# Found drone question **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 26, 2019, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-drone-question/839246 "2019-08-26T03:19:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2019, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-drone-question/839246/21 "2019-08-28T04:07:46Z")
Lucky it wasn’t one of these Acme drones: [ISIS fighter killed by drone bomb he was operating after it ran low on battery and flew back](https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/9797095/isis-fighter-killed-by-drone-bomb/). ---
**Author:** ![Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mundane_super_hero/32/6304_2.png) [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mundane_Super_Hero)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2019, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-drone-question/839246/22 "2019-08-28T13:14:59Z")
> [@Acierocolotl](#): > > If the owner was recording as they flew, you might be able to reconstruct their flight path. Don’t be silly. If the owner could fly, why would he need a drone? ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2019, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-drone-question/839246/23 "2019-08-28T13:17:12Z")
Drones are an invasive species. You know what you have to do. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2019, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-drone-question/839246/24 "2019-08-28T15:39:38Z")
> [@Acierocolotl](#): > > The drone may have an SD card of some sort you could remove and examine. If the owner was recording as they flew, you might be able to reconstruct their flight path. As someone who does it somewhat regularly, viewing things from above vs. ground level is sometimes hard to tell where you are. From above you see a grey roof while on the ground you see a red brick building. Also, if they took offanywhere other then a residential property, a park, a school, or an office complex you won’t be able to track down who it was. **kayaker** has the best answer. There _should_ be a number on a sticker on the drone. If you call the FSDO (local FAA office) & get someone sympathetic they might be able to help you. Of course, not everyone puts the required registration sticker on their drone. People sometimes want to fly where they shouldn’t; not just near airports but over sensitive/restricted areas (stadiums, prisons, active fires, etc, or just over crowds.) _IF_ I were going to do that, I might be willing to sacrifice my drone rather than get caught if it were to somehow come down & get into the ‘wrong’ (LEO) hands. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2019, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-drone-question/839246/25 "2019-08-28T16:55:02Z")
> [@Acierocolotl](#): > > The drone may have an SD card of some sort you could remove and examine. If the owner was recording as they flew, you might be able to reconstruct their flight path. That’s what [Howard and Raj did](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/TheBigBangTheoryS11E19TheTenantDisassociation). ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2019, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-drone-question/839246/26 "2019-08-28T18:06:59Z")
I guess this is the 21st century equivalent of a frisbee on your roof. While I admire your impulse to return the drone to its owner, the onus is not on you to spend a lot of effort to do so. I wonder, knowing little about drones, if there’s some sort of reset that would allow you to reprogram it, in the event you can’t track down the owner and decide to keep it for yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2019, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-drone-question/839246/27 "2019-08-28T20:33:49Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > if there’s some sort of reset that would allow you to reprogram it, in the event you can’t track down the owner and decide to keep it for yourself. It’s not quite that simple, if you don’t already own a like model of that drone. It may cost you. [ul] [li]You’ll need a charger for the battery.[/li][li]While some drones can use a smart phone app as their controller, some require a dedicated controller to fly. Some can use either but the dedicated controller is better, ie. you can fly further from yourself with the controller than your phone.[/li][li]Depending upon why/how it came down you may need some repairs. Many drones have some avoidance sensors but not necessarily 360° sensors. One big reason for crashes is flying UP into tree canopy. When you hit a leaf/twig/branch you _may_ damage a rotor which is what caused it to crash in the first place. Rotor(s) may need to be replaced even if the drone didn’t get smashed upon impact with the ground. Rotors are relatively inexpensive but you still need to get them & get the right ones (there’s both left & right pitch to the rotors)[/li][/ul] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-drone-question/839246.md?page=1)