What's up with all the drone sightings?
Reports started in New Jersey, but have spread to NY, MD, and even Cape Cod
What’s up with all the drone sightings over the last month?
The first sightings came on Nov. 18, with drones spotted flying over the US Army's Picatinny Arsenal and over Donald Trump's golf course in Bedminster, New Jersey.
The arsenal isn’t the only military installation being flown over. The Naval Weapons Station Earle, located in Colts Neck, New Jersey is another target.
"While no direct threats to the installation have been identified, we can confirm multiple instances of unidentified drones entering the airspace above Naval Weapons Station Earle," Bill Addison, public affairs officer for the naval station, said in a statement. "The base remains prepared to respond to any potential risks, leveraging robust security measures and advanced detection capabilities."
The sightings in New Jersey spread to over 12 counties within a few weeks, with residents of those areas recording what they were seeing and posting it to social media. The reports include small orb-like objects as well as drones with multi-colored lights, with some of those drones described as being “car-sized.”
The FBI has apparently gotten over 3,000 tips on these sightings spanning Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York. And, according to a video posted to X on Dec. 11, California has had a drone swarm.
Several elected officials have called for the military to at least shoot one of these things down to figure out where they are coming from, including Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal.
'We should be doing some very urgent intelligence analysis and take them out of the skies, especially if they're flying over airports or military bases,' Blumenthal said this past Thursday.
Maryland Governor Larry Hogan took to X with a detailed post about his own sighting of what he said, “appeared to be dozens of large drones in the sky above my residence in Davidsonville, Maryland (25 miles from our nation’s capital).”
Hogan said he watching this going on for “approximately 45 minutes.”
“We are being told that neither the White House, the military, the FBI, or Homeland Security have any idea what they are, where they came from, or who has launched or is controlling them–and that they pose no threat,” Hogan said “That response is entirely unacceptable.”
He closed out by saying, “I join with the growing bipartisan chorus of leaders demanding that the federal government immediately address this issue. The American people deserve answers and action now.”
News Nation reported on Hogan’s sighting and video, as well as video taking by Rep. Andy Kim (D-NJ). The News Nation reporter even saw the drones firsthand and filmed them.
Watch:
Along with Kim, Democrats Sens. Chuck Schumer, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Cory Booker wrote a letter to defense and homeland security officials on Dec. 11 calling for transparency and action.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy has sent a letter to President Joe Biden asking for help "to fully understand what is behind this activity."
So what is the government saying about all of these sighting?
Not a hell of a lot.
"We have no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a national security or a public safety threat, or have a foreign nexus," National Security Council Spokesperson John Kirby said this past week. "The Department of Homeland Security and the FBI are investigating these sightings, and they're working closely with state and local law enforcement to provide resources using numerous detection methods to better understand their origin."
Kirby went on to do some gaslighting, by saying that the reports are possibly from people mistaking helicopters and airplanes for drones.
Despite hundreds of videos and eyewitnesses that include law enforcement and a media outlet, Kirby went on to say, “We have not been able to, and neither have state and local law enforcement authorities, corroborate any of the reported visual sightings.”
New Jersey statehouse Rep. Brian Bergen was so frustrated with getting the run around that he actually walked out on a briefing given to state officials on Dec. 11.
"Why would you call a meeting to tell us you don't know anything?" Bergen told a reported from News Nation, after having noted he had to drive two hours there and two hours to get home for what was a “waste of time.”
"This is a complete lack of effort to figure this out," he said. "We have the ability, it is a lack of effort."
"They're saying it's no threat, but how do they know? They don't know anything. They don't know what it is, they don't know where it's coming from,” Bergen said. “When I walked in here today, I was calm. I was excited to find out, I thought they'd tell me like, 'Hey, it's FedEx trying to figure it out.' But instead, I got the most ridiculous amateur hour briefing I ever saw."
Rep. Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey has been on the drone issue from the start. Last week, he claimed in a FOX News interview that reliable sources told him Iran launched a “mothership” a month ago that is carrying these drones and that ship if off the east coast of the United States.
During a briefing, the Defense Department’s spokesperson Sabrina Singh was asked about the drones. Singh said these are not “U.S. military drones.”
When asked about Van Drew’s remarks, Singh denied there was “not any truth” to his remarks.
MORE TO THE STORY
NJ Congressman Chris Smith has also been vocal about the drones and lack of information being given to elected officials as well as the public. And he was rather animated about it during a Dec. 10 joint hearing on unmanned aerial systems (UAS).
