'They don't know what they are' | Safety concerns rising after drones shut down Wright-Patterson airspace

EVENDALE, Ohio — After mysterious drone sightings were first spotted in the Northeast last week, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base here in Ohio had to temporarily shut down its airspace due to drones flying in the area.

The media outlet "The War Zone" obtained a reported radio call between the base's tower and a medical transport aircraft.

"Use extreme caution for heavy UAS movement on the base, security forces is handling the situation," could be heard on the call. "Your transition is still approved however Patterson Class Delta is sterilized as of 0330 Zulu for heavy unknown UAS activity. Security forces is handling it."

WCPO confirmed the base temporarily closed its airspace for four hours Friday because of drones flying over and around the base.

"Obviously, it's a big concern for national security, like you have these FPV drones, people can just fly them around in restricted airspace," said Ryan Zmuda, a concerned resident from Fairborn.

Zmuda, like many, is wondering if the drone sightings at Wright-Patt are related to the various other drone sightings that have resulted in investigations by the FBI and Homeland Security.

"We know of no foreign involvement, with respect to the sightings in the Northeast, and we are vigilant in investigating in this matter," said Alejandro Mayorkas, U.S. Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.

In Evendale, Angel Aerial Systems has been testing its drones that look like something out of this world.

"When they see these objects in the sky they don't know what they are," said Steve Saunders. "There's a lot of confusion, I think right now, because people are maybe mistaken manned aircraft for drones."

Saunders is a former Cincinnati police officer and current drone pilot working for the drone company. While they've been testing their new drones for months, the plan is to have them go to market next year and help law enforcement with investigations. While there's mystery surrounding who is behind these drone sightings, Saunders said if you see one, you should never take matters into your own hands.

"Don't do anything that's going to harm that drone, people think of things like shooting a drone down completely unsafe, very illegal — don't be pointing laser pointers or things like that toward the drone, it could be a manned aircraft and you could be really distracting or harming the vision of a pilot which is never safe for anybody," said Saunders.

You can always report a drone sighting with the FAA here.