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99% chance it's an air force UAV. Look at the nearby Davis-Monthan Air Force base: https://www.google.com/maps/search/Davis-Monthan+Air+Force+Base/@32.1671006,

99% chance it's an air force UAV. Look at the nearby Davis-Monthan Air Force base: https://www.google.com/maps/search/Davis-Monthan+Air+Force+Base/@32.1671006,-110.8603368,2593m/data=!3m1!1e3 https://www.google.com/maps/search/Davis-Monthan+Air+Force+B... A plethora of planes, helicopters, and 3 big doppler radar domes. I guarantee the air force were tracking it, probably because it's their baby. The only reason we even heard about it is the police reports, and they weren't in the loop. The Air Force is not guaranteed to disclose what they do to the local cops, and might use them as a training exercise in fact.

nimbius 5y ago
this kind of wishful cheerleading feels more appropriate during an avengers movie. its equally plausible two local cops are just making up tall tales to justify getting a little wild during a certification flight in the event the locals lodge a complaint about the noise.
- bostonsre 5y ago
  There were two helicopters from separate organizations that were both chasing it.
ojbyrne 5y ago
It doesn’t completely disprove your theory, but that base is a well-known boneyard: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_boneyard https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_boneyard
- elihu 5y ago
  Yep, there's a museum there that'll take you on a bus tour of the boneyard (or at least, it did like 15 years ago or so when I was there). You can see a bunch of (I think) B-52's with their tails chopped off. Iirc, they did that to comply with arms reduction treaties with what was the Soviet Union. They left them out in the desert like that so that spy satellites (and now Google maps) can spot them and verify that, yes, those planes were really destroyed.
- NaturalPhallacy 5y ago
  A "boneyard" with three doppler radar stations with diameters close to half of a B-52's wingspan. They saw this UAV the whole time it was in their airspace or I have a bridge to sell you.
- himinlomax 5y ago
  Is it a boneyard, or is it just a boneyard?
ianhawes 5y ago
While it is certainly possible it’s military, I’d say it’s not as likely as you would think. Consider: 1. This drone does not fit the description of any known DOD drone, so you should assume it’s classified. The DOD is meticulous about only flying classified aircraft in restricted airspace where they can prevent prying eyes and inadvertent attention. Tucson is not immediately close to any of the usual hotspots for classified aircraft (Area 51 for example). 2. The article describes the drone buzzing the original CBP chopper as well as flying an orbit around the police helicopter. It is reasonable to suggest that a collision between the drone and either of those helicopters would be fatal for the pilot. No military pilot I know would ever create the type of risky scenario as described here. 3. Classified and unclassified aircraft are not just operated by a dude that hops into a plane or sits down at a drone console. They’re planned out. They’re also not operated in a vacuum. If your scenario of a classified drone operating in this airspace were true, and the drone was picked up by a friendly chopper, the operator would most likely immediately land safely and have someone reach out to the pilots and let them know not to mess with the aircraft. They would certainly not go rogue and risk a major accident or fatality. 4. I consider it highly unlikely the DOD would ever use other agency resources to unwittingly run training Ops. That seems like a career-ending move.
- v0x 5y ago
  I can't speak for the whole of DOD but there is serious consideration that goes into training flights, with respect to not violating any local laws and especially not fucking with local agencies. It would be unfathomable for this kind of thing to happen in a military training or testing exercise without a serious cascade of errors. Also, I would have to imagine that any supervisor involved would have immediately contacted the civilian agency involved to say "it's us, please back off."
  - LeonB 5y ago
    I think it’s worth looking into a possible involvement of naval pilots, as sometimes even the best of the best write cheques their body can’t cash or buzz the tower without clearance.
antattack 5y ago
100% chance it's made up since there's no video evidence. These days nothing happens w/o someone filming.
- Nobi7 5y ago
  Not that I believe these click garantueed UFO stories, but the other day I was trying to take a pic of butterflies literally 3 feet away and I barely got anything more than a smudge. Just saying quite hard taking pics of moving objects even though cameras are quite good...
  - yarcob 5y ago
    Especially at night, and the drone apparently only had a small light on it, so you'd probably make out nothing on the video.
    - antattack 5y ago
      Police had IR cameras yet could not pickup it's heat signature yet they were chasing a green light for the duration and speed only possible for jet propelled craft. Some UFO story.
- ALittleLight 5y ago
  The article doesn't say there is no video evidence. Seems like at least two separate helicopters saw and pursued it. The FBI have enough evidence to describe its size. They may have video they aren't sharing. Odd thing to make up.
  - shbooms 5y ago
    One of the articles[1] linked to in this article has scans of the Tucson PD's report which does state explicitly that there was no video evidence[2] [1] https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/41223/tucson-mystery-drone-was-not-like-any-other-police-had-ever-encountered https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/41223/tucson-mystery-d... [2] https://www.thedrive.com/content-b/message-editor%2F1624389084377-casesummary2.jpg https://www.thedrive.com/content-b/message-editor%2F16243890...
carabiner 5y ago
All major US cities are close to USAF bases. "use them as a training exercise" is ludicrous. The last thing a secret aircraft program needs is involvement from officers in public safety, whose job it is to publicize these events. You don't want your secret aircraft known to the public.
nradov 5y ago
Nope. The Air Force doesn't conduct unauthorized UAV flights in civilian airspace. They're paranoid about causing an embarrassing incident that gets a general hauled in to Congress for questioning.
- NaturalPhallacy 5y ago
  And the NSA does not spy on Americans.
- asdff 5y ago
  No way congress would do that if the matter is top secret
  - nradov 5y ago
    Congress has closed session hearings every week to discuss Top Secret issues.
- heyflyguy 5y ago
  Wish I could upvote this 100 times. Testing occurs with a manufacturer before it reaches unit level. No program manager or contract pilot is going to risk his ticket or the program integrity to do a test like this. Or worst of all, not get paid because of a program deviation or black mark. Once a vehicle reaches unit level it is typically in inventory with somewhat mundane and scripted test patterns for personnel to stay sharp. The guy saying he has (had?) a secret clearance and they do testing "except when they don't" want to follow the rules is watching too much Netflix.
baybal2 5y ago
> 99% chance it's an air force UAV. > Look at the nearby Davis-Monthan Air Force base The question is whose air force UAV?
jfrunyon 5y ago
Agreed. But for a completely different reason. This drone "violated restricted airspaces – including those of an Air Force base", not to mention the involvement of the CBP and local law enforcement, but I don't see any mention of the military being involved in the chase OR investigation. It's not like it would be the first time a military (or even the US military, probably) hid info from their civilian counterparts. (Of course, a much less cynical explanation is some sort of drug smuggling. How much batteries and drugs could you fit on a ~15sqft quadcopter?)
ithkuil 5y ago
What happens if a cop dies or causes harm to civilians while trying to chase a military UAV while being used as unwitting training material? This won't fly well morally
wydfre 5y ago
But I thought the local cops were always notified of test exercises. /s

