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Can your drones spy on people?

No! We absolutely don’t use drones for surveillance, spying, or snooping. Our drones also do not have the capability to do any of that.

The fact is, as long as it has propellers (or jet engines) there’s compression and rarefaction of the air, producing motion of air molecules. This movement propagates through the air as pressure waves. These sound and pressure waves can be heard at long distances. There’s no way to overcome this except by flying very high up so that the waves have completely dissipated and don’t reach the ground or the individual being monitored.

Science-Fiction is still completely fiction and we don’t have military drones.
At just 100′ high, people only look as good or as large, as an ant from 10′ away. It’s important to point out that our drones are still heard at this distance. For an example see the photo below. Even the most advanced military drones (with the most advanced optics and cameras) are still unable to take “closer” photos from a distance where they’re not heard or sensed.

100-Feet Above Ground Level

100-Feet Above Ground Level

Drones are also unable to clearly photograph or video anyone or anything through a window unless it’s within a few feet. In order to identify an individual or make out any specific details, the drone must fly within 15 to 30 feet of the subject. Thus, making it completely impractical for covert surveillance.

Additionally, all civilian aerial drones (including ours) are not capable of “zooming in” or enlarging the photographs/video like you might have seen on TV shows or movies. Those types of dramatizations are completely FICTIONAL and are not remotely like reality. Even the military is still wishing for all those types of capabilities and for the type of clarity that has been depicted on TV and in movies.

The reality is, those “sci-fi” features are just not possible because lenses capable of that type of magnification are very large and long and are very heavy…too heavy for civilian drones. It is physically and optically impossible to miniaturize them and make lighter versions small enough. The lens would also need very complex image stabilization technology to overcome the significant vibration and movement which is intensified by the increased magnification power of the lens.

Engineers and scientists are skeptical that any of these limitations can ever be broken in our lifetimes. So, until some non-existent genius makes an unlikely breakthrough and figures out how to alter the laws of physics and optical science, drones will continue to be the absolute worst and most ineffective way to photograph or spy on anyone covertly.

The truth is, everyone should be far more concerned about what pervs do with covertly placed “spy cameras” or camera phones and cameras with long telephoto lenses. When used maliciously they can be/are a REAL, actual threat to privacy.

Category: Flight FAQs
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