- Dozens of unidentified aircraft have been spotted over cities in the eastern United States.
- Some of the suspected drones have been seen flying over military bases and airports.
- The FBI said Saturday it is still investigating but doesn’t believe they pose a threat.
Dozens of unidentified aircraft, at least some of which appear to be drones, have been spotted flying at night over New Jersey and other nearby states since mid-November, sparking concern from local officials and speculation among citizens.
Officials from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Homeland Security told reporters on Saturday that they were still investigating but had no evidence the aircraft pose a threat to the public or are connected to a foreign adversary.
“But … we don’t know,” a spokesperson from the Joint Staff said in a Saturday statement that confirmed sightings at two military bases in New Jersey. “We have not been able to locate or identify the operators or the points of origin.”
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul also spoke out on Saturday, calling for more federal oversight of drones. “This has gone too far,” she said.
Here’s everything we know so far about the “mystery drones.”
Where have residents reported unidentified aircraft?
Residents and officials have reported spotting unidentified aircraft, believed to be drones, flying above New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania in recent weeks. The first sightings, the FBI said, were on November 18.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy told reporters on Monday that some of the suspected drones are “very sophisticated” and can “go dark” the “minute you get eyes on them.” Others have described the aircraft as bigger than normal hobby drones and able to avoid detection.
“This is something we’re taking deadly seriously and we’ve gotten good cooperation out of the feds, but we need more,” Murphy told reporters.
Drones have been spotted near Picatinny Arsenal and Naval Weapons Station Earle, both military bases in New Jersey, and an airport in New York serving the public and the military. However, officials have stressed such sightings are routine.
“This is not a new issue for us. We’ve had to deal with drone incursions over our bases for quite a time now,” the Joint Staff spokesperson said Saturday. “It’s something that we routinely respond to in each and every case when reporting is cited.”
There have also been reports of suspected drones following a US Coast Guard vessel, as well as local police statements on the presence of unidentified aircraft near critical infrastructure.
US Northern Command, which is responsible for overseeing the protection of the US homeland, said it was “aware and monitoring the reports of unauthorized drone flights in the vicinity of military installations in New Jersey,” including around the Picatinny Arsenal and Naval Weapons Station Earle.
The latest sightings were in Connecticut, according to a statement on Friday from State Sen. Tony Hwang.
What officials are saying about these mystery drones?
President-elect Donald Trump said Friday on Truth Social that the drones “can’t be done without our government’s knowledge” and suggested they be shot down. Other officials have expressed concern about shooting them down due to the threat to local populations of falling debris. Neither kinetic nor electronic warfare methods are particularly ideal near civilian areas.
Rep. Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey said on Fox News on Wednesday that the drones came from an Iranian “mothership” off the East Coast of the United States, citing “very high sources.”
Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh rejected that assertion in a press conference later that day, saying that “there is no Iranian ship off the coast of the United States, and there’s no so-called mothership launching drones toward the United States.”
Singh said that the Pentagon has no evidence that the reported drone sightings are the work of a foreign adversary. While Iran does have vessels that can carry drones, they were spotted off its southern coast as recently as Thursday — debunking Van Drew’s claims.
He doubled down on Thursday, saying the government isn’t telling the truth. The congressman said it could be another ship belonging to another foe. A Department of Homeland Security official said Saturday that there is no evidence of any foreign-based involvement in sending drones ashore from vessels in the area.
John Kirby, a White House National Security Council spokesperson, said on Thursday the United States had “no evidence” that the reported drone sightings are a public safety threat. He added that the government believes some of the suspected drones were actually crewed aircraft operating lawfully.
Kirby also said that the federal government had not been able to confirm any of the sightings.
Speaking to reporters Saturday, an FBI official said that the bureau had received 5,000 tips through a national tip line, but of those reports, fewer than 100 were deemed worthy of more investigation.
“We’re doing our best to find the origin of those drone activities,” the FBI official said. “But I think there has been a slight overreaction.”
Local officials, meanwhile, are calling for more information.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement on Saturday that runways at Stewart International Airport in Orange County were shut down for an hour due to unidentified drone activity. Hochul called on Congress to strengthen the Federal Aviation Administration’s oversight of drones and provide counter-unmanned aircraft equipment to local law enforcement.
Mayors of 21 towns in New Jersey also sent a letter to Gov. Murphy on Monday demanding more transparency.
“Despite inquiries made to relevant authorities, we have yet to receive satisfactory answers about the purpose, operators, or safety protocols governing these flights,” the letter says.
The FBI said that it’s leading the investigation. Local law enforcement agencies are also investigating.
Previous unidentified flying objects and drone sightings
There have been a number of sightings of suspected drones and other unusual flying objects over military installations in recent years.
In February 2023, for example, the United States shot down three unidentified objects flying over American airspace over the course of three days. The incidents followed the US takedown of a spy balloon off the coast of North Carolina the government said came from China.
As for drone activity, The Wall Street Journal reported in October that fleets of drones had been spotted over a military base in Virginia and the Energy Department’s Nevada National Security Site the year prior. Retired US Air Force Gen. Mark Kelly, until March of this year the head of Air Combat Command, said that he learned about the sightings in December 2023, when officials at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia reported seeing dozens of drones flying over the base at night. It’s unclear who was behind those incidents.
While the federal government says that the latest sightings are not the work of adversaries or a public security threat, multiple recent incidents near bases have raised national security concerns.
For instance, federal authorities on Monday charged a Chinese citizen residing in California, Yinpiao Zhou, with failure to register a non-transportation aircraft and violation of national defense airspace. The Justice Department accused Zhou of using a drone to photograph Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County on November 30.
Police arrested Zhou at the San Francisco International Airport before he boarded a China-bound flight.
Another man, Fengyun Shi, a Chinese national, was sentenced to six months in federal prison in October for photographing classified US Navy ships with a drone in Virginia. Fengyun, a student at the University of Minnesota, pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of unauthorized use of aircraft for the unlawful photographing of a designated installation.
The FBI official who spoke to reporters on Saturday said about the most recent sightings: “We are doing everything we can, alongside our partners, to understand what is happening and whether or not there is more nefarious activity that we need to explore.”
