Hudson Valley Drones owner gives expert opinion on recent sightings

A Hudson Valley drone expert shared his reaction with News 12 to the ongoing drone sightings in the tri-state area.

Jade Nash

Dec 14, 2024, 9:35 PM

Updated 2 hr ago

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A Hudson Valley drone expert shared his reaction with News 12 to the ongoing drone sightings in the tri-state area.
For the last seven years, Keith Perry has worked full time as the owner and lead drone operator at Hudson Valley Drones.
"So, people hire us to do photography and video and inspections," Perry said. "But we also sell drone equipment to law enforcement and first responders – really anyone who wants to purchase drone equipment."
As an industry expert, Perry said he couldn't help but join the conversation about the recent drone sightings. Recently, he put up a post on Facebook that encourages the public to not panic or obsess about what's going on.
"I genuinely think that the majority of what I am seeing here aren't drones. That being said, we really don't know and that's what a lot of law enforcement agencies are saying," Perry said.
Perry insisted that he doesn't want to minimize anyone's concerns. It's part of the reason why he said he is offering up advice about what people should do if they do spot a drone.
"The first thing would be don't panic. It isn't inherently illegal or nefarious for a drone to be flying at night or even to be flying near an airport, or even to be flying in a pattern. There's tons of very reasonable explanations to why that might be happening,” Perry said.
Perry also encouraged people to watch and observe the device for a bit, too.
"Realize there's a good chance it's not looking at you and most of us aren't that interesting, myself included, but if you do see something that concerns you – you should call the police," Perry said.
State police have asked that people report any sightings to crimetip@troopers.ny.gov.