DJI Mavic, Air and Mini Drones
Friendly, Helpful & Knowledgeable Community
Join Us Now

Captured unusual activity with my drone

I had a strange experience yesterday when I was out flying my MM in an abandoned golf course. When I do get to fly it is often at this course because it's a large property without the fear of flying over people, cars or homes, etc. At most it will have walkers, joggers and the occasional golf cart on the paths. Anyway, as I was flying I was startled as a car drove past me on the old cart path - there are never cars on the path. My immediate thought was someone was out joy riding. Since I had the drone up in the air, I started to follow the car to see what was going on, but then it just got more bizarre as the driver stopped about a quarter mile away to stash something in the woods. I might have been naive, but at this point I didn't suspect anything criminal was going on, so unfortunately never flew low enough to get a good shot of the license plate. Maybe if I was flying my M2P it would have had a good enough image to make out the numbers from where I was hovering, but then again, they might have noticed it up in the air. Not getting the plates was my big regret.

After "the suspect left the scene" I walked down to see what was left behind and found a brand new Ryobi power washer with store tags still attached, so naturally I called the police. A half hour or so later they came out and I showed them the video and we walked out to look at the site. They picked up the washer, inspected the area a little bit more and called in to see if anyone or the local Lowes had reported any missing merch. You can also see in the video at the 2:20 mark, the person throws something into the field before they get back into the car, so the two officers and I walked around the field for a few minutes to see what he might have thrown, but unfortunately didn't find anything. I may go back with a metal detector later. I AirDropped the video to them for evidence (after showing them how AirDrop works :cool: ), and I heard one officer tell the other how strange this call was. Glad it wasn't just me.

It certainly was one of the more exciting flights I've had! I'd be interested in hearing if anyone else had any similar experiences like this.

Video:

Power washer:

Ryobi brand sold exclusively at Home Depot
 
  • Like
Reactions: Garbage
Talking about unusual activities, last week flying around I seen what looks like a police car far away where no cars where allowed and when i get closer i see about 7 persons at the end of what we call fingers. What a surprise in the water. I have no idea how that SUV end up in the water. I recorded this with my Mavic Air 2 from 390 ft high 1080p 4X zoom since i do not want to interference with police activity.
 
i see about 7 persons at the end of what we call fingers.

Must have been the middle one because they are fudged. ?
 
I had a strange experience yesterday when I was out flying my MM in an abandoned golf course. When I do get to fly it is often at this course because it's a large property without the fear of flying over people, cars or homes, etc. At most it will have walkers, joggers and the occasional golf cart on the paths. Anyway, as I was flying I was startled as a car drove past me on the old cart path - there are never cars on the path. My immediate thought was someone was out joy riding. Since I had the drone up in the air, I started to follow the car to see what was going on, but then it just got more bizarre as the driver stopped about a quarter mile away to stash something in the woods. I might have been naive, but at this point I didn't suspect anything criminal was going on, so unfortunately never flew low enough to get a good shot of the license plate. Maybe if I was flying my M2P it would have had a good enough image to make out the numbers from where I was hovering, but then again, they might have noticed it up in the air. Not getting the plates was my big regret.

After "the suspect left the scene" I walked down to see what was left behind and found a brand new Ryobi power washer with store tags still attached, so naturally I called the police. A half hour or so later they came out and I showed them the video and we walked out to look at the site. They picked up the washer, inspected the area a little bit more and called in to see if anyone or the local Lowes had reported any missing merch. You can also see in the video at the 2:20 mark, the person throws something into the field before they get back into the car, so the two officers and I walked around the field for a few minutes to see what he might have thrown, but unfortunately didn't find anything. I may go back with a metal detector later. I AirDropped the video to them for evidence (after showing them how AirDrop works :cool: ), and I heard one officer tell the other how strange this call was. Glad it wasn't just me.

It certainly was one of the more exciting flights I've had! I'd be interested in hearing if anyone else had any similar experiences like this.

Video:

Power washer:
I would have tried to conceal my drone behind the cover of the trees a little. I dont know how quiet the Mini is but im sure much quieter than the Mavic Air, but ya did a goog job getting out of his field of vision when he got back in the car
 
Actually in my opinion I found the most quiet of my drones is the Mavic Air 2. The mini is small but is loud.
 
I'm sure some people will want to attack me for posting the following question (those people can STFU) but it what you did "surveilling" someone, and technically illegal?
Says who?

If you're not intruding on their reasonable sense of privacy, then there is no crime committed.

If I could have seen what he made no effort to hide, with my own eyes, there's no harm no foul.

