Mysterious drone sightings were a dominant topic of discussion over the winter break as more than 5,000 sightings were reported across the country. According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the FBI, less than 100 of those sightings warranted investigation.
These sightings were described as mostly being legal drone activity, manned aircraft and even really bright stars. However, the concerns, and the belief that something secretive is going on, was real.
Troy University alum Vinh Hoang Tuan, who graduated last year with a computer science degree, was among those who saw an unexplained aerial object.
“I was driving home from work, then I saw on the left side a streak in the sky, so it could have been smoke from an airplane,” Tuan said. “I saw that a couple days earlier, people saw satellites burning through the sky, so I was just excited that I finally caught one.
“I have heard some of the information about the drones, and have listened to a fair share of stories, to say that I know there are things the government are not telling us commoners, and to be fair, I would freak out if I knew all of it.”
Retired U.S. Air Force Col. Al Allenback is a former fighter pilot and the program director from Troy University’s Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Program. Allenback sat down with the Tropolitan to share his insight into the ‘mysterious’ sightings. He also explains how these sightings emphasize the importance of UAS education.
“I think it was a lot of hysteria,” Allenback said. “The very first video I saw wasn't a drone at all – it was an actual manned aircraft . . . Unless it was some type of a military operation that the government doesn’t want to talk about, which is possible.”
Misunderstanding an aerial object, paired with the instantaneous of social media, can create an atmosphere of fear.
“Things in the sky, particularly at night, aren't always what they seem,” Allenback said. “There are stories of World War II of gunners shooting at the planet Venus . . . because they thought there were German night fighters.”
The Federal Aviation Administration is constantly developing laws and safeguards around drones. People should know it is illegal to shoot down a drone, and homeowners don’t own the airspace above their homes – it belongs to the government.
“We need to start getting used to seeing drones because there's over a million registered drones in the United States and upwards of 2 million drone operators,” Allenback said. “In 10 years, it'll be a $10 billion industry just in our country alone, and we're going to start seeing commercial entities like Amazon, Walmart or whoever making, deliveries with drones.”
The growing prevalence of drones, and the misinformation around them, is part of what makes Troy University’s UAS program so important.
“Awareness, and then the cooperation that goes along with that, will keep people from getting hurt,” Allenback said. “I can't imagine anything worse than somebody shooting down what they think is a drone, but it's got a person in it . . . that education we're giving our students at will help people understand drones a little bit better.”
Troy University’s UAS program is a minor that began in 2014 and has steadily been growing since. Housed within the College of Arts and Sciences, the classes are mostly online and include lessons on ethics, safety, operation management and more.
Every Spring semester, (UAS-2212) UAS Piloting Familiarization is offered in-person. The class is open for registration now and offers students the chance to use simulations, gain physical piloting skills and learn all of the information needed to pass the FAA Part 107 "Remote Pilot" certification. Many graduates of the program have earned their UAS piloting license and gone on to use drones in a variety of fields.
“Drones are ubiquitous,” Allenback said. “They're all over the place.
“They're in every career field you can imagine. We just saw them being used for firefighting in California. We've seen them being used in search and rescue, in agriculture, in media – you name it, drones are there. If you put your resume down and it's marked on there that, ‘hey, I've got a minor in unmanned aerial systems,’ that's going to separate you from the rest of the crowd.”
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