That buzz coming out of New Jersey? It’s unclear if it’s a drone or something else, but the night scene is certainly producing a lot of talk, a raft of conspiracy theories and crane necks staring skyward.
Cropping up on local news and social media sites around Thanksgiving, the saga of reported drones in New Jersey reached incredible heights.
This week seems to have begun a new, high-profile chapter: Lawmakers are demanding (but still haven’t gotten) explanations from federal and state officials about what’s behind them. Governor Phil Murphy asked President Joe Biden for answers. New Jersey Senator Andy Kim spent Thursday night drone hunting in rural northern New Jersey and posted about it on X.
But perhaps the most striking development is the dizzying proliferation of conspiracies — none of which federal and state officials have confirmed or suggested they’re looking into what’s going on. It’s shorthand for flying machines to be called drones, but people have questions about whether what they’re seeing is an unmanned aircraft or something else.
Some theorize that drones are of Iranian origin. Others believe they are the Secret Service making sure President-elect Donald Trump’s Bedminster estate is safe. Others worry about China. deep state. and in
In the face of uncertainty, people will do what they did in 2024: create a social media group.
The Facebook page, New Jersey Mystery Drones – Let’s Solve It, has about 44,000 members, up from 39,000 late Thursday. People are posting their photos and video footage, and online commenters take it from there.
One video shows a white light flying across a dark sky, and one commenter concludes that it is another world. “Straight orbs,” the person says. Others weigh in to say it could be a plane or a satellite. Another group called for drones to be literally hunted down, shooting them like turkeys. (Don’t shoot at anything in the sky, experts warn.) Trisha Busey, 48, of Lebanon Township, New Jersey, lives near Round Valley Reservoir where there are many sightings. She said she first posted the photos online last month wondering what the objects were and became convinced they were drones when she saw how they moved and when her son put her on a flight tracking site. Turns out there are no planes around. Now she’s glued to the mystery drone page, she said.
“I find myself — instead of Christmas shopping or cleaning my house — checking it,” she said.
She doesn’t buy what the governor says, that drones aren’t a risk to public safety. Murphy told Biden on Friday that residents need answers. The federal Department of Homeland Security and the FBI also said in a joint statement that they had no evidence that the sightings involved “national security or public safety? Threats or foreign ties.” “If you don’t know what it is, how can you say it’s not posing a threat?” she said. “I think that’s why a lot of people are uncomfortable.” So there’s the assumption that people can misunderstand what they’re seeing. William Austin is the president of Warren County Community College, which has a drone technology degree program, and happens to be located in one of the viewing hotspots.
Austin says he’s seen videos of alleged drones and the planes have been misidentified as drones. He cited an optical effect called parallax, which is the apparent change of an object when viewed from different perspectives. Austin encouraged people to download flight and drone tracker apps so they can better understand what they’re looking at.
However, people continue to come up with their own theories. “It represents the United States in 2024,” Austin said. “We’ve lost faith in our institutions, and we need it.” Federal officials echo Austin’s view that many sightings are of piloted aircraft such as planes and helicopters being mistaken for drones, according to lawmakers and Murphy.
It’s not really convincing to many, though, who are only homing in on sightings beyond New Jersey and the East Coast, where others have reported sightings of the objects.
For Seif Devine, 34, another member of the drone hunting group who lives in Eugene, Oregon, it’s up to a citizen search to solve the mystery. He said he tries to be a voice of reason, encouraging people to fact-check their information, while asking questions.
“My main goal is that I don’t want people to get caught up in hysteria and I also want people not to ignore it at the same time,” he said.
“Whether or not it’s a foreign military or some secret access program or otherworldly thing, whatever it is, I just want to say that it’s disturbing that it’s happening so suddenly and continuously for hours at a time,” he added.
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