The joint hearing was held by the U.S. Homeland Security Committee's Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement, and Intelligence and Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security.
"One of his officers saw 50 drones come out of the ocean... one of their 47 foot lifeboats was followed by between 12 and 30 of these drones," Smith said about what sheriff’s deputies saw happening during a congressional committee meeting discussion.
Smith said he’s asked officials why they can’t shoot one of these drones down over the water to find out what it is and who might be controlling them. Smith said he was told “they don’t have the authority” to do that.
FBI Assistant Director Robert Wheeler was asked by the Subcommittee's Chairman Rep. August Pfluger (R-TX-11) about what’s going on in New Jersey and Wheeler basically said they have no idea who is behind it and implied the Dept. of Defense has authorization to shoot them down. Read the exchange between Pfluger and Wheeler at Real Clear Politics.
In his opening statement, Pfluger described the national security threats posed by drones, particularly on the border.
"The threats posed by UAS continues to present challenges," Pfluger said. "The U.S. border is one of the most significant vulnerabilities when it comes to this type of threat UAS have already been used to circumvent traditional border security measures, such as fences, walls, and surveillance towers."
Pfluger also brought up the involvement of the Communist Chinese government in some aspects like manufacturing parts for drones, and the risks from drones related to U.S. infrastructure like water, power, oil production, and transportation.
Some of the stats revealed in the opening remarks by Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security Chairman Carlos Gimenez (R-FL) were a bit hair-raising, such as "880,000 registered drone operators in the United States, with countless others operating drones without proper registration or training."
Gimenez also laid out that the Transportation Safety Administration clocked nearly 2,000 drones near U.S. airports with "major airports experiencing drone incursions almost daily."
"Furthermore, between 2021 and 2022, the FBI reported 235 incidents of suspicious drone flights at or near chemical plants in Louisiana," Gimenez said. "Similar UAS activity was also observed at oil storage facilities in Oklahoma and natural gas facilities in Texas, highlighting the growing threat to critical energy infrastructure."
The full opening remarks by both Subcommittee chairs can be read here.
North Carolina's Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC-08) was one of those asking questions during the hearing. Bishop was recently picked by President-elect Donald Trump as Deputy Director for Budget at the Office of Management and Budget.
The joint hearing had six witnesses separated into two panels.
The first panel included Keith Jones, Deputy Executive Assistant Commissioner of Air and Marine Operations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection; Robert W. Wheeler Jr., Assistant Director of the Critical Incident Response Group, Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Brad Wiegmann, Deputy Assistant Attorney General for National Security, Department of Justice.
Written testimony was provided by those in the first panel. None of the written testimony is very reassuring, in fact, the opposite — the U.S. is unprepared for drone "mitigation" and detection.
In an early section of the written testimony, it's admitted that drones are being used at an increasing rate to get contraband into prisons. This is hardly a secret at this point and such use of drones to drop drugs into prisons has even been featured in the Paramount Plus series "Mayor of Kingstown."
The second set of witnesses included Cathy Lanier, Chief Security Officer, National Football League; Paul Schwennesen, PhD, Co-Director, Global Strategy Decisions Group; and Jeffrey Baumgartner, Vice President of National Security and Resilience, Berkshire Hathaway Energy.
Full Hearing:
Not unrelated — Last Friday, Pentagon officials held a classified briefing on UAP sightings with select members of Congress, that apparently includes House Speaker Mike Johnson. No one seems to know exactly what was discussed but the timing is interesting.
EVEN MORE TO THE STORY
Drones over New Jersey are not the only concern. This past year, swarms of drones have been documented over U.S. military installations across the country.
The Wall Street Journal reported on the swarms in October.
Key points made in that article included:
1. The drones were sophisticated, with an estimated size of 20 feet long, flying at over 100 mph and altitudes of 3,000-4,000 feet.
2. Officials were unable to determine the origin or operators of the drones, considering possibilities ranging from hobbyists to foreign adversaries like Russia or China.
3. The incident revealed significant challenges in defending against drone incursions on U.S. soil, as federal law prohibits shooting down drones near military bases unless they pose an imminent threat.
4. The event triggered high-level responses, including White House meetings and involvement from various agencies like the Defense Department, FBI, and the Pentagon's UFO office.
5. Despite extensive efforts to track and identify the drones, including the use of military aircraft and local law enforcement, officials were unable to stop or trace the origins of the drones.
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