I had a bit more time to think through Officer Klein's sighting and did some more digging. Found some interesting circumstantial information that could provide leads for further discussion/investigation. After reviewing Klein's statements and the additional information provided by the investigator
@Throwaway , a law enforcement drone engaged in a specific investigation seems quite plausible. Before getting into the specifics of that case it might be useful to look at the context of law enforcement drone use at that time.
In early 2022 there was a nationwide push for law-enforcement agencies to acquire more drones. There was a new generation of drones designed for law enforcement hitting the market that were larger and had a broader range of capabilities, especially bright searchlights for nighttime search and rescue. More specifically, we know at this time the Danbury fire department (the closest city to Saugutuk Reservoir) was ahead of the curve and already in possession of two advanced drones that Danbury police were known to borrowed occasionally, especially for missing persons operations. Hartford, the city to
the south (northeast) had them in April 2022 as well. The following are a few relevant excerpts from a Fairfield County newspaper. Note the date of publication, April 23, 2022
Drones fill policing void over Connecticut skies
April 23, 2022
Danbury Police Department Detective Lt. Mark Williams explained how drones borrowed from the city's fire department come in handy to cover large areas in a
search for missing people, and they have used the aerial cameras at some crime scenes in situations where an assault occurred or at an outdoor crime scene to get an overview of a neighborhood. […]
Since then, [Hartford Police Department Intelligence Officer Chris Mastroianni] reported the drones have been an important asset for aerial support in response to an array of calls,
including missing person reports and burglary alarms at high rise buildings.
Drones over Danbury
As the Danbury fire department's coordinator for the nearly four year old drone program, James Gagliardo said the city's police enlist the services of department drones about seven times each year.
Usually, they're used for missing person reports or are limited to incidents where they are operating "above an incident
that we have permission to be in that area," he said. [
note the use of "permission to be in the area][…]
"For doing searches for people, and I will be honest that I have yet to find somebody with the drone,
but what I can tell you I have cleared acres and acres and acres of land where we didn't have to put boots on the ground," he added.
Through an anonymous gift in 2018, Danbury Fire Department
received its first drone — a $20,000 device carrying a thermal heat sensing-camera that is one of two primary units used by the city's first responders today in a variety of capacities.
Costing about $6,000, one is more compact, easier to deploy, carries a standard camera and a thermal imaging camera, and comes with a loudspeaker and a
floodlight. The other is a more expensive, "enterprise" unit that can carry multiple cameras — a function the fire department uses to hold a thermal camera, a zoom camera, and a standard camera when they respond to calls, according to Gagliardo.
https://www.newstimes.com/news/article/Brookfield-PD-wants-to-purchase-two-drones-17109914.php
With this context in mind, let's look at the missing persons case of Carlos Reyes. While not conclusive there are a couple circumstantial factors which are worthy of further investigation. Heres a map with relevant places highlighted
Carlos Reyes Missing Person Timeline
- March 28, 2022: Carlos Reyes is last seen by his family around 11 p.m. in Danbury CT.
- March 29, 2022: Reyes's car is found engulfed in flames in Brewster, New York, just west of Danbury across the state border.
- Early April 2022: Within two weeks, the FBI takes over the investigation due to Danbury Police's jurisdiction limitations and the Reyes' likely connection narcotics trafficking.
- April 7, 2022: Police are seen searching bodies of water north of Danbury in connection with Reyes' missing persons case. Later in April FBI and other local agencies are seen again searching for Reyes' body in rivers up to 50 miles north of Danbury and 80miles northeast in Massachusetts (distances approximated)
- April 14, 2022: Police execute a search warrant at a home in Newtown, Connecticut of prime suspect Christopher Lemke, someone believed to be involved (he's relevant for more than just this).
- May 3–6, 2022: The FBI is observed leading a multi-agency search in Sheffield, Massachusetts, focusing on another remote river and bodies of water. Divers, excavators, and other heavy machinery were involved, but no body was found.
