The New Jersey Drone Mystery May Not Actually Be That Mysterious

Across New Jersey, reports of mysterious drone sightings have been rising for weeks, with people contacting authorities and posting on social media about aerial vehicles behaving strangely, especially at night. The reports have spread in New York City as well, with alleged sightings in Staten Island, Brooklyn, and Queens. The United States Federal Aviation Administration imposed a temporary ban in New Jersey this week on flying drones over the Army’s Picatinny Arsenal in Wharton and a golf course owned by US president-elect Donald Trump in Bedminster. While the mystery has become a growing sensation, virtually no information has been available about whether the sightings are connected or represent anything out of the ordinary.

Vague and noncommittal statements from state and federal authorities have only complicated the matter and fueled public intrigue. On Thursday, though, a joint FBI and Department of Homeland Security statement emphasized that ongoing state- and federal-level investigations have found no evidence of foreign involvement or a threat of any kind. The Department of Defense shared the same conclusion in a press conference on Wednesday. Furthermore, the FBI and DHS added that none of the sightings have been verified to have been drones at all.

“We are supporting local law enforcement in New Jersey with numerous detection methods but have not corroborated any of the reported visual sightings with electronic detection,” US authorities said in a statement. “To the contrary, upon review of available imagery, it appears that many of the reported sightings are actually manned aircraft, operating lawfully. There are no reported or confirmed drone sightings in any restricted air space.”

Multiple federal agencies have been collaborating with New Jersey State Police on the investigation, but the FBI and DHS noted in their statement that, “while there is no known malicious activity occurring in New Jersey, the reported sightings there do, however, highlight the insufficiency of current authorities,” seemingly referring to weeks of uncertainty about which institution was responsible for producing a public explanation for the sightings.

“Today, I spoke with Liz Sherwood-Randall, White House homeland security adviser, to discuss my concerns over the federal government’s response to recent drone sightings in NJ,” New Jersey governor Phil Murphy wrote in a social media post on Thursday. “I’ll continue to press the federal government, including the FBI, for answers on behalf of the public.”

Other politicians, including Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Democrats from New York, and senators Cory Booker and Andy Kim, Democrats from New Jersey, sent a letter to the FBI, DHS, and Federal Aviation Administration on Thursday to demand more transparency and a briefing about the investigation.

As the frenzy escalates, though, security specialists note that there is no evidence of a threat or indication that the aerial vehicles people are seeing are anything unusual.

“There is nothing conclusive about these alleged drone sightings,” says Deviant Ollam, a New Jersey native and longtime physical security researcher. “It’s a famous and popular pastime of Americans to panic and make political hay out of things they don’t understand, and therefore, decide to fear.”

Reports of drone sightings, whether they ultimately prove to be accurate or not, are often difficult to investigate quickly and thoroughly, especially given that different levels of law enforcement and aviation authorities are all potentially involved and must collaborate. Doing a thorough investigation quickly is also costly, especially when new reported sightings continue to emerge. For example, over a few days in December 2018, repeated—ultimately verified—drone sightings at Gatwick Airport south of London resulted in more than 1,000 cancelled flights, chaos for more than 150,000 travelers, more than $63 million of lost revenue for airlines, and an expenditure of nearly $1.3 million for the local Sussex police force’s investigation.

Ollam emphasizes that the speed with which such investigations can be accomplished correlates directly to how much funding officials have at their disposal. In the meantime, though, officials in the US have been scrambling to address theories about aliens and Iranian spy drones.

“Each of these ‘drones’ have a green light on the right, a red light on the left, and a strobe light, which is required by the FAA at night. So either the aliens and Iranians are complying with FAA law or it’s something else,” former Air National Guard member and former Illinois Republican representative Adam Kinzinger said in a social media video on Thursday. “You’re allowed to fly over military bases and sensitive national security areas. In fact, small planes and pilots do this all the time and there’s no restriction on it. So the freak-out doesn’t really make sense.”

Federal officials were clearly walking a delicate line on Thursday as they attempted to reassure the public without seeming disengaged.

“We take seriously the threat that can be posed by unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), which is why law enforcement and other agencies continue to support New Jersey and investigate the reports,” the DHS and FBI said in their joint Thursday statement. “Historically, we have experienced cases of mistaken identity, where reported drones are, in fact, manned aircraft or facilities.”