I’ve been in many debates about this in the drone flying community (and with friends who know me and how much I fly) and I keep coming back to this point. I’d even take a blurry “UFO sighting” photo under consideration, but even that doesn’t exist.
Virtually every single “close call with a plane” has thankfully (thankfully both for the safety of passengers and for other UAV pilots who would be impacted by the irresponsible party’s actions) been proven later to not have been a drone.
PS, cow tipping is real (as in its “possible”, not that folks are successful), but it’s much harder than folks realize (I grew up in a farm state and have seen it done once with multiple big guys involved, but also seen many a drunken fool fall on their face trying too).
To avoid situations like the above, I typically file a flight plan or at minimum contact nearby ATC if I know I’m going to be flying above 200ft much. That said, I’m not required too and neither was the drone pilot in this incident either. I wouldn’t be opposed to a transponder, if they were made on drones, but to date I don’t know of any major manufacturers providing that feature.
Pics or it didn't happen