Nowadays one of the first things you should do is look up. You never know who's watching. I also caught a guy with a "lady of the night"... I orbited them a few times (they were in his truck), got lower and closer with each pass until they took off lol.







somebody please correct me if I'm wrong
 
Great Story. It's possible to capture a photo from video. From there, it may be possible to use Photoshop to read the license plate by enhancing and sharpening the photo.
I think that's just something they do on TV and in he movies. If the data isn't on the picture you can't "enhance" it enough to read anything using Photoshop. The FBI and NSA may have this ability but I can't do it with Photoshop.
 
Wow.. That's funny. I'm amazed that you were able to hover that close and the guy never heard the drone. Would have been just hilarious if you would have buzzed him while he was driving away. ;-)
 
Pretty interesting story. Right place at the right time lol
I can't believe that guy didn't hear your drone. I can hear my props even when it's 400' above me, especially when ascending/descending.

You would be surprised how close you can get without someone noticing, as long as they are not listening for it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: itsneedtokno
If the guy sees the video I bet he's feeling reaaaally dumb... I mean he's right there in plain view, doing the stuff he hoped no one would see... Also I can't believe he didn't see the bird. You were RIGHT THERE. I bet no higher than 100 feet... 150 maybe...wow!
 
Another for your viewing pleasure... I was out with my then new M2Z trying to figure out why I couldn't Yaw in RTH (Found out the hidden toggle in Go 4 on this trip) I had no purpose to "engage" target other than that is a local church parking lot, and nobody should have been in that lot. As the Zoom was new I gave the dial a twist on them.

It wasn't till a bunch of my buddies watched this video did they ask and speculate on what was going on with "them". I just said it looked like a Craigslist drop off, or husband/wife drop off for lunch....Could have been anything...but as it was I hit RTH and tested my yaw and was just happy I found the RTH yaw had been reestablished. ;) As a joke I went back and added the "Spy" music track :)

 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Otisangb
I had a strange experience yesterday when I was out flying my MM in an abandoned golf course. When I do get to fly it is often at this course because it's a large property without the fear of flying over people, cars or homes, etc. At most it will have walkers, joggers and the occasional golf cart on the paths. Anyway, as I was flying I was startled as a car drove past me on the old cart path - there are never cars on the path. My immediate thought was someone was out joy riding. Since I had the drone up in the air, I started to follow the car to see what was going on, but then it just got more bizarre as the driver stopped about a quarter mile away to stash something in the woods. I might have been naive, but at this point I didn't suspect anything criminal was going on, so unfortunately never flew low enough to get a good shot of the license plate. Maybe if I was flying my M2P it would have had a good enough image to make out the numbers from where I was hovering, but then again, they might have noticed it up in the air. Not getting the plates was my big regret.

After "the suspect left the scene" I walked down to see what was left behind and found a brand new Ryobi power washer with store tags still attached, so naturally I called the police. A half hour or so later they came out and I showed them the video and we walked out to look at the site. They picked up the washer, inspected the area a little bit more and called in to see if anyone or the local Lowes had reported any missing merch. You can also see in the video at the 2:20 mark, the person throws something into the field before they get back into the car, so the two officers and I walked around the field for a few minutes to see what he might have thrown, but unfortunately didn't find anything. I may go back with a metal detector later. I AirDropped the video to them for evidence (after showing them how AirDrop works :cool: ), and I heard one officer tell the other how strange this call was. Glad it wasn't just me.

It certainly was one of the more exciting flights I've had! I'd be interested in hearing if anyone else had any similar experiences like this.

Video:

Power washer:

Dood!

The good: Most interesting, fascinating drone story I have ever read! Nice!

The bad: Smugjug???? WTF??? 2 seconds plays. Wait. 3 seconds plays. Wait. 2 more seconds play. Wait. Horrid. Put your video on YouTube or Vimeo. smugjug is crap and makes you appear poor.

1602890264932.png

My machine:

1602890350006.png

My Internet:

1602890427997.png

Good job getting video! Great story! Smugjug = ghetto.

D
 
Dood!

The good: Most interesting, fascinating drone story I have ever read! Nice:

The bad: Smugjug???? WTF??? 2 seconds plays. Wait. 3 seconds plays. Wait. 2 more seconds play. Wait. Horrid. Put your video on YouTube or Vimeo. smugjug is crap and makes you appear poor.

View attachment 115118

My machine:

View attachment 115119

My Internet:

View attachment 115120

Good job getting video! Great story! Smugjug = ghetto.

D
Video played fine for me on my iPhone XMax.
Interesting.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Garbage and MA2 317
  • Like
Reactions: Thomas B
Lycus Tech Mavic Air 3 Case

DJI Drone Deals

New Threads

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
131,110
Messages
1,559,925
Members
160,087
Latest member
O'Ryan