Drone sightings raise questions and arouse intrigue

On By Littum

Hello! Have you ever watched a Hallmark movie (it’s ok to admit it) and wondered: Where did they film this thing? The answer is usually Victoria, British Columbia. Someone who lives there describes what it’s like living in a place built for the perfect happy ending.

In today’s big story, we look at how the furore over mysterious drones is getting people to act some examine their own.

What’s on deck

Markets: Bitcoin predictions for 2025 roll in, and there is a wide range of options.

Technology: Amazon’s RTO plans have a problem: There is not enough office to return to.

Business: Not so big and much more expensive. Welcome to the new American dream.

But first, what is everyone raving about?

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The big story

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, no it’s…


A drone has been spotted over the Bronx

Spectee via Reuters Connect



Mysterious planes have taken over the night sky this month, but they probably won’t be gifting us on the 25th.

Santa may have some company in the sky like dozens of unidentified planes continues to pop up across the East Coast. See for yourself some videos of the observations that causes concern.

The good news: Officials have stressed drones is not the work of a foreign adversary or a public threat. The bad news: That’s about all they say.

Donald Trump addressed the busy topic Monday during his first press conference since his election victory. The president-elect criticized the government for not provide more details to the public and said he canceled an upcoming weekend trip to his golf club in Bedminster, NJ

The whole episode also reflects one growing challenge for the US militarywrites Business Insider’s Jake Epstein. Several military installations have seen drones in their area that could spy on military bases or become a danger to their operations.


Photo of plane taking off

Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images



The lack of information does not stop people from taking matters into their own hands.

Videos recorded with Ring doorbells of potential drone sightings is widely sharedwrites BI’s Ana Altcheck. The app’s “Neighbors” section, typically for sharing information about lost pets or stolen packages, has been inundated with written reports and videos speculating about mysterious planes.

Of course, give the Internet an inch and it will take a mile. While some of the posts are serious, there is plenty of trolling going on. In some cases, users have become annoyed at being bombarded with notifications about drone posts.

Trying to explain the phenomenon behind the drones represent the perfect thread for conspiratorial minds to pull onwrites BI’s Katie Notopoulos.

To be fair, it’s only natural to want to do a little research. I admit to spending a little more time staring at the sky than I normally would, hoping to catch a glimpse of our new “friends” (hopefully).

If you decide to do some sky-gazing, it’s important to remember that there are plenty of things up there that aren’t mysterious. The Federal Aviation Administration handles 45,000 flights each day.

So before you get excited about what you think is another drone flying over your backyard, check out this piece from BI’s Taylor Rains next how to distinguish what is flying overhead.

Newsletter

Top headlines

3 things in markets


Picture of Jerome Powell

Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images



  1. Enjoy this week’s rate cut because it may be the last for a while. Wall Street forecasters are not banking on the string of rate cuts continuing into early next year. A strong economy combined with sticky inflation has experts predicting the central bank will pause to relax his policy a little.
  2. Two sides of the same (bit) coin. Crypto bears see bitcoin falling to $45,000 by 2025 (BCA Research), while bulls see the asset climbing as high as $500,000 next year (Fundstrat). President-elect Donald Trump’s plan for bitcoin will have a massive impact, but there is also major initiatives are being taken at state level.
  3. SoFi’s investment manager wants to vibe-check the market. Liz Young Thomas told BI that it is difficult to ignore all the positive signals in the market. However, aggressive speculation that the rally will not end despite stocks being overvalued can create a situation where the market gets too “frothy,” she added.

3 things in tech


Photo illustration of hand pulling back Amazon worker

Nickilford/Getty, MarkPiovesan/Getty, Maria Ivanova/Getty, Ljupco/Getty, Tyler Le/BI



  1. Exclusive: Amazon delays its five-day RTO mandate for some employees. The retail giant does not have enough office space in certain placesand internal communications reviewed by BI show some RTO policy delays stretching as far back as May. But this isn’t the first time Amazon has run into workplace capacity issues.
  2. Inside Wiz’s plans to become the world’s largest cyber security company. The cloud security startup has expanded at a breakneck pace, raising $1.9 billion in just four years and passing on a $23 billion acquisition offer from Google. Raaz Herzberg, Wiz’s VP of product strategy, told BI where it plans to go from there.
  3. Klarna says it will start drug testing workers in Sweden. The buy-now-pay-later company, which is preparing for an IPO, said the move was part of a broader effort to “strengthen security” in an internal Slack message sent Monday.

3 things in business


Photo illustration of family looking at house on fire in a breaking snow globe

Javier Jaén for BI



  1. The American dream is much smaller these days. Fewer children. Smaller homes. Less free time. Oh, and everything costs a lot more, and you probably won’t be happy. The American Dream it sure looks a lot different than usual.
  2. Move over, Bluesky. Thousands of users have ditched X in the wake of the 2024 presidential election, with many flocking to platforms like Bluesky. But instead of shouting into the void and succumbing to doomscrolling, some turn to their group chats with friends for more meaningful interactions.
  3. Introduction of BI’s 10 industry innovators from 2024. What do the CEO of Nvidia, the commissioner of the WNBA and the head of Amazon Prime Video have in common? They are all shaking up and transforming their industries in their own ways.

In other news

The Insider Today team: Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York. Grace Lett, editor, in Chicago. Ella Hopkins, associate editor, in London. Amanda Yen, associate editor, in New York. Milan Sehmbi, Fellow, in London.