What’s up in the sky around Maryland’s Route 50? Even the state’s former governor is asking

There have been reports of mysterious aerial activity, usually attributed to drones of some kind, in the New Jersey area. Now it’s also being reported in Maryland, specifically along the Route 50 corridor.

Bowie police say they are receiving calls and trying to investigate what it is, but they don’t seem to know any more than anyone else does. And the reports come from all over the area.

Add former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan’s name to those asking questions about the strange sighting. He posted video on X he says he took about 9:45 p.m. Thursday from his home in Davidsonville.

“I personally witnessed (and filmed) what appeared to be dozens of large drones in the sky,” Hogan said.

It was around this time last night that Jazmine Johnson of Crofton said she saw something in the sky as she drove on Route 50 through Bowie. In fact, she said she’s been watching it for the past two nights.

“I thought, OK, this isn’t stars,” Johnson said. “They can’t be stars because they’re in the same position, same place, but I also felt like I saw it moving, changing lights, things like that.”

She also realized that they were not airplanes. And it turns out she said her brother reported seeing something similar last week while driving from Laurel to Glenarden. One thing that bothers her is that she has not seen the objects fly during the day when she is on her way to work – only at night on her way home.

Bowie resident Mary Tutman said she noticed three objects moving north to south — toward Route 50 actually — Sunday night when she was taking out the trash. She was aware of the stories coming out of New Jersey, but at first assumed that the drones mentioned were the more common hobbyist drones that people can buy cheaply.

“It wasn’t small,” Tutman said. “And they just came in like in a row. One, and then it did this weird thing, like a deep hum.”

A few minutes later she saw two more.

“They had red and green lights,” she said. “At that point I was trying to go, wait a minute, that must be what they’re talking about. And then I was trying to see that the lights were kind of flashing and I couldn’t get a sense of how big it was, but it wasn’t small.”

Live in a neighborhood that sees all kinds of air traffic overhead, whether it’s commercial flights to and from BWI Marshall Airport, military flights to Joint Base Andrews, or small planes flying in and out of the Freeway Airport – never mind the police and ambulance helicopters – Tutman said she is able to tune most things out. But not these.

“The sound was unlike anything I’ve heard before, which caught my attention almost more than the things flying,” she said.

While the government has not been able to provide an explanation, the FAA said in a statement to WTOP that recreational drone pilots do not need a special permit to fly as long as the drones weigh 55 pounds or less. And that assumes they are drones.

In one joint statementThe FBI and Department of Homeland Security said they had no evidence that the sightings in New Jersey posed a threat to national security or public safety.

“Historically, we have experienced cases of mistaken identity where reported drones are actually manned aircraft or facilities,” the agencies said. It is not clear if the statement applies to what is being seen in Maryland.

In an email to WTOP, Joint Base Andrews said it had not conducted any drone strikes, but remains alert and ready to respond to any risks or threats.

In his post about the activity at X, Larry Hogan said the public was becoming “increasingly concerned and frustrated” by the lack of transparency from the federal government.

“The government has the ability to track these from their point of origin, but has mounted a negligent response. People are rightfully crying out for answers, but are not getting any,” Hogan said.

“I don’t understand that they really know what it is, or you know, if so many people have seen them, that if they know what it is,” Tutman said. “You have to say something like, we test, we make – nobody really cares if it’s a company, if they test.

“But if they don’t know, it’s pretty scary,” she added. “If they know… they should say something more.”

“The drones are there when they weren’t there before,” Johnson said. “And I know we live in an area where there are different bases — Fort Meade … we’re near the NSA. We’re close to a lot of different places. So I think there’s a big concern that the drones are on the east coast.

“I don’t believe they’re going to be forthcoming about what they understand and know it is.”

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