Seems like lost radiation, or nuclear material, or even nuclear warhead they are searching for. A CEO for a drone company who partners with the government has made a video about it.
Pretty crazy if so. Now if only they could use these drones to pick up people during a natural disaster. Then we'd have something...
Similar, or same guy, also said most are manned AC being mistaken. Saying the government doing it would make sense IF they were looking for that stuff. However also stated he doubts its any threat, criminals are using them to track pice after they rob a place, kids online are toying with people launching Chinese lanterns, flying their own drones to mess with people. He also stated, like the moon looks large on the horizon is they same effect if predicting size. You can be looking at an AC 15 miles away, thinking its smaller 1 mile away. People investigating say 100 of 5000 reports are valid.
I think we are in an era where humans let their imaginations run unleashed and first option, boring lives lead to infatuated with sensation of any form.
I think the whole thing is a mess across the board.