Drones, planes or UFOs? Americans are buzzing about mysterious sightings in New Jersey

CHATHAM, NJ (AP) – The buzz coming out of New Jersey? It’s unclear if it’s drones or something else, but the nighttime sightings are sure to produce tons of chatter, a slew of conspiracy theories, and craned necks looking skyward.

Appearing on local news and social media around Thanksgiving, the saga of the drones reported across New Jersey has reached incredible heights.

This week seems to have begun a new, more high-profile chapter: The legislators are demanding (but so far haven’t gotten) explanations from federal and state authorities about what’s behind them. Governor Phil Murphy wrote to President Joe Biden asking for answers. New Jersey’s new senator, Andy Kim, spent Thursday night on a drone hunt in rural northern New Jersey and wrote about it on X.

Several drone sightings have been reported in New York City, and Mayor Eric Adams says the city is investigating and working with New Jersey and federal officials. And then President-elect Donald Trump wrote that he believes the government knows more than it says. “Let the public know, and now. Otherwise, shoot them down!!!” he wrote on his social media.

But perhaps the most stunning development is the staggering proliferation of conspiracies, none of which have been confirmed or suggested by federal and state officials who say they are investigating what’s going on. It has become shorthand to refer to the flying machines as 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 mother ship. Others believe they are the Secret Service keeping President-elect Donald Trump’s Bedminster estate safe. Others worry about China. The deep state. And further.

In the face of uncertainty, people have done what they do in 2024: Create a social media group.

Facebook page, New Jersey Mystery Drones – Let’s Solve Ithas nearly 44,000 members, up from 39,000 late Thursday. People submit their photo and video observations and the online commenters take it from there.

A video shows a whitish light flying in a dark sky, and one commentator concludes that it is otherworldly. “Straight bullets,” says the person. Others weigh in to say it’s a plane or maybe a satellite. Another group called for literally hunting down the drones and shooting them down like turkeys. (Don’t shoot anything in the sky, experts warn.)

Trisha Bushey, 48, of Lebanon Township, New Jersey, lives near Round Valley Reservoir, where there have been several sightings. 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 plane tracking site that no planes were nearby. Now she’s glued to the Mystery Drones site, she said.

“I find myself — instead of Christmas shopping or cleaning my house — checking it,” she said.

She doesn’t buy what the governor said, that the drones are not a risk to public safety. Murphy told Biden Friday that residents need answers. The federal Homeland Security Department and the FBI also said in a joint statement that they have no evidence that the sightings constitute “a national security or public safety threat 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 are uneasy.”

Then there is the notion 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 observation hotspots.

Austin says he’s seen videos of alleged drones and planes being misidentified as drones. He cited an optical effect called parallax, which is the apparent displacement of an object when viewed from different perspectives. Austin encouraged people to download aircraft and drone tracker apps so they can better understand what they’re looking at.

Nevertheless, people continue to come up with their own theories.

“It represents the United States of America in 2024,” Austin said. “We have lost trust in our institutions and we need it.”

Federal officials echo Austin’s view that many of the sightings are of piloted aircraft, such as airplanes and helicopters, being mistaken for drones, according to lawmakers and Murphy.

However, that’s not really convincing to many who are looking for the sightings beyond just 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 the citizen scouts to solve the mystery. He said he tries to be a voice of reason, urging people to check their information while also asking probing questions.

“My main goal is that I don’t want people to get caught up in the hysteria and I also want people to not just ignore it at the same time,” he said.

“Whether it’s foreign military or a secret access program or something otherworldly, whatever it is, all I’m saying is that it’s alarming that this is happening so suddenly and so consistently for hours at a time,” he added.

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Golden reported from Seattle.