The mother and her son thought nothing of the small light they saw in the night sky outside their house in Whitehall Gardens, St Andrew, early on Tuesday, July 25.

Hours later they had reason to become suspicious.

“My son awoke at about 1:00 am to see this light shining through his bedroom window,” the mother told the Jamaica Observer two nights later.

It turned out that the light was that of a drone, and after her son called her, the mother said the drone moved to the front of the premises.

When they went to the front and looked through a window, the mother and son got a shock.

“There were three drones in our front yard,” she told the Sunday Observer. “By this time the dogs were barking, and the drones moved to our neighbour’s yard, where they stayed for a time, and we watched as they moved to the next house, then the next all the way down.”

The mother isn’t sure if the drones were being operated by idle individuals or were being used as reconnaissance tools by criminals. Either way she’s very concerned, and while she didn’t make a report to the police, she called the Observer to highlight the need for drone use legislation.

Yesterday a constable at the Constant Spring Police Station confirmed that no report has been received there. However, he said that he has, in the recent past, heard of a few instances of people with criminal intent using drones to check out homes.

He encouraged anyone who has any such experience to make a report to the police.

While there is yet no law covering the use of drones, National Security Minister Robert Montague has said that his ministry is developing a drone policy regarding the use and sale of unmanned aerial vehicles.

Montague made the disclosure at a news conference on April 27 this year, saying that instructions have been given to the Policy Unit to initiate proceedings in that regard.

“We have had reports from a number of persons about the invasiveness of drones. There has to be a balance between pleasure and privacy,” Montague said.

Pointing out that there are also safety concerns, the minister said that drones are being used in restricted areas. “People are buzzing around with their drones anywhere and everywhere. There may be an accident with a light plane or a commercial jet,” he said, adding that the Policy Unit will be thorough and undertake the necessary research to strike a balance for all stakeholders concerned.

In the United States, recreational drone operation is subject to Federal Aviation Administration rules, which require that unmanned aerial vehicles are flown at or below 400 feet; kept within sight of their operators; are never flown near other aircraft, especially near airports; never flown over groups of people, over stadiums or sports events; and never flown near emergency response efforts such as fires.

Operators are also advised never to fly under the influence of substances that can inhibit their ability to manoeuvre the drone, and they must be aware of airspace requirements.