Drone fever is sweeping New Jersey, as new data shows residents have reported more than 1,000 sightings of flying objects across the state in less than a month.
About 964 total incidents have been recorded since the first sighting on Nov. 19 through Dec. 13, according to statistics compiled by the state Office of Emergency Management and shared with the New York Post.
However, despite the surprising volume of apparent sightings, which have prompted locals to shoot into the sky and even prompted the closure of an airport in neighboring New York, officials have yet to provide answers about who or what is behind the the drones.
As the flashing objects continue surround the skies of New Jersey and beyond, theories about the source have proliferated in the homes of lawmakers and residents below, from Project Blue Beam to foreign conspiracies.
Iran
New Jersey lawmaker Jeff Van Drew this week made the surprising claim that Iran could be behind the mysterious drones.
The Republican told Fox News that the Middle East power had launched a “mothership” parked off the coast of the Garden State.
“These come from important sources,” he said. “I don’t say this lightly.” He then added that the drones should be “shot down,” something that is illegal under federal law and can be punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
However, the Pentagon quickly dismissed this theory, saying there is no evidence the drones are the work of an adversary and denying there is an Iranian “mothership” lurking off the US coast.
Russia
White House officials have long noted how Russia and Iran collaborate in development of military drones, and Russia is also high on the list of foreign adversaries that experts have speculated could be behind the latest flurry of activity in New Jersey.
Intelligence analysts have hypothesized that the Kremlin may have sent the drones to the East Coast as part of a mission linked to Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.
Retired police lieutenant and intelligence analyst Tim McMillan told DailyMail.com that suspicions arose because of the location of many sightings: Picatinny Arsenal, a major plant that manufactures ammunition supplied to Ukraine.
Lieutenant McMillan also noted that the descriptions of the flying objects ‘they sound exactly like the Russian Orlan-10 drones’, secret craft that fly in groups of three to five.
Meanwhile, US Army General Darryl Williams said the situation reflects what has developed at US and NATO bases across Europe, which are also known for supplying weapons to Ukraine.
Pictured: Picatinny Arsenal Commanding General John Reim welcomes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy before a tour of the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant in September 2024. Picatinny’s role in supplying ammunition to Ukraine can explain mysterious drones over New Jersey
Other foreign powers
Gordon Chang, a fellow at the conservative Gatestone Institute think tank and an expert on Chinese affairs, said the drones are likely the result of foreign powers spying on the United States.
He said the drones seemed very sophisticated and therefore were not being controlled by amateurs.
“These activities are too large and well organized to be the work of amateurs,” Chang said. fox business on Saturday.
‘That leaves foreign powers. It could be Iran in relation to China, but clearly someone is trying to divert our attention.’
Chang suggested that while the drones themselves are disturbing, he was more concerned about the fact that they could be a distraction to a much larger threat.
‘What really worries me is what they might be doing elsewhere. “It is very possible that they will affect us,” he told Fox.
Blue Ray Project
Social media has gone wild with conspiracy theorists insisting the alleged drones are connected to a chilling government plot.
Actress Roseanne Barr, a Trump supporter, was among those promoting the Project Blue Beam theory, which claims that global elites are planning to use advanced technology to stage celestial events in order to manipulate the world’s population.
“Now you see why I mention Project Blue Beam every week on my podcast…” the 72-year-old wrote on X.
The theory dates back to the 1990s, but recently found traction again online when commentators like Barr claim that the US government could stage an alien invasion as a pretext to impose authoritarian rule.
An inside job
Others have also embraced the idea that the Biden Administration could be behind the drone activity, given its refusal to provide reassuring responses amid the growing crisis.
Former CIA operations officer Laura Ballman revealed her chilling theory that drones lighting up the skies over several states may be a “classified exercise.”
she said Fox News live that the drone sightings are “extremely disturbing” and shared his theory that they may be part of a technology “test” orchestrated by the federal government.
Ballman said: “Now, in terms of who is behind this, considering the statements that have been made by John Kirby, who has said that these objects are not operating illegally.”
“Together with the various opinion pieces that have appeared in the last 24 hours about the need to examine our detection systems, it makes me think that perhaps this is actually a classified exercise to test evasion technology or detection technology in urban areas.’
Larry Hogan, former governor of Maryland, who said he recently witnessed “what appeared to be dozens of large drones in the sky” over his house for about 45 minutes, wondered why the government seemed unwilling to do anything about it. .
Sending your complaints to Financial timesDodd said: “We could fire a missile 5,000 miles away, but we can’t determine where these drones are coming from.”
Dodd said he was “frustrated” by the “little information on a serious issue” and criticized the “lack of information.”total lack of transparency and the disdainful attitude of the federal government’ in an X publication.
fans
Americans have speculated that the aerial phenomenon could simply be due to amateur hobbyists monitoring residents with drones, although military experts have said the planes appear too sophisticated for that to be the case.
Famous podcaster Joe Rogan also echoed the theory that it could be bored young men ‘fucking’ with people for fun.
“This is what kids call sus,” Rogan posted on X.com, and then came up with his own theory.
“I want to believe they’re adderalled incels hiding in a basement fucking with ‘the man’ more than I want them to be aliens,” Rogan joked. ‘#wanttobelieve.’
Long a trusted source for interviews with investigative journalists covering UFOs, military witnesses, and government whistleblowers, Rogan has garnered more than 1.8 million views for Post X on the ongoing drone crisis.
Famed podcaster Joe Rogan (above) posted a video of White House national security spokesman John Kirby telling reporters that the mysterious New Jersey drones posed no “threat to national security or public safety.” Rogan said: ‘This is what kids call “their”‘
There are no drones
White House Homeland Security spokesman John Kirby has said the planes are They are not foreigners, and they may not even be drones.
“We have no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a threat to national security or public safety or have a foreign nexus,” Kirby told reporters Thursday.
“The Department of Homeland Security and the FBI are investigating these sightings and are working closely with state and local authorities to provide resources using numerous detection methods to better understand their origin,” Kirby said.
He said the agencies used “very sophisticated electronic detection technologies” but “neither state nor local authorities have been able to corroborate any of the reported visual sightings.”
“On the contrary, after reviewing the available images, it appears that many of the reported sightings are actually legally operated manned aircraft,” he said, denying that the planes were even drones.