A C150 pilot at 7;400 ft reported a near miss with what appeared to be a camera carrying drone.

Attributes
ACN	1387105
Time
Date	201609
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	Y31.Airport
State Reference	MI
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Cessna 150
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Cruise
Route In Use	Direct
Flight Plan	VFR
Aircraft 2
Make Model Name	UAV - Unpiloted Aerial Vehicle
Flight Phase	Cruise
Flight Plan	None
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Single Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Commercial Flight Crew Flight Instructor Flight Crew Instrument
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 30 Flight Crew Total 850 Flight Crew Type 220
Events
Anomaly	Airspace Violation All Types Conflict NMAC Deviation - Procedural FAR Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Inflight Event / Encounter Object
Miss Distance	Horizontal 300 Vertical 300

Narrative:

I was level in cruise flight; south/southeast bound at 7;400 (slightly off my desired altitude of 7;500) receiving basic radar service from ATCT/TRACON. While looking outside my left window; I noticed a drone/uav just below my altitude by approximately 300 feet and less than 500 feet away horizontally. It was moving due northbound. The drone appeared to be shaped like a long dumbbell in a vertical orientation; with a motor of some sort on the top propelling it forward; dragging a lower section (perhaps a camera) that was connected to a cable of some sort. The drone was silver in color (possibly white and just reflecting brightly from the sun beginning to set in the west); approximately 3 feet long (top to bottom); and very narrow in width. I have experienced seeing weather balloons before; but this did not appear to be one; and this was to my knowledge not a weather balloon launch area. The top portion of this drone was not inflated and did not appear inflatable. I notified ATC as soon as the drone was spotted.I was quite surprised at the potential this encounter had for becoming a midair collision. Given my airplane's small size; this could have easily caused an emergency had I been just a hare more to the east where this drone was flying; and just a touch more off of my preplanned altitude.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A C150 pilot at 7;400 ft reported a near miss with what appeared to be a camera carrying drone.

Narrative: I was level in cruise flight; south/southeast bound at 7;400 (slightly off my desired altitude of 7;500) receiving basic radar service from ATCT/TRACON. While looking outside my left window; I noticed a drone/UAV just below my altitude by approximately 300 feet and less than 500 feet away horizontally. It was moving due northbound. The drone appeared to be shaped like a long dumbbell in a vertical orientation; with a motor of some sort on the top propelling it forward; dragging a lower section (perhaps a camera) that was connected to a cable of some sort. The drone was silver in color (possibly white and just reflecting brightly from the sun beginning to set in the west); approximately 3 feet long (top to bottom); and very narrow in width. I have experienced seeing weather balloons before; but this did not appear to be one; and this was to my knowledge not a weather balloon launch area. The top portion of this drone was not inflated and did not appear inflatable. I notified ATC as soon as the drone was spotted.I was quite surprised at the potential this encounter had for becoming a midair collision. Given my airplane's small size; this could have easily caused an emergency had I been just a hare more to the east where this drone was flying; and just a touch more off of my preplanned altitude.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.