Multiple states on the East Coast and beyond have fielded reports of mysterious drone sightings in the last few weeks, spurring questions and conspiracy theories about what they are, their purpose, and who might be operating them.
Details, so far, suggest many cases of misidentification — and no signs of risk. In a statement Thursday responding to sightings in New Jersey, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) emphasized that there’s “no evidence” the drones “pose a national security or public safety threat or have a foreign nexus,” matching an earlier Pentagon statement. In a statement Monday, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby reiterated the point, noting that the sightings included commercial drones, hobbyist vehicles, law enforcement drones, planes, helicopters, and stars mistaken for drones. As federal authorities previously stated, their investigations revealed that many sightings were “actually manned aircraft, operating lawfully.”
Cases of “mistaken identity” have been widespread, particularly on social media. Following an investigation into drone sightings in his home state, New Jersey Sen.-elect Andy Kim concluded that many of the sightings he spotted were “almost certainly planes.” It’s also unsurprising that more people are seeing drones, a Pentagon official noted Monday, citing the “thousands of drones flown around the US on a daily basis.”
State leaders and congressional lawmakers have nonetheless expressed concerns about the lack of available information about the drone sightings and requested that the federal government learn and share more. President-elect Donald Trump has chimed in as well, alleging that the federal government has more information it hasn’t disclosed.
These gaps in information are largely responsible for fueling the anxiety around the sightings: Although many have been found to be legitimate aircraft, the lack of clear explanation has left residents rattled. And while the federal government has tamped down worries that these aircraft are a security threat, officials also haven’t provided much explanation for who’s responsible for them and what they’ve been doing.
There’s still information we don’t know about the drone sightings and what exactly is behind them. Here’s what we do know, however.
What’s going on — and where are the sightings?
Reports of drone sightings first began in New Jersey in mid-November, and were initially concentrated in Morris County, in the northern part of the state. In recent weeks, they’ve come from other New Jersey towns as well, including Bedminster, where Trump has a golf course, and Colts Neck, where the Naval Weapons Station Earle is located.
Since then, there have been sightings reported in at least five other states, including Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. On Friday night, drones were spotted near the New York Stewart International Airport in Hudson Valley, prompting state transportation authorities to shut its runways down for one hour. Drones were reportedly also seen flying over a home in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, on Thursday night, in a cluster of 10 to 15 vehicles, and near Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, on Friday, forcing the facility to close its airspace for four hours.
Photos and videos of the sightings have shown a variety of different events, including multiple bright aircraft hovering over a neighborhood or a single aerial object traveling at night. It’s not yet clear if these sightings are linked or if they’re all separate from one another.
Are these actually drones?
The sightings appear to feature a mix of different aircraft, according to federal authorities, including both drones and passenger planes. Many of the reports they’ve evaluated have been manned aircraft operating as usual, officials say.
DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas noted in an interview with ABC News on Sunday that a fraction of these sightings were drones, while the rest were likely planes or other aircraft that were misidentified. “Some of those drone sightings are, in fact, drones,” Mayorkas said. “Some are manned aircraft that are commonly mistaken for drones.”
Pentagon Press Secretary Major Gen. Pat Ryder said Monday that the presence of drones — including near military bases — was also not uncommon as more of these aircraft now populate the skies. “As a result, it’s not that unusual to see drones in the sky, nor is it an indication of malicious activity or any public safety threat,” he told reporters.
Of more than 5,000 tips they’ve received about such aircrafts, officials have deemed around 100 worthy of follow-up investigation, federal authorities said in a press briefing on Saturday.
Who’s behind them?
There’s no evidence these drones are from a foreign adversary or from the US military, Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters in remarks last Wednesday.
Singh’s statement comes after some Republican lawmakers, including Reps. Jeff Van Drew and Chris Smith, have suggested that the drones could have been sent by foreign governments such as China, Iran, North Korea, or Russia.
That wouldn’t exactly be unprecedented — though not a drone, a Chinese surveillance balloon was shot down in US airspace in 2023, sparking a brief diplomatic crisis. China described the balloon as “mainly civilian” in purpose, but its flight path took it over “a number of sensitive sites,” according to the Pentagon.
Federal authorities have emphasized that the 2024 drone sightings aren’t a similar phenomenon, with Kirby noting they come from an array of commercial, law enforcement, and civilian sources.
One explanation for some of the increased activity could be new regulations, announced in 2023, that allow drones to fly at night, Mayorkas also told ABC News.
Have they caused any problems?
Some drones, like those near the Stewart International Airport and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, have prompted officials to close down these facilities’ respective runways and airspace for a brief period.
The FAA has also announced temporary flight restrictions over Trump’s Bedminster golf course and the Picatinny Arsenal Military Base in Morris County, New Jersey, after drones were seen flying over both.
Officials have emphasized, however, that there isn’t any indication that these drones pose a danger to the public.
Drone operations have also prompted a number of arrests. In Boston, two men were arrested on Saturday for operating a drone “dangerously close” to Logan International Airport. And in California, a Chinese citizen and legal US resident was arrested on December 10 for operating a drone and taking photos over Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County on November 30.
What’s the government doing about this?
Federal authorities have said they are closely monitoring the reports and sending specialized drone detection systems to New Jersey and New York to assist in state efforts.
State leaders, however, including New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, had previously expressed frustration at the pace and opaqueness of the federal response. Murphy and Hochul have both pressed President Joe Biden, with the former emphasizing that “residents deserve more concrete information” beyond what federal authorities had provided.
“While I am sincerely grateful for your administration’s leadership in addressing this concerning issue, it has become apparent that more resources are needed to fully understand what is behind this activity,” Murphy wrote. Trump has also accused the military and federal government of not “want[ing] to comment,” while alleging that they know more about what’s happening than has been disclosed to date.
How should people respond if they’re concerned?
The FAA encourages people to contact local law enforcement if they believe a drone is flying unsafely or poses a threat.
Law enforcement officials have discouraged drone-spotters from taking matters into their own hands, however, warning that shooting at drones, or what people believe to be drones, is both dangerous and illegal. A drone could, for example, create a safety hazard if it falls on people or property after being felled by gunfire, in addition to the danger of shooting at a misidentified manned aircraft.
Those warnings come after Trump previously stated that the solution to these drone sightings was to “shoot them down!!!” if the government failed to provide more information about their purpose and origin.
What’s next?
The House Intelligence Committee is expected to receive a classified briefing about the issue on Tuesday, and members of Congress have called for the federal government to share as much information as it can with the public about these sightings. For now, however, there’s little to do but wait — and hope we learn more soon.
The post What’s up with all these drone sightings? appeared first on Vox.