nimbius 5y ago

this kind of wishful cheerleading feels more appropriate during an avengers movie. its equally plausible two local cops are just making up tall tales to justify getting a little wild during a certification flight in the event the locals lodge a complaint about the noise.

bostonsre 5y ago
There were two helicopters from separate organizations that were both chasing it.

ojbyrne 5y ago

It doesn’t completely disprove your theory, but that base is a well-known boneyard: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_boneyard https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_boneyard

elihu 5y ago
Yep, there's a museum there that'll take you on a bus tour of the boneyard (or at least, it did like 15 years ago or so when I was there). You can see a bunch of (I think) B-52's with their tails chopped off. Iirc, they did that to comply with arms reduction treaties with what was the Soviet Union. They left them out in the desert like that so that spy satellites (and now Google maps) can spot them and verify that, yes, those planes were really destroyed.
NaturalPhallacy 5y ago
A "boneyard" with three doppler radar stations with diameters close to half of a B-52's wingspan. They saw this UAV the whole time it was in their airspace or I have a bridge to sell you.
himinlomax 5y ago
Is it a boneyard, or is it just a boneyard?

ianhawes 5y ago

While it is certainly possible it’s military, I’d say it’s not as likely as you would think. Consider: 1. This drone does not fit the description of any known DOD drone, so you should assume it’s classified. The DOD is meticulous about only flying classified aircraft in restricted airspace where they can prevent prying eyes and inadvertent attention. Tucson is not immediately close to any of the usual hotspots for classified aircraft (Area 51 for example). 2. The article describes the drone buzzing the original CBP chopper as well as flying an orbit around the police helicopter. It is reasonable to suggest that a collision between the drone and either of those helicopters would be fatal for the pilot. No military pilot I know would ever create the type of risky scenario as described here. 3. Classified and unclassified aircraft are not just operated by a dude that hops into a plane or sits down at a drone console. They’re planned out. They’re also not operated in a vacuum. If your scenario of a classified drone operating in this airspace were true, and the drone was picked up by a friendly chopper, the operator would most likely immediately land safely and have someone reach out to the pilots and let them know not to mess with the aircraft. They would certainly not go rogue and risk a major accident or fatality. 4. I consider it highly unlikely the DOD would ever use other agency resources to unwittingly run training Ops. That seems like a career-ending move.

