If there really are big drones flying about off the air traffic control networks - ie - unknown to them, there will be a mass of stored radar data in the records of the ATC people. There is no excuse for authorities to say they have no idea what they are. Of course, you can buy quite large hobby drones for not that much money. Who knows what some over-rich teenager is flying around at night?
Americans are in general totally paranoid about supposedly nefarious intrusions. The fuss last year about balloons was ridiculous. Anybody who thinks that the Chinese - who have landed rovers on the moon and on Mars need to fly a giant and obvious spy balloon over the USA to obtain information is an idiot. That balloon - certainly Chinese was a lost weather or science balloon not a spying attempt. Anyone who thinks the Chinese state is that inept and that stupid is SERIOUSLY underestimating their capability. Balloons blow where the wind takes them. It was all bo llox. I know they actually shot down an amateur radio balloon costing less than a hundred quid with a missile costing millions. I know this because a known amateur radio balloon which had already made several circumnavigations of the planet disappeared off air in the location and at the time when they fired the missile. It was two mylar toy balloons filled with hydrogen and a tiny transmitter weighing about two grams with a a few tiny solar cells. It had been aloft for weeks
qrp-labs.com
qrp-labs.com
Here is the selling page of the guy who makes the 1.7 gram computer and radio transmitter for these balloons. I've had one of them and it was able to be received over a thousand miles from my house with an antenna strung out down my garden from my bedroom window. It died when I made an alteration with the tiny surface mount circuit and fked the frequency synthesizer chip.
qrp-labs.com
qrp-labs.com