2024 New Jersey Drone Sightings

The 2024 United States drone sightings, also referred to as the New Jersey drone sightings, involved a series of reports of large, unidentified drones observed at night across multiple regions of the United States between November and December 2024. The phenomenon originated in New Jersey before spreading to neighboring states like New York and Pennsylvania, and eventually across the Northeastern United States and other parts of the country. These sightings, often occurring over residential areas and critical infrastructure, prompted investigations by local, state, and federal authorities.

Investigations by civilian and military agencies and independent experts concluded that the reported sightings largely consisted of authorized drones and misidentified manned aircraft, celestial bodies, and other routine aerial objects. Commentators also attributed the sightings to widespread confirmation bias and mass hysteria, comparing them to a traditional UFO flap. Alternative explanations such as military operations received limited support.

Overflights of certain U.S. military bases led officials to request expanded authority to counter drones, however the Pentagon noted that drone flyovers are common and typically not malicious, and experts like Jamey Jacob suggested the incidents were likely the result of careless actors.

In response to the sightings, government officials called for increased transparency and resources for investigations. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) implemented temporary flight restrictions over sensitive areas in New York and New Jersey.

Background

The number of commercial and recreational drones operating in the United States was estimated by the FAA to reach approximately 2.8 million in 2024. The agency reported receiving over 100 drone sighting reports monthly in 2024. In response to increasing unauthorized drone activity near airports, the FAA initiated the "Pathfinder" program in 2016 to develop detection technology.

Reports of unidentified drone sightings in the U.S. predated 2024, including a notable series over Colorado and Nebraska in late 2019 and early 2020. Federal authorities have acknowledged these and other incidents both domestically and internationally.

Significant incursions occurred over Langley Air Force Base in December 2023 and March 2024, prompting a response involving U.S. government and NASA aircraft. In August 2024, sightings over Plant 42, a U.S. Air Force facility in California, led to Air Force confirmation and new FAA airspace restrictions.

In a February 2025 Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, General Gregory Guillot, head of NORAD and Northcom, stated that 350 drone incursions were reported over 100 U.S. military bases during 2024. He emphasized surveillance risks and advocated for expanded counter-drone authority for military installations.

Similar incidents were reported over U.S. bases in the United Kingdom in November 2024, followed by sightings over Ramstein Air Base and arms factories in Germany in December 2024. Major General Patrick S. Ryder commented that while private drones periodically fly over military bases, most are not considered threats and do not affect operations.

Reporting on the 2024 sightings, a journalist noted that New Jersey has a long-standing association with tales of the strange and surreal. In 1938, residents of New Jersey panicked after mistaking the fictional CBS Radio drama "The War of the Worlds" for an actual alien invasion of Grovers Mill.

Reported sightings

The first reported sighting occurred at Picatinny Arsenal in Morris County, New Jersey on November 13, 2024. By November 18, additional sightings were reported in Morris County and the neighboring Somerset County. The sightings, initially concentrating around the Raritan River corridor, soon spread across New Jersey. Reports eventually extended to New York City, Orange County (New York), Philadelphia, and various parts of eastern Pennsylvania. Related sightings also emerged in California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Ohio, Texas, Utah, and Virginia.

Sightings were reported over residential areas and near sensitive locations, including military installations, emergency communication centers, law enforcement facilities, and the Round Valley Reservoir. Drones were also reportedly observed near infrastructure such as highways, railways, power stations, transmission lines, and nuclear power plants in New Jersey, New York, and Maryland.

Claimants described the drones in various ways, sometimes as large as SUVs, occasionally emitting a loud hum, and sometimes seen alongside fixed-wing aircraft. Some experts who reviewed footage categorized the objects as either quadcopters or fixed-wing aircraft.

By December 24, 2024, the Ocean County sheriff's office noted that reports in northern New Jersey had "decreased dramatically." On January 5, 2025, the news website DroneXL reported that media and social media attention had faded and the "hysteria has subsided."

