Ongoing sightings of mysterious drones in the skies over New Jersey have sparked alarm among residents as officials continue to investigate the odd nightly incursions.
Although authorities maintain that the drones pose no apparent threat to the public, many questions remain about the mysterious objects, and their operators and ultimate purpose remain unknown.
This week, sightings of the small aircraft, which have reportedly been occurring over New Jersey now for several weeks, have extended into surrounding states, with recent observations occurring over Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Brooklyn, New York.
In New Jersey, many of the recent sightings reported by residents have occurred in Morris County, home to the U.S. Army’s Picatinny Arsenal. One of the earliest known sightings of the New Jersey mystery drones occurred there on November 13, when a security officer was reportedly one of the first to have observed the objects.
Picatinny Arsenal
Picatinny Arsenal main gate (Credit: U.S. Army Photo).
Since then, at least ten more confirmed sightings have taken place near the arsenal, and seven more potential sightings remain unconfirmed.
In a statement provided to The Debrief, a spokesperson with Picatinny Arsenal said officials there quickly began investigating and increasing outreach and coordination with multiple local, state, and federal organizations after the initial sightings several weeks ago.
“While the source and cause of these aircraft operating in our area remain unknown, we can confirm that they are not the result of any Picatinny Arsenal-related activities,” said Lt. Col. Craig A. Bonham II, Picatinny Arsenal Garrison Commander, in a statement provided to The Debrief.
The investigation into the drone sightings is ongoing, a Picatinny Arsenal spokesperson said on Tuesday.
Several days after the initial sightings, Morris County officials acknowledged that the mystery drones had also been observed by area law enforcement officers on the evening of Monday, November 18.
“County and local law enforcement agencies are aware of the recurring reports of drone activity around Morris and Somerset counties, and acknowledge the public’s concern about these repeated sightings,” read a portion of an advisory released by the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office on December 3.
“There continues to be no known threat to public safety,” the advisory stated.
Since the sightings began in mid-November, observations of the mysterious drones have now been reported in 10 counties in New Jersey. Many sightings have reportedly occurred over infrastructure sites that include railroads and reservoirs, as well as military facilities.
“Over the weekend, nearly a dozen unmanned drones were reported in various areas of Middletown, including the airspace over Naval Weapons Station Earle,” said Tony Perry, Mayor of Middletown, New Jersey, in a letter to U.S. Senator Corey Booker on Monday. “This unauthorized activity poses significant security concerns for critical military installations and the surrounding communities.”
In a statement on social media, Perry said he had also requested briefings from the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security “to address our growing questions and concerns.”
The ongoing sightings have prompted several similar concerned responses from state and local officials.
“Understandably, New Jersey residents are very alarmed at this significant and reoccurring phenomenon – and the tepid response from our state and federal agencies so far is totally unacceptable,” said Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) in a statement on Monday. “As we saw with the Chinese spy balloon last year, our fiercest adversaries will stop at nothing to surveil our homeland and threaten our national security.”
“While the source of this drone activity is still to be determined, it is clear that the communication channels and proper authorities among local law enforcement and federal partners must be drastically improved in order to work quickly through deconfliction and security challenges as unmanned aerial systems become more prevalent,” Smith added.
In a statement on Tuesday that echoed similar frustration with the situation, U.S. Senator Jon Bramnick (R-NJ) said he believed state officials “should issue a limited state of emergency banning all drones until the public receives an explanation regarding these multiple sightings.”
Also on Tuesday, mayors from towns across Morris County released a letter to New Jersey Governor Phil Murray, where they collectively called for increased transparency on the issue.
“These flights, occurring under the cover of darkness, have raised significant alarm among the more than 500,000 County residents and local officials alike,” the letter read.
“Despite inquiries made to relevant authorities, we have yet to receive satisfactory answers about the purpose, operators, or safety protocols governing these flights,” it added.
Speaking with the media on Tuesday, Governor Murray responded to the concerns expressed in the letter, saying he didn’t blame residents and elected officials across his state for feeling frustrated with the situation, although he maintained that federal officials have found no evidence indicating the drone flights could pose a threat.
“We don’t see any concern for public safety,” Murray said, adding that it was “really frustrating that we don’t have more answers to where they’re coming from, and why they’re doing what they’re doing.”
“We had, last night, 49 sightings. I think 20 of them were over Hunterdon,” Murray said.
The Debrief reached out to officials with the Hunterdon County Sherriff’s Department about the sightings but received no response to our inquiries.
Murray also said one of the alleged drone sightings on Monday night was later determined to have been the likely misidentification of a small aircraft, possibly a Piper J-3 Cub. Previously, The Debriefreported that several photos and videos that were being featured in television newscasts as purported imagery of the mystery drones were, in fact, misidentified conventional aircraft displaying standard position light configurations required by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
On Tuesday morning, a spokesperson for the Newark Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said the agency is “doing all we can to figure out what’s going on,” although admitting that “we truly don’t have much information to provide at the moment.”
