Got to call 
on this story.
The controller said that the pilot described it as âsilver in colour and definitely not a birdâ.
Sounds like a balloon to me.
âInvestigators were unable to confirm that the object was a drone due to a lack of evidenceâ
So there we have it then?
They make the headline up, then print the above in the article. It was also descrbed as a dark object, then as a silver object that glinted in the sky?
This is the thing yesterday myself, done a flight in between Gatwick & Heathrow, although I did not really need to I did submit a flight report out of courtesy because of the area, my max altitude was 396 feet but I did wonder to myself, given where I was & with the planes I could hear flying over the top of me ( which was very daunting ) , also the few helicopters above as well, I wondered if I was going to get reported even tho all was legal, itâs not something I do often or if at all flying near airports, or in flight paths & I can say is not one I feel to comfortable with & will always try to avoid where possible,
So when you see things like the post above it really puts me off more, yep itâs ok if you have all your flight logs & data etc if mr plod turns up, but all in all itâs a headache many of us Iâm sure could well do without these days getting nicked & especially if or when innocent.
At 300mph, the pilot would have had less than 1/300 of a second to identify something the size of a Phantom 4, and about 1/500 of a second for a Mini 3 Pro, and at 16 ft distance theyâd have no chance of seeing anything at that speed. Youâve only got to look whoâs reporting it (Mai) to see itâs a load of shite (again).
300mph = 134 metres/sec.
There are those (
) that canât see their own drone at 500m when they know itâs there and theyâre looking in the right direction to find it.
If you arenât expecting it, I doubt youâd see it until it was about 200m away (probably a lot less) and youâd only see it for 1.5 secs before it was no longer visible from the cockpit.
So âŚ
IF ⌠(and thatâs as big an âifâ as we can create here!) ⌠it passed the plane at 16ft* and IF youâd spotted it at 200m letâs consider what happens on the flight-deck âŚ
0.00 secs - Pilot 1 thinks he sees something
0.50 secs - Pilot 1 slightly more certain he sees something
0.75 secs - Pilot 1 thinks âItâs coming straight at meâ and decides to duck
1.25 secs - Pilot 1 is in the early stages of ducking
1.50 secs - something goes past the cockpit window - but Pilot 1 never sees that because heâs well into his ducking by now.
2.00 secs - Pilot 1 is fully ducked
4.99 secs - Pilot 2 âWassup? 
What you doing down there?â
Yeah - could have been a lesser-spotted flying wombat âŚtheyâd be none the wiser. 
*16ft - thatâs very precise - how do you determine anything in that flash of a second - whilst ducking ⌠etc.
If a pilot wants to see a drone, he will see a drone, irrespective of what the object really was.
We had a âUFO Investigatorâ that used to wobble around this area, and everything was an extraterrestrial spaceship, be that planes, pigeons, footballs, small children on trampolines, to him even when the evidence to the contrary was as plain as a Bulgarian Pin-Up.
In the early 90âs The BBC produced a documentary featuring another nutjob by the name of Jenny Randells. Our local hero in his own teatime was also featured in this documentary. In one scene they are on Ilkley Moor looking East when they claim to see a âday light discâ descending in the distance. The next day they travel to where they believed ET landed and found my former place of work. Thatâs when the rumours that we were involved in alien vivisection and backward engineering started. However the date of their observation was July 4th, and the base was involved in celebrations. Two of the treats laid on were helicopter and balloon rides. After this we had all kinds of space cadets amassing outside the main gate along with the peace protestors.
What Iâm saying is if something is obviously everyday and mundane in nature just make shit-up, someone else out there will share your inability to grasp reality, and might even reward your ineptitude.
Yep, see something going past at 300mph at 5000 ft. Ooh thatâs a drone. More likely to have been a helium filled balloon ( chances of bringing an aircraft down, zero )
Same as a lot of subjects âreportedâ by the ânewsâ. Sensationalised, tossers arenât theyâŚ
Headlines sell, thatâs all they are interested in.
Agreed, obviously hogwash! No battery in existence would take you to 15,000 feet and back. The pilot wouldnât have a hope in hell of seeing and identifying it!
This guy went 10km up
Jeez, I had no idea, obvs! It has to be the most boring flying youâd ever do!
@eastsuffolkdrone until you kill the motors at 30,000ft and let the drone free fall 29,000ft before starting them again with just 1,000ft to go 
A bone stock DJI FPV will do 4500m, Iâd imagine with some steeper pitched props itâd do more
Yes, something I wasnât aware you could do. Iâd like to see someone with a ânormalâ drone try it!
You can stop the motors in flight, and restart them, on your ânormalâ Mini.
We look forward to the video. 
@OzoneVibe 
nope, not me unless I see someone else do it!
From 400ft you have a whole 5 seconds to restart them.