Military reported sightings

Multiple drone sightings were reported over Picatinny Arsenal and Naval Weapons Station Earle, with some accounts coming from what military officials described as "highly trained security personnel." The first confirmed sighting, witnessed by a police or security officer, was reported on November 13, 2024. That day, a contractor at Picatinny Arsenal reported seeing "a light rising straight up from the tree line and toward the arsenal."

On December 13, multiple drone incursions were again reported, this time over Naval Weapons Station Earle. The following day, the Joint Chiefs of Staff issued a statement confirming some sightings. They stated that the Department of Defense (DoD) was unaware of the drones' operators and that there was no current indication of involvement by adversary nations. The statement added, "We have not been able to locate or identify the operators or the points of origin," and noted that the DoD lacks the necessary authority to trace the drones outside the bases, requiring assistance from law enforcement.
Legislators Chris Smith and Paul Kanitra reported that multiple drones followed a United States Coast Guard 47-foot Motor Lifeboat. Coast Guard officer Luke Pinneo stated that "multiple low-altitude aircraft were observed in the vicinity" of one of their vessels. On December 17, 2024, White House spokesman John Kirby announced that forensic analysis concluded the reported aircraft were "air traffic going into JFK International Airport, and not drones at all." Smith challenged this explanation, emphasizing the experience of the officers involved. Later, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) documents revealed that their investigators concluded the "swarms" were commercial jets executing S-shaped maneuvers while aligning for landing at JFK Airport, creating an illusion of hovering when viewed from certain perspectives.

On December 10, 2024, a press release from Hill Air Force Base in Utah acknowledged recent observations of "unidentified drone swarms" over several U.S. military bases, confirming nearby sightings that did not affect operations. Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio experienced airspace closures on December 13 and into the following morning due to what military officials termed "small unmanned aerial systems," with a second incursion occurring on December 17. The following day, police in White Settlement, Texas, confirmed an investigation involving the FBI, Naval Criminal Investigative Service and Air Force into drone incidents on December 17 at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth and a nearby National Guard armory.

On December 11, 2024, federal officials arrested a Chinese national at San Francisco International Airport for flying a drone over Vandenberg Air Force Base. The individual was attempting to travel to China. Separately, on December 18, the United States Marine Corps confirmed that unidentified drones were observed over Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton between December 9 and December 15.

Civilian reported sightings

Drone activity was observed by law enforcement on November 19 according to the Morris Country Prosecutor's Office in New Jersey. On November 26, 2024, reports of drone activity near Raritan Valley Community College in New Jersey delayed a medical evacuation helicopter transporting an injured patient. Security supervisor Brian Serge commented, "We never found out what the actual drones were." However, documents later released by the TSA revealed that flight logs indicated three commercial aircraft approaching Solberg Airport had been misidentified as drones. The TSA's analysis concluded that the aircraft seemed to hover because they were flying directly towards the ground observers.

Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella said on December 13 that there were sightings over "critical infrastructure" such as Port Liberty New York, the Goethals Bridge, the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, and Fort Wadsworth. On the same day, Stewart International Airport in Orange County, New York, shut down for an hour due to drone activity, an event subsequently confirmed by Governor Hochul.

A reported December 12 drone sighting near the Salem Nuclear Power Plant in New Jersey was later identified by Transportation Security Administration (TSA) investigators as coinciding with the flight paths of a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter, a Cessna C150, and commercial flights from Philadelphia.

Also on December 12, a drone was reported spraying "gray mist" over Clinton, New Jersey. According to TSA documents released in 2025, investigators identified this with "high confidence" as a Beechcraft Baron 58 propeller plane experiencing turbulence, which created wingtip vortices that formed condensation clouds.

On December 12, 2024, Senator Andy Kim, during a patrol with Clinton Township Police, reported "a number of different drones" near the Round Valley Reservoir. He later acknowledged that "most of the possible drone sightings that were pointed out to me were almost certainly planes". On the same day in Pequannock Township, a drone crashed, which was initially reported as "military-grade". A police investigation determined it was a toy drone, with officials suggesting it was one of multiple "copycat" incidents in the area.

