It’s probably just a plane: drone experts advise calm over New Jersey sightings

Although politicians have called to shoot them down, experts say the lights are likely legal drones, planes – or stars

At first, in mid-November, the mysterious lights were seen blinking across the night skies of New Jersey. Then, they spread. Reports of incandescent flying objects were logged in New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland. Bystanders in Virginia Beach said they saw an aircraft “unlike any other they’ve seen”. Sightings have now come from as far afield as Louisiana, Florida and Arizona. People across the US are looking up.

No one seems to know for certain where these enigmatic flying objects are from or who is controlling them. But several lawmakers and much of the general public seem dead-set on one answer: a swarm of drones.

Topics

Weeks of Drone Sightings Leave New Jersey on Edge

In the Garden State, where the rash of sightings started a month ago, residents are looking to the skies, wondering why they still don’t have definitive answers from officials.
The New York Times - 6d
Concerns grow over drone sightings in New Jersey and Maryland

Concerns are growing about the unidentified and mysterious drones that are being reported in New Jersey, Maryland and along the Northeast. NBC’s Sam Brock reports for TODAY.
NBC News - Dec. 14
Drones, planes or UFOs? Americans abuzz over mysterious New Jersey sightings

It’s unclear if that buzzing sound coming out of New Jersey is drones or something else, but for sure the nighttime sightings are producing tons of talk, a raft of conspiracy theories and craned ...
ABC News - Dec. 14
Mysterious drone sightings in New Jersey spread to Maryland

Mysterious drones have been spotted buzzing over neighborhoods, businesses, and military bases across the U.S., with sightings now expanding from New Jersey to Maryland. Now, a group of lawmakers ...
NBC News - Dec. 13
Sheriff calls for state of emergency over New Jersey drone sightings

Shaun Golden, the sheriff of Monmouth County, New Jersey, says that more government assistance is needed to identify the drones.
The Hill - Dec. 13
Are Those Drones Over New Jersey? Despite Sightings, U.S. Is Skeptical.

Drones have been reported in at least 10 counties of the state. But a White House spokesman suggested many of them were actually manned aircraft.
The New York Times - Dec. 13
Pentagon investigates dozens of drone sightings in New Jersey

The Pentagon assures the public there's no evidence linking New Jersey's drone sightings to a foreign threat, but the origin of the drones remains unclear.
CBS News - Dec. 12
Lawmakers meet over New Jersey drone sightings amid concerns

Federal investigators were pressed on Capitol Hill Wednesday about nearly a month of nightly drone sightings over New Jersey, causing growing concern among residents, military personnel and local ...
NBC News - Dec. 12
Mounting frustration over mysterious New Jersey drone sightings

A New Jersey state senator is calling for a limited state of emergency after several residents and officials reported seeing mysterious drones flying over the region in recent weeks. CBS News ...
CBS News - Dec. 11