Cooper Lewis ‘26, Copy Editor
Since around Thanksgiving, sightings and videos of mysterious drones flying over suburban neighborhoods in New Jersey have taken the media by storm and have spread fear and paranoia to many Americans. Are these drones from some foreign enemy overseas? Are they new military technology? Or is it just some aviation enthusiast playing with their new toy? With no leads or arrests, and officials avoiding answers to the many questions that have come up, speculation over the whole situation has grown to new heights.
The various sightings—over residential neighborhoods, restricted sights, and various pieces of infrastructure—has raised questions as well as conspiracy theories. With pressure from lawmakers to state officials in early December, the federal government finally announced that they were beginning an investigation into the “flying objects.” Despite looking like a typical drone, many still speculate that it could be a manned flying vehicle instead. With no answers, and this day-in-age social media, people are doing what they do best: making groups online to find answers, and come up with their own conspiracies. The Facebook group, “New Jersey Mystery Drones — let’s solve it” has garnered over 44,000 members, and consists of residents posting their own videos and evidence of the drones, and the online commenters take the theories into their own hands. Some comments claim the drones look otherworldly, like “straight up orbs.” Another group suggested hunting the drones like wild turkeys.
Trisha Bushey, a resident of Lebanon Township, New Jersey, has since found herself glued to the Facebook page. Bushey said, “I find myself—instead of Christmas shopping or cleaning the house—checking it.” After a statement from the FBI and Department of Homeland Security saying they did not have enough evidence to conclude that the drones are any sort of threat, Bushey was one of many that did not accept it. “How can you say it’s not posing a threat if you don’t know what it is?” Bushey said, “I think that’s why so many people are uneasy.” On top of the lack of answers and overall confusion, there is also the case of people misunderstanding what it is they are seeing.
William Austin, the president of Warren County Community College, which hosts a drone program and is located in one of the hotspot sighting locations, says he has seen numerous videos of people claiming to see the drones, however the “mysterious flying object” might turn out to be a mere aircraft. He believes this to be a result of an optical illusion called parallax, which is the apparent shift of an object when viewed from different perspectives. Austin has since, and continues to, encourage people to download flight and drone tracking apps to further educate themselves. Nevertheless, people continue to sprout their own theories. Austin said, “It represents the United States in 2024; we’ve lost trust in our institutions, and we need it.” On Dec. 20, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) temporarily banned drone flights in 22 areas of New Jersey and 30 areas of New York, mostly in areas around New York City and Long Island, where critical infrastructure is located.
Despite federal comments stating that the drones pose no threat, many state lawmakers have called for stricter rules on who can fly unmanned aircraft, and for further authority to shoot them down. After a few weeks in headlines and making national news, the drone epidemic of New Jersey and New York seems to have faded from public memory, despite so, it still had its time in the spotlight, further spreading fear and chaos to an already chaotic time in the United States.
Lyon Life 