what Is a bird? What about a plane? No. Are drones, many of them with flashing lights and large and small, up nearly two meters. And no one knows who controls them or what they fly over these nights, the green grasslands of northeast Colorado and western Nebraska, in the united States.

The warning calls are going on in the offices of the sheriff of the area. The concern spread out among the rural populations affected. Social networks and the local press echoed the alarm. And even some local authorities have been forced to remember that shooting at drones is a federal crime. But no one has yet taken up with an explanation.

“Our office has received numerous calls of sightings of drones over our county. To date, we don’t know who is responsible for the flight of these drones and who is its owner. A lot of people claim to having seen them on their properties. Our agents have also been seen. Please, be patient and let our research efforts to find an explanation,” said Dave Martin, sheriff of Morgan county, Colorado, in a note published on Facebook on the last day of the year, in which he asks the neighbors to send him pictures and videos of the drones to help in the investigation.

Circulating theories of all kinds. Since it is Amazon testing a new delivery system until it comes to a mexican cartel drugs, from, of course, by an expedition of alien. Among the hypotheses most widespread is that are part of an examination of the ground by an oil company, or gas. But the fact that they fly at night just to make ends meet.

Among the hypotheses most widespread is that are part of an examination of the ground by an oil company, or gas. But the fact that they fly at night just to make ends meet

This type of drone is used since years for a variety of activities, such as mapping, photography, or agriculture. The problem with drones is that they are difficult to identify. Federal regulations in force from 2015, operators of the artifacts from a certain size to register, but there is a registration that allows to easily connect to the drone with its owner. Just last week, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA, for its acronym in English), proposed a new regulation that would require that the drones are distinguishable. The own FAA has opened an investigation into the mysterious flights in Colorado and Nebraska.

The sightings began in mid-December, and have occurred in various counties. The agents have tried to follow the drones, according to the local press, but whenever they approached these escaped in another direction. Authorities warn that, despite the unusual situation, this is not something necessarily illegal. “It is simply strange that nobody has come out to say ‘we are us’, or has assumed responsibility drones”, explained in the Akron News Reporter, newspaper of the county of the same name in Colorado, the deputy sheriff Robbie Furrow.

on Monday, 6 January, reports the Denver Post, has convened a meeting between the sheriff, police departments, and federal agencies to put in common their to-date unsuccessful searches. “We are confident that this meeting will provide some answers, or at least contributes to the development of a plan to identify who is in control of the drones,” he said on Facebook the sheriff of the county of Yuma, Todd Combs. “I think we all feel a little vulnerable to the intrusion into the privacy we enjoy in our rural community, but I don’t have a solution nor do I know any of these moments. All I can tell you is that you do not live your life with the fear of the unknown”, he concluded.