- Spring 2024: Danbury Police still refuse to answer
any questions about the search for Reyes. The FBI also explicitly denied a FOIA request filed this past spring requesting information about the search. Reyes was never found and given the possibility of connection to organized crime, they could be protecting an informant as the investigation continues
https://namus.nij.ojp.gov/case/MP92430
https://www.newstimes.com/news/article/carlos-reyes-santiago-danbury-doordash-missing-17788233.php
https://lawandcrime.com/crime/kidna...sh-driver-whose-car-was-found-burning-police/
https://www.newstimes.com/news/article/carlos-reyes-danbury-ct-disappearance-19362963.php
Relevance to Officer Klein's UAP Sighting
1. Saugatuck Reservoir is only ~10 miles from Reyes' last know location. It's also surrounded by large nature reserves, Devil's Den Nature Preserve and Huntington State Park, that were likely searched for Reyes. The law enforcement drones, which I will go into further details below, have both spotlights and infrared so searching at night is not only possible but the heat signature of someone in the woods is easier to see at night. Infrared vs visible spotlight can easily be toggled by the operator.
2. Danbury Police already had access to 2 powerful drones they used for missing persons cases. Additionally, Hartford Police to the
south (northeast) might have provided their own SAR drones to assist in the search as well.
3. The FBI likely had their own drones as well. Since Reyes was never found nor confirmed dead it could be protocol to continue searching far and wide, day and night for signs of life until status confirmed or search called off. Communication with local county police might have been minimal or non-existent given the scope of the search and possible narcotics trafficking connections.
4. During a search of a river north of Danbury in early April 2022, an anonymous law enforcement source said they were checking rivers and bodies of water "remote enough" that someone could have used it to dump a body. It's reasonable to assume they searched most bodies of water in Fairfield County and Saugatuk is likely remote enough for it to have been considered/searched
5. Chris Lemke, the prime suspect mentioned above, is interesting for 2 reasons. First, the search on April 7th was directly related to Lemke who law enforcement believed was directly involved. Secondly, on March 26, two days
before Reyes disappeared, Lemke had stolen a car in Danbury, disappeared for 24hrs, then turned up in Bethel March 27 where he set that car on fire. Bethel is a town in between Danbury and the Saugatuk Reservoir (5~6 miles away). It's speculation on my part, but if Lemke was killed Reyes for drug trafficking related reasons, it's possible he used the other stolen car found it Bethel to similarly dispose of a different drug dealer. Burning the car could be his modus operandi for getting rid of evidence. The location of this first burning car is near the reservoir making it even more probable the FBI would be searching the water/shorelines for evidence/bodies related to that crime too
6. The drones available to law enforcement in April 2022 seem to align with a few elements of Officer Klein's sighting. He said in 25 years he never saw something like it, which would make perfect sense since these SAR drones with very bright lights were fairly new on the market (especially the infrared/searchlight capabilities). Additionally, Officer Klein referred to a distinctive humming noise from the UAP. This aligns more with a drone than a helicopter. It also would explain why the flight wasn't on Flightradar (allegedly)
7. FBI and Danbury police still refuse to comment on any details regarding what we can reasonably assume was an extensive search for Reyes. One would hope at some point they will be compelled to release information after the case is resolved or sufficient time has past. The fact they won't reveal any details suggests they wouldn't confirm or deny Officer Klein's sighting either way. Incidentally, I'm wondering if Officer Klein refusing to say why and when he was at the reservoir is because he had been tasked with assisting in some aspect of the same confidential case.
8. I'm assuming FBI investigations, especially regarding narcotics trafficking, operate on a strictly need to know basis for security purposes. Local county police officers would likely not be privy to what's going on behind the scenes unless absolutely required? This could explain why Officer Klein was not informed about expected drone searches in his jurisdiction.