The Debrief also reached out to FBI’s Newark Field Office for a comment, but received no response.
While there is no single consistent description of their appearance, many reports describe the drones as relatively low-flying objects that produce buzzing noises consistent with conventional unmanned aerial systems. However, the New Jersey objects are often described as appearing to be larger than the varieties of drones typically flown by hobbyists, with some descriptions likening them to the size of an automobile.
Several observers say the drones, which often travel in groups, also appear to follow consistent flight paths that regularly carry them over critical infrastructure sites and military installations.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued temporary flight restrictions over locations that include Picatinny Arsenal and Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, a favorite golfing destination of President Elect Donald Trump.
Although officials have been able to provide few details about the drone overflights, Florham Park Police Chief Joseph Orlando said last week that “their presence appears nefarious in nature.”
Among the proposed explanations for at least a portion of the recent drone sightings, some have pointed to small aircraft like the BlackFly, produced by light aircraft Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) manufacturer Pivotal, who announced in October that more than a dozen of their prototype aircraft had been sent to private owners and the U.S. Air Force.
Meanwhile, the FBI’s Newark field office has issued a public appeal for tips, requesting that anyone with relevant information about the drones to please reach out to authorities.
As recent sightings beyond New Jersey appear to reveal a greater geographic spread of the drone activity than previously realized, Staten Island’s borough president, Vito Fossella, said he has requested FBI and FAA briefings, calling the situation “odd and quite bizarre.”
The FAA says that drone operators found conducting unsafe or unauthorized flights could face severe penalties, including fines of up to $75,000.
Since the drone sightings over New Jersey began last month, a spate of similar incidents involving unauthorized drone incursions over U.S. military facilities at airbases in the United Kingdom occurred over a span of several days in late November.
Beginning on November 20, what officials characterized as a multi-drone incursion over RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk, England was followed by similar nightly sightings that expanded to nearby RAF Mildenhall, also in Suffolk, and RAF Feltwell in Norfolk. Drone sightings were also reported over RAF Fairford.
On December 5, the DoD announced a new classified strategy for countering potential threats associated with unmanned aerial systems (UAS), largely in response to how drones and other unmanned systems are changing the warfighting and security environment.
“Unmanned systems, more commonly known as drones, have the potential to pose both an urgent and enduring threat to US personnel, facilities, and assets overseas and, increasingly, in the US homeland,” said Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder of the DoD’s new initiative during a press conference at the Pentagon last week.
Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence
“The threats presented by these systems are changing how wars are fought,” Ryder said. “With a singular strategy for countering unmanned systems, in conjunction with other major DOD initiatives like the Joint Counter Small UAS Office and Replicator 2, the DOD is orienting around a common understanding of the challenge and a comprehensive approach to addressing it.”
Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder
Asked whether the timing of the announcement had been influenced by the recent drone incidents in the U.S. and the U.K., Ryder said no, adding that the DoD’s new strategy is an outgrowth of “work that’s been going on for some time, and obviously very important work.”
On Friday, the DoD’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) provided a classified briefing to lawmakers. The office which carries the DoD’s official investigations into what the U.S. now calls unidentified anomalous phenomena—objects traditionally known as UFOs—it was unclear whether AARO officials who spoke during Friday’s briefing addressed the recent drone sightings occurring in the U.S. and over U.K. airbases.
Speaking last month during a Senate hearing, Dr. Jon Kosloski, who has served as Director of AARO since August, told lawmakers that while his office is not directly tasked with the investigation of drone sightings, AARO may still be able to provide resources that could federal agencies who are looking into such incidents.
“As AARO is trying to push the bounds on detectability for UAP, we’re hopefully going to have best practices that we can also provide to the counter-UAS [efforts],” Kosloski told U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) during the hearing.
Speaking with reporters on Tuesday, New Jersey Governor Phil Murray said he has remained in contact with federal agencies regarding the ongoing drone sightings occurring over his state.
“I was on with the White House and Homeland Security leadership literally at the very top yesterday,” Murray said. “I’m hoping we’ll get answers sooner than later.”
“I would just ask folks to continue to let the FBI or their local law enforcement know when they see something,” Murray added.
“We’ll continue to do everything we can with our federal partners to get clear answers.”
The FBI – Newark and the New Jersey State Police are requesting that members of the public report any information related to the recent drone sightings. The FBI can be reached at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324), or online at tips.fbi.gov, where citizens are able to share imagery and videos of the objects, if available.
Micah Hanks is the Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of The Debrief. He can be reached by email atmicah@thedebrief.org. Follow his work atmicahhanks.comand on X:@MicahHanks.