On December 13, former Maryland governor Larry Hogan posted a video on X showing what he believed to be numerous large drones over his Davidsonville, Maryland, residence. However, several individuals, including journalist Steven Greenstreet, meteorologist Matthew Cappucci, and University of Maryland Observatory director Elizabeth Warner, identified the objects in the video as the constellation Orion. Greenstreet also noted that flight data indicated the presence of three aircraft in the vicinity at the time. Subsequently, a community note was added to Hogan's post, stating that no unusual objects were visible in his video. The incident was also referenced by late-night comedian Stephen Colbert.

In Massachusetts on December 15, Boston Police identified three local residents operating drones in restricted airspace near Logan International Airport. Police located the men on Long Island and arrested two of the three.

Investigations and findings

Federal investigation

An interagency investigation, led by the FBI and including various federal and state agencies, began on December 3, 2024. As of January 21, 2025, the investigation was reportedly still ongoing. Federal investigators did not identify any suspects or recover any drones, and by mid-December 2024, they had determined that most sightings had mundane explanations.

The FBI initiated its investigation by requesting that the public report any sightings of suspected drones near the Raritan River in New Jersey. A spokesman told Congress on December 10 that despite collecting over 3,000 reports from the public via a tip line, investigators had not determined a full explanation.

White House spokesman John Kirby stated on December 12 that none of the visual sightings could be verified and that many reports were actually "manned aircraft that are being operated lawfully." He emphasized that there was no evidence suggesting these sightings pose a security threat or originate from foreign sources. Kirby noted that an analysis of photos, videos, and electronic detection data had not revealed any unauthorized drones. Despite this, Kirby confirmed that authorities would continue to investigate, and urged Congress to pass legislation for more effective drone management.

Also that day, the Department of Homeland Security issued a statement echoing Kirby's remarks. The department acknowledged the general threat posed by drones and highlighted a lack of "sufficient authorities" to combat them. The statement also mentioned previous instances where reported drones were cases of "mistaken identity."

New Jersey Assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia shared her notes from a legislative briefing on December 11 with officials from the DHS, the State Police, and the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security. She said that the officials described drones measuring up to six feet (1.8 m) in diameter operating for six to seven hours per night, sometimes flying with their lights off. Her summary also said the drones seemed to "operate in a coordinated manner", evaded typical means of detection, and did not appear to be flown by hobbyists. Assemblymen Paul Kanitra and Greg Myhre, who also attended the briefing, said that the briefing's findings seem to contradict the White House's December 12 statements.

In an ABC News interview on December 15, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas confirmed drone sightings. He stated that federal resources, including personnel and technology, had been deployed to assist the New Jersey State Police in addressing these sightings.

On December 16, a joint statement was issued by the DHS, FBI, FAA, and DoD. The agencies reported that their investigation, which reviewed over 5,000 reported sightings, failed to identify "anything anomalous." They concluded that most sightings had routine explanations, such as commercial or hobbyist drones, law enforcement drones, or conventional aircraft, and therefore did not "present a national security or public safety risk." The statement noted that sightings over restricted military airspace were "not new" and that the DoD "takes unauthorized access over its airspace seriously."

TSA documents revealed that by December 17, 2024—the day before FAA flight restrictions were imposed—the agency had already internally debunked several high-profile drone incidents as misidentified conventional aircraft or atmospheric phenomena. The findings were not shared publicly at the time and were only released later through a Freedom of Information Act request. ''Reason'' magazine suggested that withholding this evidence prolonged public concern while helping justify calls for expanded counter-drone governmental powers.

On January 28, 2025, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt conveyed an update from President Trump regarding the drones sightings. She explained that following an investigation, it was determined that the aircraft were primarily FAA-authorized research drones and those operated by hobbyists and private individuals. Leavitt noted that public curiosity contributed to the increase in sightings and affirmed that the drones did not represent a threat.