9. Alternatively, CT law requires law enforcement to obtain search warrants to fly over private property (if I understand it correctly — not sure about fbi jurisdiction). If Danbury police, for example, had failed to do that during a SAR flight it would be expected they are staying tight-lipped to avoid incrimination. From the article above: "
If a cop can go [somewhere]without a search warrant then your drone could see it; if a cop would need a search warrant to enter that premises then your drone would need a search warrant to look."
Available SAR Drones in April 2022
The following is a video from Steel City Drones released Mar 6, 2022. It's a drone company that sells to and trains law enforcement agencies across America. The drones have a number of sensors, including infrared to search for people at night. However, they also have very bright spotlights that can be used for further identification in the visible light spectrum. Here is the owner showing off how bright the SAR floodlights are on one of the law enforcement drones:
youtu. be/X_TyiaWSsfw?feature=shared
In addition, here's another law enforcement related channel showing another model of SAR searchlight setup available at the time. Same point mentioned about how bright the search light is. It could definitely explain Officer Klein's shock and difficulty seeing while getting blasted unexpectedly by a drone setup like these.
youtu. be/seHVwvMzQmo?feature=shared
A few further observations regarding drones:
The Steel City Drones guy mentioned flexibility regarding navigation lights. It sounded like he gets many different requests for strobes, and/or red and green navigation lights from different agencies. My interpretation was these were flexible choices for law enforcement depending on their needs. For example, I could certainly imagine the FBI can fly with whatever colour schemes and strobing best suited for their needs (especially more stealth drones) with less flashing.
That said, in officer Klein's video the pulsating could be explained by strobing lights. Here we see a pulsating effect from the strobe light on this drone:
Lastly, drones at night with bright lights produce a very surreal and otherworldly effect in general. If I was not expecting a drone to blast me with light and fly off in a remote area at night I don't know how my brain would interpret it. Note the effect on speed perception in the following video when flying close to the treetops. It could help explain Officer Klein's perception of rapid movement. If it was a SAR drone checking the shoreline for bodies/evidence flying close to the treetops, it would produce a greater perception of speed given the shadows moving along the ground much faster than the drone itself
youtu. be/YhkTVIKktho?feature=shared
Additional Missing Persons Case
It's worth mentioning there was another missing person's case in April 2022. A woman by the name of Dawn Cleamins was reported missing April 9, 2022 by Redding CT Police. Redding is only a couple miles from the reservoir. The police later reported she was found April 11 but there's no further information. It would be interesting to know if drones were used during her search and if so where exactly they were deployed. For this incident, it seems much less probable because I suspect neighbouring counties would immediately be alerted to a missing person situation.
https://krcrtv.com/news/local/redding-police-looking-for-missing-woman-04-11-2022
Outstanding Questions
1. Would a narrower FOIA request to the FBI specifying disclosure of SAR drone track logs specifically over Saugutuk Reservoir in April 2022 be more likely to succeed?
2. Are any locals here who might ask Danbury Fire and Police if they were involved in any drone SAR missions April 2022? Perhaps the Fire Department is not bound by as much confidentiality. The Danbury Fire Department have a video tour of their fire hall on YouTube and it's clear the crew loves to mess around and have fun. Prank culture is huge in first responder cultures so it's possible someone was intentionally messing with Klein as well.
3.
@Throwaway can you explain why we haven't been able to ascertain the exact date and location of Officer Klein's sighting? It's fine if he's not at liberty to say but it would really help narrow things down
Obviously nothing here is conclusive but I hope the circumstantial evidence is at least interesting and/or useful enough for further leads. The use of SAR drones might also explain Diane's sighting behind the Redding community centre.
TLDR: The FBI and other police agencies were conducting searches in waterways across CT for the body of a missing person suspected of narcotics trafficking. Reyes was last seen less than 10 miles from the Saugutuk Reservoir and an extensive search was conducted by the FBI over the month of April into early May 2022. Unfortunately both Danbury PD and the FBI are refusing to release any information as the investigation is ongoing
*edit: removed explicit claims about gang connections. It only says he is thought to have been involved in narcotics trafficking when he went missing