By Alyce McFadden
For almost a month, bright lights hovering or soaring in the New Jersey night sky have mesmerized residents. Now, the sightings—some confirmed to be drones by federal officials—have spread throughout the area.
Federal authorities probing these occurrences have struggled to provide clear answers regarding the objects’ nature or their source, leading to unrest among the public and frustration among local leaders.
In an interview with ABC News this past Sunday, Alejandro Mayorkas, the head of the Department of Homeland Security, acknowledged, “there’s no question that drones are being sighted.”
According to Mayorkas, the Federal Aviation Administration modified its regulations last year to permit nighttime drone flights—a potential explanation for the recent rise in sightings along the East Coast.
While he did not provide further specifics on who might be piloting the drones or their origins, he stated that the federal government would assist the New Jersey State Police in addressing these sightings.
Reassurances from state and federal leaders that these sightings pose no threat to residents have done little to quell public anxiety. Lawmakers have voiced discontent over the scant information available and are pressing the federal government for more transparency regarding its investigation.
President-elect Donald Trump has also chimed in, suggesting that the government may be withholding information about the sightings. “Otherwise, shoot them down!!!” he wrote on his Truth Social account.
Here’s what you need to know about these aerial objects:
What are they?
Images and videos of the alleged drones depict bright entities shining in the dark sky. Some move around, while others seem to stay in one spot. Residents and law enforcement personnel who have witnessed these objects report that their lights can suddenly extinguish, plunging them into darkness.
Dedicated Facebook groups and Reddit threads for these sightings have generated thousands of posts. One particular Facebook group boasts tens of thousands of members who share footage and exchange theories.
On Thursday, this enigma reached the White House, where National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby stated at a news conference that federal investigators had been unable to substantiate claims of any unauthorized drones above New Jersey.
“In fact, upon reviewing available imagery, it seems many reported sightings are actually lawful manned aircraft,” Kirby remarked.
Officials from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the FBI indicated they had compared the reported sightings with flight routes associated with Kennedy, LaGuardia, and Newark Liberty airports, concluding that numerous observed objects were indeed planes either taking off or landing.
During a press briefing last week, Sabrina Singh, a Pentagon spokesperson, noted that the reported objects were not drones operated by the U.S. military and that officials did not believe they originated from a foreign entity or adversary. Local authorities and residents have aired their frustrations regarding the limited information provided by federal officials thus far.
Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., commented on Friday that the White House’s response to the sightings had been “dismissive.”
“The Biden administration has a responsibility to the American populace to investigate and inform us about what is happening without delay,” Smith stated.
When did the sightings begin, and where are they happening?
The surge of sightings commenced in northern New Jersey around mid-November after personnel from the Picatinny Arsenal, a military installation in Morris County, reported seeing what they identified as a drone flying near the base. Shortly thereafter, reports of these sightings began flooding into the New Jersey State Police, as noted in a letter dated Thursday that Governor Phil Murphy sent to President Joe Biden and shared on social media.
The initial reports were concentrated in a few northern New Jersey counties, but the phenomenon quickly spread across the state, even reaching coastal regions in the south and the Philadelphia suburbs.
In early December, drone sightings were also noted in parts of New York City, beginning along Staten Island’s western coast and later in southern Brooklyn near the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge. On Thursday, sightings occurred in the Bronx and near LaGuardia Airport in Queens.
The following night, New York Mayor Eric Adams took to social media to announce that he was “aware of concerns” surrounding the sightings and that city officials were collaborating with federal and state agencies to investigate them.
Residents in various regions of upstate New York have also reported seeing mysterious lights at night. On Friday evening, reported drone activity close to New York Stewart International Airport in New Windsor led the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to temporarily close runways for about an hour, according to spokesperson Lenis Valens.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul stated last week that the objects posed no threat to public safety and that she was looking into the matter with federal law enforcement.
Additional sightings have been reported in Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, where former Governor Larry Hogan shared on social media that he had witnessed “what seemed to be dozens of large drones in the sky” over his home in Davidsonville, Maryland.
The post included comments from readers suggesting that some of the lights captured by Hogan’s video were the constellation Orion.
How is the investigation into these sightings being conducted?
Kirby announced on Thursday that federal agencies had performed a “detailed analysis” of photographs and videos while employing “advanced electronic detection technologies” to ascertain the nature of the objects.
The FBI has been looking into the sightings since late November, and its Newark, New Jersey, field office has been encouraging residents to report pertinent information to the agency’s tip line. Since the line was established on December 3, the bureau has received approximately 5,000 tips, according to an anonymous FBI official who briefed reporters Saturday due to a lack of authorization to speak publicly. Of those tips, the official noted that fewer than 100 had been considered credible enough for further investigation.
On Thursday evening, Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., joined local law enforcement officials to investigate sightings near the Round Valley Reservoir in Hunterdon County. In a series of social media updates, Kim reported seeing several objects in the sky that were not visible on flight tracking software.
However, on Saturday, Kim stated in subsequent social media posts that he had “concluded that most of the potential drone sightings pointed out to me were almost certainly aircraft.”
