Infra
Mystery Drone Sightings: New York Adds Dozens Of Drone Bans After New Jersey (Updated)
Topline
The Federal Aviation Administration continued its drone crackdown Friday, adding 29 cities across New York to the region’s temporary ban of unapproved drones for security concerns, as officials investigate reported drone sightings in the region amid public curiosity about the sightings.
In this image taken from video, what appears to be drones flying over Randolph, New Jersey on Dec. 4 … [+]
Key Facts
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said the “purely precautionary” bans on unapproved drones will affect 29 areas in New York for the next month, many of them “critical infrastructure sites”—adding the ban will work with the new “drone detection system” delivered to the state this week.
The FAA announced “temporary flight restrictions” Wednesday and Thursday, banning drone flying for unapproved aircraft in 23 New Jersey cities until Jan. 17, also expanding the FAA’s earlier restrictions over the Picatinny Arsenal and Bedminster.
The restrictions are for “special security reasons,” the FAA said, and an FAA notice says authorities can take measures to intercept and detain those in violation of the restrictions—including the ability to use “deadly force” on drones identified as threats, multiple outlets reported.
On Wednesday, Paul objected to a request to immediately push forward a bill from Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., that would give the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice the ability to surveil, track, control and destroy any drone identified as a threat — a bill that Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., tried to expedite by seeking unanimous consent on the Senate floor.
Paul said the government already has protections against drones over critical areas and called the act an intrusion of privacy; he pointed to the Biden Administration’s and federal agencies’ response to the reported drones, saying “there either is a problem or there isn’t a problem” and that the Biden Administration should explain.
President Biden spoke publicly for the first time Tuesday at the White House about the reported drones, responding to a reporter with “they’re checking it all out,” but that it’s “nothing nefarious apparently” and poses “so far no sense of danger”—adding that “there are a lot of drones authorized up there,” and he thinks “one started it” and “everybody wanted to get in the deal.”
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.
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Who Is Mick West?
West is an author and coder. After a period co-founding a video game company, West started flying airplanes and learned about the conspiracies that accompany aircraft, according to his author biography on Amazon. Today, he’s built a brand as a go-to name for debunking UFO sightings and conspiracies. Recently, he has argued that the sightings of “drones” in New Jersey are all planes, posting evidence on X and giving explanatory interviews to CNN. He advocates for attaching “DTLs” (date, time and location) to online videos of unidentified aircraft, so information can be corroborated. One example of his recent work is an interview with Lucy Biggers, a social media editor at The Free Press, who posted videos of drone sightings that became a widely discussed. Biggers posted the interview with West on Wednesday and admitted there is “no doubt that they were planes” on X. West explains in the video how aviation data proves the sightings were airplanes.
How Are Officials Dealing With Public Questions?
Pentagon ntagon Press Secretary Major General Pat Ryder responded to more than a dozen questions about drones in briefings on Monday and Tuesday, saying the department is “sharing as much information as we can based on what we know.” Ryder said the drones aren’t a threat because they would seemingly have “indicators that would probably provide an initial sense” of “something bigger.” Ryder also compared the drone sightings to seeing a car driving nearby or a common neighborhood occurrence. While “it’s entirely possible” that any random drone observed “could be up to malign activity,” the “vast majority” aren’t, he said. He added that the agency doesn’t “see a connection at this point between” the New Jersey drone sightings and the recent incursions at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, and called the occasional presence of drones near a base “not necessarily unusual,” whereas a series of sightings at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia in 2023 were “more unusual.” Ryder said deciding if a drone is a domestic threat is “assessed on a case by case basis.” Ryder added that Picatinny Arsenal and Naval Weapons Station Earle received an unspecified “variety of both passive and active sensors in order to detect” drones.
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.
What Has Trump Said About The Drones?
Trump first suggested on Dec. 13 without evidence the federal government isn’t telling the public everything it knows about the drones and called for them to be shot out of the sky if unidentified. The claim echoes those of politicians like Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., who said she does not believe the U.S., “with its military capabilities, does not know what these objects are.” In a Truth Social post on Dec. 14, Trump also knocked former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie over the sightings, posting what appears to be an AI-generated image of Christie surrounded by drones delivering McDonald’s orders.
Can The Drones Be Shot Down?
Trump isn’t the only politician to push for drones to be shot down. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said the drones should be taken “out of the skies” if needed. Mayorkas told ABC the Department of Homeland Security is “limited in our authorities” to take out the drones. Laws around airspace can be complicated, but generally, it’s also illegal for citizens to take down another person’s drone, the FAA told NBC News. The FBI’s Newark office and New Jersey State Police issued a statement on Monday night warning people that they should not attempt to bring down the drones with guns or lasers. The authorities said there has been an “increase in pilots of manned aircraft being hit in the eyes with lasers” because people on the ground think they are drones. There are also concerns about “people possibly firing weapons at what they believe to be a (unmanned aircraft system) but could be a manned aircraft.” The law enforcement officials said they are working to track down any illegal drone operators but warned there could be “dangerous and possibly deadly consequences if manned aircraft are targeted mistakenly.”
What Are Lawmakers Doing To Respond To The Drones?
States currently lack the ability to respond to drone threats, leading some state politicians to call for federal legislation giving them greater authority. Hochul is urging Congress to pass the Counter-UAS Authority Security, Safety, and Reauthorization Act, which would renew the Department of Homeland Security’s ability to track and investigate drones—a power set to expire on Dec. 20—and require it to give state law enforcement the ability to respond to drone threats, which would include the ability to “disrupt control of, disable, damage, or destroy” them. The act was introduce in the House in June by Rep. Mark Green, R-Tenn. Similarly, Murphy and Schumer urged Congress to pass the Safeguarding the Homeland from the Threats Posed by Unmanned Aircraft Systems Act, a bill introduced in the Senate last year that would also give state and local law enforcement power to track, disable and destroy drones under DHS’s supervision. Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., said Saturday he is drafting legislation that would give state and local governments authority to bring down drones, asking: “Why can’t we bag at least one of these drones and get to the bottom of it?”
