In September 2022 the BFRO applied and tested some
astounding new technology that will revolutionize mammalian wildlife
studies and be very helpful to other types of people:
- Farmers - Ranchers - Search and Rescue teams - Field
biologists - Wildlife protection agencies - Anyone concerned about
predators or prowlers on their property - Cryptozoology researchers
The technology is a combination of hardware (drones with
thermal cameras) and software that routes a live stream from the drone
back to any location with Internet acccess, like a large conference room.
The live feed can be projected onto a movie screen watched by a large
live audience, and/or out to any viewers around the world watching online.
The audience in the conference room is in a better position than
the pilot to spot wildlife because they are looking at a much larger
screen than the pilot, who is holding a small screen in his hands.
With an open speakerphone nearby, the pilot can hear the chatter in
the conference room and direct the drone toward heat blips that the
audience is spotting on the big screen.
The
warmest objects in a natural environment are usually mammals and birds,
unless there are boulders that have warmed up from the sun during the day.
This was all theoretical stuff until last September (2022) when the
BFRO tested this system in the Mohican State Park Lodge outside
Loudonville, Ohio.
The conference room audience was both floored
and totally engaged as they helped the pilot guide the drone to warm
objects in the distance. They became part of the field exploration effort.
You could feel the excitement in the room.
A few deer were spotted in
a cornfield in the distance. The drone moved in closer, and revealed many
more deer among the corn rows.
The deer eventually ran off into the woods
surrounding the cornfield, likely spooked by the buzzing sound of the
approaching drone combined with two red glowing navigation lights on the
front of the drone.
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Amazing New Technologies are
Combined
The hardware part of this system is revolutionary
in itself. The software makes it even more so.
A hi-res thermal
camera (640 x 512 pixels) reveals all warm bodies that
are exposed to the sky in natural environments, especially after dark when
the land cools down.
From a quarter mile away a rabbit will glow like a
star in the night sky. Larger animals can be detected from even further
away. If the animal runs away ... the drone can follow right above it.
There is no escape, unless the animal can scramble down into a burrow, or
under very dense tree canopy.
In much of North America the leaves drop from the trees in
Fall, allowing a drone with a thermal camera to spot and follow animals from
a much greater distance.
And the colder it is outside, the more
contrast there will be with warm objects. In other words, the cold makes
the "stars" brighter and the "sky" darker.
The BFRO would like to
continue this testing in a few different parts of the country where there
have been recent bigfoot encounters, before the canopy grows back next
year. We want to send the live feed either to conference rooms or out to
the whole world via a live stream online. Lots of people can become part
of the field exploration process.
It occurs to anyone watching this
type of drone search that much can be learned about the enviroment and its
wildlife that was not possible prior to this technology. Handheld thermal scopes (that
can record video) have been around for 10 years or so, but only recently
have good thermal cameras become affordable to the average person.
From ground level a handheld thermal camera will reveal any animals
nearby in the woods (if they are not behind too much brush), but when a
thermal camera is airborne it makes ground level viewing seem like a waste
of time by comparison.
This historical moment is a technological
one, because now this hardware costs around $6,500 and can fit in a
daypack. See the
DJI Mavic-2 Enterprise Advanced. It is within reach of many more
people, especially ranchers and farmers who need to keep tabs on their
fields or livestock.
The BFRO will show many people how drones with
thermal cameras can be used for a variety of situations, while we use it ourselves
for searches in areas of recent
bigfoot sightings.
Why should this type of tech and testing be
directed at bigfoot research first??
Ask yourself: Of
all the possible applications for this technology in a wildlife context
that you can imagine, where you are watching a live feed and you don't
know what is going to happen next, which type of application would
attract the largest audience and thereby showcase the technology to the
largest number of people around the world?
We work with a non-profit organization that can receive tax
deductible grants for willdlife advocacy, education and research. We are
seeking one or more charitable foundations
that make grants for non-profiits for scientific research. There are
many such foundations out there, often controlled by private parties who
want to support novel projects using new technology.
The grant(s)
will support a team that will spend several nights in areas of recent
sightings performing drone
searches. We plan to visit a different part of
the country each month.
We anticipate that some people will
eventually use this same technology for thermal searches that will be
monetized, as either pay-per-view events, or for live audiences that
will buy tickets in a conference room setting. Nothing wrong with that (in
theory).
With charitable grants the BFRO can engage viewers around
the world FOR FREE while we target areas where at least one
undiscovered species might be documented on video, and for much longer
than just a few seconds. This will all be LIVE and viewable by anyone who
wants to watch online.
If you know someone(s) who controls or
influences a scientific foundation that makes grants then please send the
URL for this web page to that person. It should ideally besomeone
with an interest in wildlife research, or drones, or cryptozoology, or all
of the above.
We want to make this happen soon, and we have the licensed pilots to do
it. If you make the connection that leads to ongoing support then you could be part of
our team on the road. We will be focusing on a different location each
month until we find one that yields the footage we are seeking every
night.
We can be contacted by email at
ContactUs@BFRO.net or by phone at (408) 634-2376.