If you saw a UFO hovering above as you were flung about on the Nemesis 360 at SpringFest last weekend, we at The Panolian have uncovered its identity.

You saw a Phantom Vision 2 quadcopter, a flying camera owned by Malcolm Morehead who shared the aerial view photo of the festival on our front page last Tuesday.

Malcolm stopped by our office to show it off last week after he’d been to photograph the graduating class at Magnolia Heights School in Senatobia. The students had lined up to form a “14” on the school football field and Malcolm got the shot without climbing a ladder or breaking a sweat. He just sent the Phantom up in the air to do his work for him.

The small remote control plastic ‘copter weighs less than three pounds, with four rotors powered by a lithium battery and controlled by joy sticks. There’s a camera mounted to the bottom. The copter creates its own hotspot for Wi-Fi streaming of images to Malcolm’s smartphone which is mounted on the remote control.

The quadcopter has a range of about 900 feet (any direction) and the battery lasts about 25 minutes, he said. For safety’s sake, he only sent it up about 400 feet at SpringFest, to avoid any possibility of encounters with a crop duster.

He prefers not to call it a “drone,” because of negative connotations.

Those of us gathered around in awe on our parking lot saw only positive possibilities as we watched him operate the not-a-drone.

Sports editor Myra Bean immediately started dreaming about football photos from the air. Then, what about other sports? Little League?

Reporter Emily Williams cautioned against sending the Phantom over J.P. Hudson Park.
“The game would stop,” she said. “The players would all be looking up at it.”

“Like when a train comes through,” Myra agreed.

Malcolm told us local law enforcement departments have shown interest in the device, talking with him about producing some aerial views of public buildings for security purposes.

The quadcopter has opened up much potential for the photographer.

“I can do aerial photos without the expense of hiring a plane and a pilot,” he said.
Malcolm got the device at Christmas and immediately crashed it. After replacing two plastic rotors, it was as good as new, he said.

But now there is an even better model on the market, and he’s thinking of selling it and upgrading.

Not what I wanted Rupert to hear.

He is obsessing about all the possibilities  for wildlife surveillance on the back forty. There is boundless potential for playing creative tricks on the neighbors.

He could even send it down the road to chase our errant dogs back home.

While Rupert is dreaming about the not-a-drone, I’m droning on about something we really need…a new mattress. I hope Malcolm quickly sells that thing to someone else so at least one of us can sleep.