todays imaging technology I don't have to be anywhere near your open windows to see what u and the fam are up to  I I assume that is all legal?

It's not illegal to fly over any property other than government buildings, us post offices, or national parks. In your yard you do not have an expectation of privacy from a drone. Also, something I hear a lot and will take this opportunity to clarify is this: you do not own, or have control of the airspace above your property. 
and as far as peeping tom, the rules apply to drones the same as ladders or any other means of getting a pervert's vantage point.  That being said, you have to just about have the props touching the windows to see anything inside. 
Here's an early video I shot for a real estate client. I didn't fly up to the windows, but I think you can see that you're not going to see much.....unless it's nighttime and the lights are on inside.  
Link

Yeah, the rules aren't great for anyone. There's LOTS of stupid rules remote pilots have to follow that are either dumb, or unsafe. But there are also things like privacy inside a home, that NEED to be clarified. But the FAA doesn't care. They are owned by walmart, google, and other companies that are currently purchasing our airspace for their use.

Someone thought they spotted a bunch of UFOs over some local greenhouses at night about ten years ago.

Turned out to be pigeons flying over the lighted greenhouses.

Lack of depth perception because of the darkness made their movements seem very erratic.

dean1484 said:

So why don't you just stop in to the local police  and ask what's up with the drones?  

Mostly because they are a bunch of dicks that don't like being questioned by peons. 

At least it isn't helicopters at 12 am because of the E36 M3 head kids causing problems around the neighborhood. 

Thankfully, they haven't messed with us since I ran out into the front yard with a baseball bat telling them to stay the berkeley out of my mailbox. Although they did rip down one of "BEWARE OF DOG" signs on the opposite fence while we were in Vegas. 

Our local county fair had an exhibitor showing off new DJI ag drones-- huge!

Hard to scale from pictures, but folded up, they'd pretty much fill the bed of a pickup truck.