I recently heard someone speculate that if unknown drones started flying over Alabama, people in Alabama would shoot them down. I suggest they do not.
What appear to be unknown drones might actually be manned airplanes or helicopters conducting normal flights.
The apparent drones might be United States military aircraft conducting practice or mission flights.
Some of the drones might be legitimate, with no malicious purpose.
Shooting down large enough drones or unmanned aircraft could result in deaths and damage from their crashes.
Finally, the projectiles fired to shoot down the suspect drones might kill someone.
I recommend we first find out who is flying the unidentified aircraft, and from where, before we attempt to shoot them down. I am fairly certain, given the limited range of such suspected drones, that they are not coming from a foreign country, much less from another planet.
Daniel Haulman, Montgomery
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Letter: Alabama gun owners, please don’t shoot down flying objects