The sudden increase in drone activitiesOnline blogs and conspiracies that make strange claims to explain the drone “hysteria,” some including missing nuclear material and an approaching alien invasion, are being fueled by the lights that are lighting up the night skies over New Jersey and other states.
The claims have been dismissed by federal government authorities in recent days, who have stated that the objects do not represent a threat to national security or public safety and that they may be mistaken for drones in certain instances.
Since mid-November, the FBI has received over 5,000 drone-related reports from all over the Northeast, but warns that most of them are not worth looking any further and that some are duplicates.
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However, the ambiguity has only increased curiosity and conjecture on social media, with people claiming to know what or who is behind the activities.
Following the sharing of an ATikTok video by the CEO of a Kansas-based remote aircraft system company on X on Sunday, well-known podcaster Joe Rogan wrote: “This is the first video about these drones that has got me genuinely concerned.”
John Ferguson, the CEO, clarified that “the only reason why they would be flying, and flying that low, is because they’re trying to smell something on the ground,” referring to a gas leak or radioactive materials, even though he hasn’t seen anything to suggest malicious intent.
A request for comment Monday was not immediately answered by Ferguson, whose video has received over 1.5 million views. Similar opinions have been expressed by other TikTok members who think the drones might be looking for dirty bombs or nuclear weapons.
Conspiracy theories that date back decades are also being advanced by the mystery surrounding the drones. One alludes to Project Blue Beam, a purported government conspiracy to incite fear by feigning an alien invasion.
President-elect Donald Trump said the military can determine where drones take off from during a broad news conference on Monday, continuing to raise questions about government authorities’ incapacity to adequately explain an apparent spike in sightings.
“An odd thing is happening. They should notify the public because they are actually over Bedminster, but for some reason they don’t want to,” Trump remarked in reference to drone activity near his New Jersey golf course. If he has been briefed by intelligence on the subject, he declined to comment.
A senior person who was briefed on the drone sighting told NBC News last week that they think drones were actually spotted above the U.S. Army’s Picatinny Arsenal research site in northern New Jersey and the Trump National Golf Club.
However, Trump stated that the United States would have “blasted” down foreign unmanned aircraft and that he does not think an enemy is responsible for the action. (The Federal Aviation Administration has warned individuals that firing drones might be dangerous and would be a federal criminal.)
The drones are not connected to the U.S. military and seem to have been sent by a foreign nation, like Iran, according to Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh, who spoke to reporters last week.
However, Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., told reporters on Saturday that it is not necessary to rule out foreign actors.
“The elusive maneuvering of these drones suggests a major military power sophistication that begs the question whether they have been deployed to test our defense capabilities or worse by violent dictatorships, perhaps maybe Russia, or China, or Iran, or North Korea,” Smith stated.
Similar worries are still being expressed by other lawmakers.
“Why can’t the federal government tell us where these drones are from?!” Monday on X was written by Senator Rick Scott, R-Fla. “The exact reason why Americans lack faith in our federal government is because of its lack of openness. Furthermore, they pose a threat to national security if they are the same Chinese drones that I campaigned to get banned from our military.
Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., also advocated for greater government transparency last week, expressing concern that it may be enabling “misinformation to spread, or at least fear.” We ought to be aware of what’s happening in our sky.
Ryan Herd, the mayor of Pequannock Township, New Jersey, told NBC New York that solutions are required to allay neighborhood worries.
“Now we’re getting to the point where this is just hysteria,” Herd stated.
As Trump hinted at, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy told reporters Monday that there is “zero evidence” that the military or the federal government are concealing anything more. He also said that he “would just like to debunk there’s a lot of conspiracy theories out there right now.”
Adam Kinzinger, a former Republican Representative and outspoken Trump critic, advised his followers on social media not to let the conspiracies influence them because politicians are not the only ones with answers.
Kinzinger posted, “Drones exist,” on X on Monday. “This doesn’t mean they’re Iran, alien, or sniffing out nukes.”
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