A group of federal agencies on Monday night said the weeks-long sightings of low-flying drone-like objects in the night skies of New Jersey and other nearby states are likely a mix of misidentified legal aircraft and stars that pose no threats—even as a U.S. Air Force base reports repeated drone sightings.
Key Facts
- The Wright-Patterson Air Force Base spotted “small unmanned aerial systems” that “ranged in sizes and configurations” late Monday and early Tuesday morning, although the “airspace was not affected by the incursions,” a statement shared by Bob Purtiman, the base’s chief of public affairs, said—mere days after spotted drones closed the facilities for several hours.
- In a joint statement, the Department of Homeland Security, FBI, FAA and Defense Department said they examined the notable leads from the more than 5,000 reported drone sightings and determined “the sightings to date” are a “combination of lawful commercial drones, hobbyist drones, and law enforcement drones, as well as manned fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and stars mistakenly reported as drones.”
- The statement added that the agencies have not “identified anything anomalous” and the reported activity does not pose any national security or public safety risk over the airspace in New Jersey and other nearby states.
- The agencies also urged Congress to enact counter-UAS (unmanned aircraft systems) legislation when it reconvenes, saying such a law would “extend and expand existing counter-drone authorities to identify and mitigate any threat that may emerge.”
- President-elect Donald Trump, before declining to comment if he had received an intelligence briefing, told reporters Monday the drones aren’t “the enemy”—he claimed the president, the government and the military “know what is happening” but are keeping the public in “suspense.”
- He also said he decided to “cancel” a trip to Bedminster, New Jersey, a region with reported drone activity that is home to one of Trump’s golf clubs.
- Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas told ABC News on Dec. 15, “there’s no question that people are seeing drones,” though some of the recent sightings in New Jersey and other East Coast states might be manned aircraft or duplicate reports.
- Mayorkas said officials have deployed extra resources to look into the sightings and will let the public know if there is reason for concern—“we are on it,” he said—but so far, there’s no indication of foreign involvement.
- In a similar vein, an unnamed FBI official said in a White House briefing fewer than 100 of the agency’s 5,000 tips on drone sightings have been worthy of further investigation, and modeling shows many of the sightings have taken place in the flight paths of major airports, suggesting people could be mistaking planes for drones.
- Still, the uptick in reported drone sightings has caused concern across several states, with social media users posting videos of lit objects hovering in the sky at night, and state officials asking the federal government for clarity.
- The Wright-Patterson Air Force Base—a base just miles from Dayton, Ohio, that houses technology and research facilities—closed its air operations for nearly four hours from Friday night into Saturday because of “small unmanned aerial systems,” though the facility was not impacted, Purtiman told multiple local outlets.
- New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said Dec. 15 federal officials are sending a “drone detection system” to her state, but argued Congress should give the state “the power to deal directly with the drones”—an idea also backed by New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, while Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called for Congress to give local police “more tools.”
- Hochul previously said drone activity forced Stewart Airfield north of New York City to close its runways for about an hour the night of Dec. 13, adding: “This has gone too far.”
- Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., posted several videos on X of alleged drone sightings he recorded while out with police on Dec. 12 at night, and described them doing maneuvers that are uncharacteristic of planes—though he acknowledged later that “deeper analysis” indicated most of the sightings were “almost certainly planes.”
- Connecticut state Sen. Tony Hwang released a statement Dec. 13 saying there were “sightings of possible unauthorized drones” in Fairfield, Connecticut, saying the state must be “proactive, not reactive” in getting answers, even if it means “shooting drones down.”
- Michael Melham, the mayor of Belleville, New Jersey, told Fox News the state’s Office of Emergency Management urged him to “immediately call the [county] bomb squad” if there is a “downed drone” nearby and that the fire department was “instructed to wear hazmat suits” around any fallen drone, saying it’s unclear if the drones have a “payload.”
- The reports started when New Jersey police announced Nov. 19 that officers had witnessed “drone activity” the previous night over Morris County, in the state’s northwest corner, and said they would investigate the activity, noting rumors were “spreading on social media” though there was “no known threat to public safety.”
- A New Jersey police chief described the drones as the size of a car and bigger than the standard drones available for amateur flyers; sightings have been “occurring nightly for the past two weeks beginning just after sunset and lasting well into the early morning hours,” Joseph Orlando, chief of police in Florham Park, New Jersey, said in a statement on Dec. 4.
- The Federal Aviation Administration responded in early December by implementing and later extending “temporary flight restrictions” on drone use over the Picatinny Arsenal military base and Bedminster.
How Are People Reacting To News Of The Drones?
Conspiracy theories and false recordings of alleged drones have circulated online. Unfounded claims the U.S. government is flying the reported drones—possibly to search for radioactive materials—appears to be gaining traction, thanks to celebrities like Bethenny Frankel posting on TikTok, Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., arguing it’s “in control” and podcaster Joe Rogan promoting a video claiming the drones are secretly detecting radioactive material. Michael Melham, the mayor of Belleville, New Jersey, fanned the theory to Fox 5 New York Tuesday, saying drones are “all over the place” while federal officials say New Jersey officials “don’t know what we’re talking about.” Another prominent conspiracy theory that’s re-appeared is Project Blue Beam, a decades-old conspiracy that the government will use deceptive tactics—like faking an alien invasion—to dominate society.
Stephen Pastis and Siladitya Ray – forbes