v0x 5y ago
I can't speak for the whole of DOD but there is serious consideration that goes into training flights, with respect to not violating any local laws and especially not fucking with local agencies. It would be unfathomable for this kind of thing to happen in a military training or testing exercise without a serious cascade of errors. Also, I would have to imagine that any supervisor involved would have immediately contacted the civilian agency involved to say "it's us, please back off."
- LeonB 5y ago
  I think it’s worth looking into a possible involvement of naval pilots, as sometimes even the best of the best write cheques their body can’t cash or buzz the tower without clearance.

antattack 5y ago

100% chance it's made up since there's no video evidence. These days nothing happens w/o someone filming.

Nobi7 5y ago
Not that I believe these click garantueed UFO stories, but the other day I was trying to take a pic of butterflies literally 3 feet away and I barely got anything more than a smudge. Just saying quite hard taking pics of moving objects even though cameras are quite good...
- yarcob 5y ago
  Especially at night, and the drone apparently only had a small light on it, so you'd probably make out nothing on the video.
  - antattack 5y ago
    Police had IR cameras yet could not pickup it's heat signature yet they were chasing a green light for the duration and speed only possible for jet propelled craft. Some UFO story.
ALittleLight 5y ago
The article doesn't say there is no video evidence. Seems like at least two separate helicopters saw and pursued it. The FBI have enough evidence to describe its size. They may have video they aren't sharing. Odd thing to make up.
- shbooms 5y ago
  One of the articles[1] linked to in this article has scans of the Tucson PD's report which does state explicitly that there was no video evidence[2] [1] https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/41223/tucson-mystery-drone-was-not-like-any-other-police-had-ever-encountered https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/41223/tucson-mystery-d... [2] https://www.thedrive.com/content-b/message-editor%2F1624389084377-casesummary2.jpg https://www.thedrive.com/content-b/message-editor%2F16243890...

carabiner 5y ago

All major US cities are close to USAF bases. "use them as a training exercise" is ludicrous. The last thing a secret aircraft program needs is involvement from officers in public safety, whose job it is to publicize these events. You don't want your secret aircraft known to the public.

nradov 5y ago

Nope. The Air Force doesn't conduct unauthorized UAV flights in civilian airspace. They're paranoid about causing an embarrassing incident that gets a general hauled in to Congress for questioning.

NaturalPhallacy 5y ago
And the NSA does not spy on Americans.
asdff 5y ago
No way congress would do that if the matter is top secret
- nradov 5y ago
  Congress has closed session hearings every week to discuss Top Secret issues.
heyflyguy 5y ago
Wish I could upvote this 100 times. Testing occurs with a manufacturer before it reaches unit level. No program manager or contract pilot is going to risk his ticket or the program integrity to do a test like this. Or worst of all, not get paid because of a program deviation or black mark. Once a vehicle reaches unit level it is typically in inventory with somewhat mundane and scripted test patterns for personnel to stay sharp. The guy saying he has (had?) a secret clearance and they do testing "except when they don't" want to follow the rules is watching too much Netflix.

baybal2 5y ago

> 99% chance it's an air force UAV. > Look at the nearby Davis-Monthan Air Force base The question is whose air force UAV?

jfrunyon 5y ago

Agreed. But for a completely different reason. This drone "violated restricted airspaces – including those of an Air Force base", not to mention the involvement of the CBP and local law enforcement, but I don't see any mention of the military being involved in the chase OR investigation. It's not like it would be the first time a military (or even the US military, probably) hid info from their civilian counterparts. (Of course, a much less cynical explanation is some sort of drug smuggling. How much batteries and drugs could you fit on a ~15sqft quadcopter?)

ithkuil 5y ago

What happens if a cop dies or causes harm to civilians while trying to chase a military UAV while being used as unwitting training material? This won't fly well morally

wydfre 5y ago

But I thought the local cops were always notified of test exercises. /s