Drones used to be for wars far from the United States, but they're popping up closer to home.
The Federal Aviation Administration forecasts some 10,000 civilian drones will be in use in the U.S. within five years, possibly used by police to fight crime and by oil companies to keep an eye on pipelines.
Friday's announcement from the FAA seeking proposals from cities, states and universities to create six test sites for unmanned aircraft systems is a step in that direction.
The sites will help officials develop safety standards that will allow the government to fully integrate drones into national airspace by 2015.
The drone industry says they make good economic sense.
In the next 3 years, after the FAA has figured out integration, we could see 70.000 jobs created in this new industry.
The Coast Guard uses drones for surveillance on ice sheets in Alaska and local authorities in North Dakota once used a border patrol drone during a dispute over cattle.
Drone makers predict they’ll eventually be used by energy companies to monitor pipelines and by farmers to monitor crops.
New uses will require new government rules to protect privacy.
“We don't want drones to become eyes in the sky constantly spying on us. We need controls so that drones are only used when we believe a crime is happening or we're trying to do something particular like fight a forest fire or find a missing child. If we put those controls in place we'll have a powerful technology that has appropriate controls,” said Ben Gielow, with the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International.
In Seattle earlier this month, the mayor ended a police department drone program over privacy concerns.
The Virginia legislature is at work on bills that would temporarily ban drones there.
The FAA is asking for public input on its proposed privacy requirements for these test sites.
This week, two House members, a Republican and a Democrat, introduced a bill that would require law enforcement to get a search warrant before using drones to investigate crimes.