What Exactly Do We Know About The Reported Drone Sightings?
Almost nothing, New Jersey Assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia said on X Dec. 11. Fantasia’s post was a lengthy summary of a legislative meeting with the Department of Homeland Security about the mysterious sightings. She described the government’s investigation strategy, which includes a coordinated effort led by the FBI with state police, the Office of Homeland Security and the U.S. Coast Guard. She described the dozens of nightly sightings as “coordinated” operations of drones “up to 6 [feet] in diameter” flying for six to seven hours—distances of 15 miles—unrelated to “hobbyists” or the Department of Homeland Security, which “appear to avoid detection by traditional methods (e.g., helicopters, radio frequencies).” They also aren’t related to military operations, the Picatinny Arsenal said in a statement to NJ Advance Media on Nov. 24.
Where Have The Drones Been Spotted?
Many of the sightings have taken place in New Jersey, but there are also reports from New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Massachusetts and elsewhere. Drones have reportedly been spotted in at least 12 New Jersey counties, including in the airspace over Naval Weapons Station Earle and above “critical infrastructure” in Florham Park. There have also been reports of unidentified drones around Staten Island in New York City, including near the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge in New York City, according to Malliotakis. Sightings also occurred around Philadelphia, Virginia Beach and Fairfield, Connecticut, and former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan posted a video on X of alleged “large drones” in Davidsonville, in-between Annapolis and Washington, D.C., although some of the lights featured in the video were identified as stars. Further north, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey said she is aware of a “growing number of drone sightings” in her state.
Are The Drones A National Security Threat?
Officials say there’s no indication of security threats. The FBI and DHS released a statement on Dec. 12 saying investigators have “no evidence at this time” of “malicious activity” in New Jersey or a “national security or public safety threat.” The statement adds they have not identified “a foreign nexus” for the drones and will continue the investigation. It also said many of the drone sightings have been “cases of mistaken identity,” confusing drones for lawful, identified aircraft. John Kirby, the White House’s national security communications advisor, reiterated the FBI’s statement at a briefing Dec. 12 and said officials “have not been able to…corroborate any of the reported visual sightings.”
Did The Drones Come From An Iranian Ship?
No, according to the Pentagon. Jeff Van Drew, R-NJ, said in an interview with Fox News on Dec. 11, “Iran launched a mothership, probably about a month ago that contains these drones.” He explained the “mothership” was near the country’s Eastern coastline. In response, Sabrina Singh, the Pentagon’s deputy press secretary, rebuffed the claim. “There is no Iranian ship off the coast of the United States and there’s no so-called mothership launching drones towards the United States,” Singh told reporters at a briefing on Dec. 11.
What Have Officials Said About The Investigation?
Officials in northeastern states have pleaded with the federal government for details on the drone sightings and argued Congress should give state and local police more authority to react to drones. More than 20 mayors across New Jersey signed a letter on Dec. 9 petitioning for “transparency,” while state Rep. Jon Bramnick called for a “limited state of emergency.” All four senators representing New York and New Jersey have asked for more federal resources and more information, with Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., arguing a lack of “transparency” has allowed “misinformation” to spread. Murphy said Dec. 10, “it’s really frustrating that we don’t have more answers as to where they’re coming from and why they’re doing what they’re doing.” He added the drones are “sophisticated” and “go dark” after someone sees them. Federal lawmakers held a hearing on Dec. 10 to discuss the drones, with several representatives expressing frustration, including Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., who advocated for broader action and described it as “serious.” Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., wrote the “lack of transparency” from the White House and Pentagon regarding the drones “is more than shameful,” adding: “They don’t trust us, we don’t trust them.”
Has Anyone Been Arrested For Operating Drones?
Police in Boston say they arrested two people on Dec. 14 who allegedly flew a drone “dangerously close” to Logan International Airport from an island in Boston Harbor, while a third is believed to have fled by boat. There’s no indication the arrest is related to any of the sightings throughout the Northeast, but it underscores recent worries.
Tangent
Drones have also been spotted flying over four U.S. Air Force bases in the U.K., The New York Times reported on Nov. 27, with the Air Force saying in a statement the drones have not impacted the bases and a Defense Department official saying officials were “continuing to look into it.”
Key Background
Recreational and commercial drones have surged in popularity, with nearly a million registered by the FAA, leading to growing concerns about unsafe or malicious use. Drones are allowed in New Jersey for personal use and commercial projects, but the state requires pilots to get a certification and follow federal guidelines around the acceptable use of drones. According to FAA rules, recreational drones must stay within view of the flyer, and are typically only allowed to operate at or below 400 feet in uncontrolled airspace, or with prior permission in controlled areas like around airports. Commercially available drones also typically have a short battery life and often can only last 10 minutes to about one hour in the air. If an unknown flyer isn’t following these guidelines, it can be complicated to take the drone down. One example of this came in 2023, when unidentified aircraft were spotted and investigated by the Air Force in 2023 at the Langley Air Force Base in Virginia, the Wall Street Journal reported. According to federal laws, the military can only take down drones by military bases if the drones exhibit a clear threat, and spying isn’t one, the Journal notes. The Journal also reported technological solutions for taking down the Virginia drones, like signal jamming or destructive technology, would have been risky for citizens and planes. After these drone appearances, the Pentagon released a classified new approach to dealing with these issues, Fox News reported.
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