Dorchester Times: In Our Backyard: Who Or What Is Behind The Drones?

Monday, January 6, 2020

In Our Backyard: Who Or What Is Behind The Drones?

The drones have come to Dorchester. And it's about time that officials get to the bottom of this.

Tonight, the AP wire reports that the groups of drones have been spotted buzzing over much of Nebraska and eastern Colorado for weeks, unnerving residents. Supposedly, federal officials are working with state and local authorities to determine who is behind the mysterious nighttime flights.

These drones aren't your Wal-Mart specials flown by Billy Bob.

According to the AP, "the drones reportedly have 6-foot (2-meter) wingspans and fly in grid-like patterns hundreds of feet in the air in groups of six to 10. The Federal Aviation Administration, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Air Force and the U.S. Army Forces Command have said they do not have information about the aircraft."

Meanwhile, News Channel Nebraska reports: Residents of Fairbury and Jefferson County have reported seeing large, fixed wing, military-style drones. The first reported sightings were on Jan. 3, with several more on Jan. 4-5.

Jefferson and Saline County Emergency Manager John McKee says there have been anywhere from 10-15 of these aircraft spotted per night in the Fairbury area between Jan. 3-5.

There's also been reported sightings near Jansen, Harbine, Diller and Hebron since Sunday. There were some reported sightings in the Exeter, Strang and --yes -- Dorchester areas on Monday evening.

Judd Stewart, a volunteer firefighter with the Fairbury Rural Fire Department, is a registered drone pilot for Jefferson and Saline County Emergency Management. Stewart says the drones that he and his son Riley spotted near their property on Saturday night (Jan. 4) were nothing like the ones being used by local officials.

The FAA says it's taking the sightings seriously and working to find out who's operating the devices and why. Sheriff's officials say it appears that no laws are being broken.

Our thought: If Iran can take down a U.S. military drone, surely our state's National Guard can knock a few of these robotic birds from the sky to find out who's operating them -- and why?

We'd also like to see our state policymakers show a little more concern about this unsolved mystery. In case they haven't noticed, the war on terrorism has not come to an end.

5 comments:

AnonymousJanuary 6, 2020 at 11:26 PM
Well you see the skies are not owned by anyone, hence it is legal to fly in a majority of United States Airspace. It is also a felony to shoot down any aircraft whether it be a plane or even a drone.
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Terry G.January 7, 2020 at 11:19 AM
The truth is out THERE! 😁😁😁😁👽👽👽👽
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Dorchester: A Good Little Family Town

Dorchester, Nebraska (est. population 630) is located in northern Saline county. Close in proximity to Interstate 80, Dorchester is only 25 minutes from the state capital of Lincoln (est. population 250,000) and about 55 minutes from Omaha (metro population 725,000).

Dorchester's median resident age is 37 years. In 2005, Dorchester had a median family income of approximately $35,600. The median house value was about $63,000. About 95 percent of Dorchester residents commute to work via Interstate and highways.

The village has a quality public school, which received a $4.1 million expansion and modernization in 2008; it offers a small classrooms and individualized attention. Total enrollment of grades K-12 is around 230-250 students.

Ancestries of the Dorchester area are primarily German (42.4%), Czech (24.9%), Irish (12.5%), English (5.4%), and Dutch (4.9%).

Dorchester Historical Facts

* On July 4, 1871, the railroad reached Dorchester.
* Incorporated in 1881, Dorchester's population grew from 200 to 500 by 1882.
* In 1882, Dorchester had 90 buildings, 35 of which were businesses or public facilities. Brick buildings lined both sides of Washington Avenue for two blocks.
* Dorchester's longest-running newspaper was The Dorchester Star, which was published until the late 1940s.
* By 1889, Dorchester's population is said to have reached 800, while the town housed an opera house, a two-story brick schoolhouse with a bell tower, and four churches.
* By the 1910s, Dorchester had electricity, a water tower and a fire department.
* Dorchester's main arteries, Highways 6 and 33, were graveled in the 1940s.
* Dorchester's first irrigation well was drilled on Chris Weber's farm and rural electrification was finished following WWII.

A Village with History

Dorchester is one of the "alphabet towns" on the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad line built west from Lincoln. The town site was selected for its pleasant location in the northern part of Saline County, about eight miles west of Crete. This situation is an attractive one, being on the level prairie land, midway between the West Blue River and Turkey Creek. The first named stream is three miles north, and the latter about the same distance south from the town. Dorchester was platted in 1870 and incorporated in 1881. The name "Dorchester" came from either for a suburb of Boston by that name or a town in England. No one is sure. Two of the very first settlers were James Seely and Edward McIntyre, who both made Dorchester their permanent home.

Dorchester: In The Beginning

Here is a look at Dorchester around 1890, less than a decade after its official incorporation, as documented by Andreas' History of the State of Nebraska:
* POPULATION: "About 300, and is made up of a substantial and progressive class of citizens, who are moral and industrious. ... The town grew but very little until the year 1879, for the reason that Pleasant Hill, on Turkey Creek, a short distance south, was the county seat and naturally drew a trade for quite a large scope of country."
* BUSINESS: "The business and professional interests of the town are represented by three general merchandise stores, two drug, one grocery, one furniture, two hardware, and two millinery stores, one bank, two restaurants, two hotels, three livery stables, a post office, one newspaper office, two elevators, two lumber yards, two coal yards, two blacksmith shops, two lawyers and four physicians."
* SCHOOL: "The schoolhouse is a good one. The schoolhouse was built in 1872, since which time the public schools have been continually kept up. The present schoolhouse is 24' x 40' in size, two stories high. The school is graded and consists of three departments. The house is found too small, and arrangements will soon be made to increase its size."
* CHURCHES: "There are three substantial churches."
* HOMES: "The residence portion of the village is made up of neat houses of different styles of architecture, but none of them very large."
* NEWSPAPER: "The Dorchester Star, which was established August 21, 1881, by H. C. Bittenbender, who edited it until January 19, 1882, when he sold it to Ryerson & Bullock, the present proprietors. The Star is a bright weekly paper, five-column quarto, in size, and is Republican in politics."