It’s 6:36 p.m. on a chilly January night, and the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office is prepping for calls.
“Drone activity reported just now, Highway 71 and County Road 4D,” Deputy Justin Allen says in a text message to a Denver Post reporter, who’s on the hunt for drones hovering over the Eastern Plains.
On a desolate dirt road just north of Limon, the sky is lit by stars and a waxing crescent moon. Then, a small set of red-and-white lights blink rapidly, punctuating the rural Colorado landscape. The aerial object travels briskly across the sky at several hundred feet above the fields and wind turbines. Minutes later, another one creeps onto the horizon. And then another one.
The drones hover above a vast expanse of land outside a small, mostly empty Colorado town: Last Chance.
“We just coexist with them now,” said Lincoln County Capt. Michael Yowell. “You see ’em and just tip your cap.”
Colorado’s Eastern Plains are ground zero for one of the strangest phenomenon in the United States. Since mid-December, a legion of unexplained drones with 6-foot wingspans have flown the night skies over at least nine counties in eastern Colorado and western Nebraska, inspiring wild conspiracy theories, perplexing agencies and confounding citizens from around the world.
The Federal Aviation Administration and Colorado Department of Homeland Security are investigating the bizarre flights, as Gov. Jared Polis and U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Yuma, vow to get to the bottom of what has become a national mystery.
Read the full story from the Denver Post here.