State and local investigations

In early December, law enforcement officials in New Jersey raised concerns regarding drones. On December 13, Bridgewater Police Chief John Mitzak stated that "many of the reports received involve misidentification of manned aircraft". On December 17, other New Jersey officials reported that deployed drone-detecting devices had found "little to no evidence" of threats.

The Connecticut State Police announced on December 13 the deployment of drone detection systems in response to sightings, specifically in Fairfield County. On December 16, the state police reported that "most rone sightingscould be attributed to manned aircraft or those UAS devices operating in the private sector in a legal manner". Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont noted that one sighted drone, bearing "the word Frontier on the back", was likely a Frontier Airlines aircraft.

During the weekend of December 14–15, the New York City Police Department (NYPD) received numerous calls regarding drone sightings. Upon investigation, many of these reports were found to be misidentifications of manned aircraft, meteor showers, or Venus. In some instances, hobbyist drones flown in response to rumors of anomalous drones led to further reports of unusual activity. In response to these events, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced on December 15 that the federal government would provide New York with a drone detection system. U.S. Senator from New York, Chuck Schumer, also requested a similar system to be sent to New Jersey.

On December 14, Governors Maura Healey of Massachusetts and Glenn Youngkin of Virginia confirmed state investigations into the increasing sightings, with the latter citing concerns over national security and critical infrastructure. Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro ordered Pennsylvania State Police to investigate sightings, and confirmed law enforcement would use helicopters to pursue and determine where the drones originate from and their purpose.

Responses

Federal executive responses

The White House confirmed that President Biden was aware of the situation on December 10, 2024. The next day, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas briefed New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and the state's Congressional delegation on the sightings. President Biden made his first public comments on December 18, stating there was "nothing nefarious, apparently" and "no sense of danger so far," adding that "we're following it closely" and noting "a lot of drones authorized up there."

FAA airspace restrictions

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) banned the use of drones in multiple areas in New Jersey and New York State. On November 25, 2024, they issued temporary restrictions which affected Picatinny Arsenal and President Trump's Bedminster golf club.

On December 18, the FAA issued a one-month ban on drone operations near 22 cities in New Jersey, including Camden, Elizabeth, and Jersey City. The next day, they issued a ban on drone flights over parts of New York State, including Brooklyn, Queens, and communities in Long Island. The FAA said the restrictions were due to "special security reasons" and were requested by other federal authorities. New York Governor Kathy Hochul said that the restricted areas include "critical infrastructure sites" and that the action was "purely precautionary."

On December 30, 2024, the FAA implemented several new drone restrictions in various parts of New Jersey, all of which were set to last until January 18, 2025. The new restrictions were imposed across areas in Gloucester County, Hudson County, Middlesex County, Monmouth County and Union County.

Responses by New Jersey officials

On December 10, New Jersey State Senator Jon Bramnick suggested a "limited state of emergency" and a temporary ban on drone use until the situation was resolved. New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy wrote to President Biden on December 12, expressing "growing concern" about the drone reports. He requested improved coordination between agencies and additional congressional authorization for state and local law enforcement to counter drone activities.

Congressional responses

United States Senators Chuck Schumer, Kirsten Gillibrand, Cory Booker, and Andy Kim sent a letter to the FBI, DHS and FAA on December 12, requesting briefings regarding their efforts to address the situation. On December 15, Senator Schumer requested the Department of Homeland Security deploy specialized drone detection systems to New York and New Jersey. Senator Amy Klobuchar made remarks on December 15, calling for more transparency and a Senate briefing on the sightings. Senator Richard Blumenthal suggested using "electronic jamming" to take down the drones.

Public responses

Then President-elect Donald Trump suggested on December 13 that the U.S. military should shoot down unidentified drones. Days later, Trump said that "the government knows what is happening", and promised to release a report on the drone sightings on his first day in office.

