Mysterious drones have been flying over New Jersey, according to people posting across social media platforms in December 2024. Some of the posts suggested they were not human-made drones, but alien unidentified flying objects. For example, on Dec. 5, 2024, someone on TikTok just posted a video of herself looking puzzled, with the following text superimposed (archived): "Why is no one talking about the fact that there are thousands of drones flying over nj and the government doesn't know what it is and flights are getting canceled."
As of this writing, the video had gained 5.9 million views and 420,900 likes. Those claims also appeared on Reddit, X, BlueSky, Threads and Instagram (archived):
New Jersey U.S. Sen-elect Andy Kim, a Democrat, published a series of posts on X in which he described what he saw during a night outing with local police in his state. He said (archived) they saw "5-7 lights at a time that were low and not associated with aircraft on the tracker app." He also said some hovered while others traveled.
Rumors also abounded as to what these drones were doing, and who was using them. Some people suggested they were spraying a substance over New Jersey. U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, a Republican from New Jersey, said in an interview with Fox News on Dec. 11, 2024, that he thought they might come from Iran (emphasis ours):
I'm going to tell you the real deal. Iran launched a mother ship a month ago that contains these drones. That mother ship is off... I will tell you the deal. It is off the East Coast of the United States of America. They've launched drones. Everything that we can see or hear and again these are from high sources. I don't say this lightly.
We know there was a probability it could have been our own government. We know it's not our own government because they would have let us know. It could have been some really glorified hobbyist or hobbyists doing something unbelievable. They don't have the technology. But let's pretend that's possible.
The third possibility was somebody, an adversarial country doing this. Know that Iran made a deal with China to purchase drones, motherships and technology in order to go forward.
The sources I have are good. They can't reveal who they are because they are speaking to me in confidentiality.
These drones should be shot down, whether it was some crazy hobbyist that we can't imagine or whether it is Iran, and I have think it very possibly could be, they should be shot down. We are not getting the full deal and the military is on alert with this.
After the U.S. Department of Defense said there was "no evidence" that these drones came from a country hostile to the U.S., Van Drew went back to Fox News and doubled down, insisting that his sources were serious and adding that the Coast Guard had seen them flying to and from the sea (emphasis ours):
They've been incredibly stupid and incredibly weak with this. Here's the point; We know they're not backyard drones that some hobbyist is using because they're much more sophisticated than that. We know that they're not a commercial company within the United States, because we don't even have this level of sophistication yet, we are a full decade behind where China is with drones.
The government claims it's not them. They say it's not them. So who is it? Well, I have credible individuals who have high security ratings, and they came to me, and again, these are dependable, credible individuals that have security clearance, that felt that they wanted to clear the air. They were, in essence, whistleblowers, and said, Look, they believe there's a real possibility it could be Iran, that there could be a ship out, not right on the coast of New Jersey, not right there, but these drones, as cited by the Coast Guard, are coming in and out of the ocean. They're going to the ocean. They're not pontoons. They're not landing on the water. They're landing on something. We're not being told the truth, they are dealing with the American public like we're stupid.
Meanwhile, a poster on a Reddit about "aliens" seemed to imply these drones may in fact be alien ships.
Unusually Large Drones Over New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, Maryland
It is true that for weeks residents of New Jersey and state officials reported strange "car-sized" drones flying over the state. The sightings began on Nov. 18, 2024. On Dec. 10, 2024, an FBI official told the Homeland Security Subcommittee that the federal law enforcement agency had received more than 3,000 reports of such sightings.
Earlier in December, some reported drones flying over a golf course belonging to President-elect Donald Trump.
On Dec. 11, 2024, the U.S. Northern Command announced that one of these drones had been spotted near military installations (archived):
We are aware and monitoring the reports of unauthorized drone flights in the vicinity of military installations in New Jersey to include Picatinny Arsenal and Naval Weapons Station Earle, and we refer you to those installations for information on any efforts they are may be conducting to ensure the safety and security of their personnel and operations. Local law enforcement and the FBI are currently investigating.
However people in Pennsylvania and New York also reported seeing such objects, notably above the Verrazano Bridge that links Staten Island and Brooklyn. A user in the neighborhood of Bay Ridge in Brooklyn reported "10+" drones around 11 p.m. on Dec. 8,. 2024. On Dec. 13, 2024, Connecticut State Police also reported "suspicious drone activity" and former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan posted on X (archived) to describe how "dozens of large drones" had flown by his home in Davidsonville.
With reports multiplying, New York State Police posted a call for tips on the same day:
The New York State Police have received numerous reports of drone sightings over the past 24 hours and we are investigating each report and sharing information with our federal and local law enforcement partners through the New York State Intelligence Center. We have no evidence at this point that any of the reported sightings pose a public safety threat. State Police are asking the public to report sightings via email with time, date, location, and any pictures or video to crimetip@troopers.ny.gov
The drones appeared mostly at night. As of this writing, the U.S. government and the FBI still said they did not know where they came from or what their purpose is.
White House Said Law Enforcement Had Not Been Able To Confirm Sightings
On Dec. 12, 2024, John Kirby, a communications adviser for national security at the White House, insisted that the drones posed no public safety threat, but he confirmed that both the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI were investigating the sightings alongside state and local law enforcement. He added that they were not able to corroborate any of the sightings.
"Upon review of available imagery, it appears that many of the reported sightings are actually manned aircraft that are being operated lawfully," Kirby said.
He added that the Coast Guard had confirmed "there is no evidence of any foreign-based involvement from coastal vessels." He insisted that there had been no confirmed sightings in restricted airspace.
However, Kirby acknowledged that there was a "gap" in authority pertaining to the regulation of unmanned aerial systems (UAS), and urged Congress to expand laws regulating drones so the government is in a better position to respond to such potential threats.
In a Dec. 13 Truth Social post, Trump said that the U.S. government either has to tell the public what it knows about the drones or "shoot them down."
(President-elect Donald Trump/Truth Social)