CHATHAM, N.J. (AP) — That buzzing from New Jersey? It’s unclear whether they’re drones or something else, but the nighttime sightings are sure to generate a lot of chatter, a slew of conspiracy theories and extended necks looking skyward.
The story of the drones being reported over New Jersey started popping up on local news and social media sites around Thanksgiving and has reached incredible heights.
This week, a new, more prominent chapter appears to have begun: Lawmakers are demanding (but so far not receiving) explanations from federal and state authorities about what’s behind them. Gov. Phil Murphy wrote a letter to President Joe Biden demanding answers. New Jersey’s new senator, Andy Kim, spent Thursday evening drone hunting in rural Northern New Jersey and posted about it on X.
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But perhaps the most fantastic development is the staggering increase in conspiracies — none of which have been confirmed or suggested by federal and state officials who say they are investigating what is happening. It has become shorthand to call the flying machines drones, but there are questions about whether what people are seeing are unmanned aircraft or something else.
Some theorize that the drones came from an Iranian mothership. Others believe they are the Secret Service keeping newly elected President Donald Trump’s properties in Bedminster safe. Others worry about China. The deep state. And further.
Despite the uncertainty, people did what they do in 2024: create a social media group.
The Facebook page, New Jersey Mystery Drones – Let’s Solve It, has nearly 44,000 members, up from 39,000 as of late Thursday. People post their photo and video observations, and the online commenters take it from there.
One video shows a whitish light flying in a dark sky, and a commentator concludes that it is extraterrestrial. “Straight balls,” the person says. Others say it’s an airplane or maybe a satellite. Another group called for literally hunting down the drones and shooting them like turkeys. (Don’t shoot anything in the air, experts warn.)
Trisha Bushey, 48, of Lebanon Township, New Jersey, lives near the Round Valley Reservoir, where numerous sightings have been made. She said she first posted photos online last month wondering what the objects were, and became convinced they were drones when she saw how they moved and when her son showed her on a flight tracking site that there were no planes in them were in the area. Now she’s stuck with the Mystery Drones page, she said.
“I find myself — instead of doing Christmas shopping or cleaning my house — I’m checking,” she said.
She doesn’t believe what the governor said: that the drones do not pose a risk to public safety. Murphy told Biden on Friday that residents need answers. The federal Department of Homeland Security and the FBI also said in a joint statement that they have no evidence that the sightings “pose a threat to national security or public safety or have a foreign connection.”
“How can you say it’s not a threat if you don’t know what it is?” she said. “I think that’s why so many people feel uncomfortable.”
Then there’s the idea that people can misunderstand what they see. William Austin is the president of Warren County Community College, which has a drone technology program and happens to be located in one of the hot spots for sightings.
Austin says he has watched videos of alleged drones and planes are being misidentified as drones. He cited an optical effect called parallax, which is the apparent shift of an object when viewed from different perspectives. Austin encouraged people to download flight tracking and drone apps so they can better understand what they are looking at.
Yet people continue to come up with their own theories.
“It represents the United States of America in 2024,” Austin said. “We have lost confidence in our institutions, and we need it.”
Federal officials echo Austin’s view that many of the sightings are piloted aircraft such as planes and helicopters being mistaken for drones, lawmakers and Murphy said.
However, that’s not really convincing to many, who focus on the sightings outside New Jersey and the East Coast, where others have reported seeing the objects.
For Seph Divine, 34, another member of the drone hunting group who lives in Eugene, Oregon, it feels like it’s up to civilian investigators to solve the mystery. He said he tries to be a voice of reason, encouraging people to fact-check their information while also asking probing questions.
“My main goal is I don’t want people to get caught up in the hysteria and I also don’t want people to just ignore it,” he said.
“Whether or not it’s foreign military or a secret access program or something extraterrestrial, whatever it is, all I’m saying is it’s alarming that this is happening so suddenly and so consistently for hours,” he added to it.
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Associated Press reporter Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed to this report.
