The news & public are talking about a "near miss" @ LAX recently between a drone & an Airbus 380 belonging to Lufthansa. This happened while the plane was approaching LAX airport, but still at 5,000'. Article says the drone was 200' over the plane.

First....real pilots know there is no "near miss". You can have near collisions, but a "miss" is a non-event.

Second, I haven't seen any mention of the style of drone, or how the pilots were sure it was a drone. If it was a little quad-copter weighing 2-3 lbs, it would be hard to imagine being able to see it very well @ 5000' in the blue sky, even if it's beside you....but it was reported as such. Perhaps it was a manned vehicle? Maybe correct & concise information on the encounter is out there & I don't know it. Hard to imagine a little quad @ 5000' would be able to hold it's own against the winds aloft, but could be wrong. Sometimes the winds are light @ those altitudes.

Third, if it was a true non-military drone, someone should be shot. Flying a drone that far over the suggested altitude of 400' is uncalled for, especially in a crowded airspace area like LAX. The news folks mention that drone rules are not to fly within 5 mis of an "airport". However, the pilots reported this one at 14 miles out (from the airport). But still, a modelers drone shouldn't be at 5000'.

If any NAT-er was the pilot of that drone, please consider turning yourself in immediately. That was an uncalled for altitude choice, if it in fact was the case.

Of course, pilots, you still need to watch out for NOAA weather balloons. They reach altitudes of 115,000' & can grow to 25' in diameter @ that altitude & have a 1.1# radio hanging from them. This is not new.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLpyTodmfg8