Pilot Training On New National Guard Helicopter Raises Concern In Yukon

Some neighbors in Yukon are concerned after a mysterious dark colored helicopter has been hovering overhead for the past two days. They say it was flying extremely low, with no distinguishable markings.

Neighbors around Vandament and Ridgway say they started hearing something just after 2 p.m. Sunday and that's when they saw the chopper.

Lucas Glass shot video on his cell phone.

"The fact that it was flying so low, it go the whole neighborhood's attention," said Glass. "People were coming out of their houses."

Lucas says the chopper had no distinguishable markings and stayed overhead for a good 15 minutes.

"(It) sat there for maybe two minutes then it started doing orbits around the neighborhood real low," recalled Glass. "Couldn't be over 500 feet."

Yukon police and the Canadian County Sheriff's Department say they don't know what the helicopter was doing either.

"Why is there a helicopter buzzing my neighborhood and local law enforcement doesn't know about it," Glass questioned.

But Monday afternoon, the Oklahoma Army National Guard confirmed their pilots were conducting a routine training mission in area. Lt. Col. Max Moss says the crew was stayed above 500 feet and hovered for a short period of time as a part of their training.

Pilots are required by regulation to fly a minimum number of hours to maintain proficiency.

The aircraft may have arose suspicion because it is a new one to the Oklahoma National Guard inventory. The UH-72 will be used to support first-responders during domestic emergencies like wildfires and floods.