''The Late Show with Stephen Colbert'' host Stephen Colbert told several jokes about the drone sightings during his December 16, 2024 monologue on the program. Comedian Bowen Yang performed a skit during the December 21 episode of ''Saturday Night Live'' in which he portrayed an anthropomorphic drone of the type purportedly seen in New Jersey.

A poll by CBS News posted on December 22 showed that 78% of Americans believed the U.S. Government was withholding information about the drone sightings from the public.

Possible explanations

According to ''Popular Mechanics'', the most likely reasons for the drone sightings were that people were "noticing drones that have always been around" or "natural and human-made phenomena ... erebeing misidentified as drones". Their least likely explanation was that the drones had an extraterrestrial origin.

Authorized drones

''Popular Mechanics'' said that the strongest explanation for the sightings was people noticing ordinary drones which had been around for years. In January 2025, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the drones were authorized by the FAA.

Brandon Valeriano, a professor at Seton Hall University specializing in cybersecurity, said the sightings were probably connected to hobbyist drone use, and that some members of the public had sought "wild explanations for the things they can't understand".

The FAA estimated that 2.8 million drones would operate in the United States in 2024, and the White House confirmed that over a million drones were registered with the FAA as of 2024, with "thousands of commercial, hobbyist and law enforcement drones that are lawfully in the sky on any given day".

Military, domestic and foreign

Congressman Jeff Van Drew claimed on December 11, 2024, that he had information from "very high sources" indicating that "Iran launched a mothership that contains these drones." Later that day, the Pentagon refuted his statements, stating there were no Iranian vessels off the U.S. coast and no proof the drones originated from foreign adversaries. New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy also cast doubt on Van Drew's assertions, questioning Iran's capability for such a mission. Van Drew later suggested the drones might be Chinese.

Congressman Michael McCaul, Chair of House Foreign Affairs Committee, said on December 17 that he believed some of the unidentified aircraft were 'spy drones' from China, based on reports that the Chinese government owns farmland in the vicinity of military bases throughout the U.S. Other lawmakers and civilians proposed foreign countries as the source of the sightings, but federal investigators repeatedly rejected this notion. Former U.S. Air Force general James Poss was skeptical of the foreign adversary explanation because the aircraft used FAA-compliant lighting.

On January 1, 2025, Matthew Livelsberger, a U.S. Army Special Forces soldier and drone warfare specialist, committed suicide in a car bombing in Las Vegas. In a suicide note sent to a podcast prior to his death, Livelsberger claimed that the drone sightings were due to the use of "gravitic propulsion systems" by the U.S. and China.

Misidentification of aircraft and celestial objects

Drone expert William Austin analyzed imagery and reports, concluding that many "large drones" were likely misidentified manned aircraft, cell tower lights, or smaller drones. By December 15, after reviewing extensive video evidence, Austin stated his belief that "100 percent of them" were either misidentified airplanes or small drones whose use had increased due to media coverage. He suggested the parallax effect as a possible cause for some misidentifications.

Jamey Jacob, a professor in aerospace engineering at Oklahoma State University, attributed the sightings to misidentification "largely driven by social media and the inability to determine what's real and what's not". Jacob also noted that drone sightings near military facilities were probably mostly "careless actors, rather than those trying to pose a legitimate threat".

Vijay Kumar, dean of Penn Engineering, said that most of the images he saw in relation to the sightings were of legally operating aircraft and that popular fear about drones was due to their association with "science fiction-like scenarios where machines have autonomy". Similarly, Missy Cummings, a professor of engineering at George Mason University, said that people were probably seeing stars, aircraft, or reflections, and that, "of all of those options, drone is the least likely, because it's actually pretty hard to pick these out of the sky".

Amie Gallagher, a planetarium director, suggested autokinesis as a possible explanation for some sightings. She described this phenomenon as an illusion of motion created when a person's eye muscles attempt to focus while staring at a celestial object. Skeptic Mick West proposed that many sightings were likely misidentifications and that videos purportedly showing unusual objects could be explained by the limitations of smartphone cameras.

Former United States Representative Adam Kinzinger stated on CNN on December 15 that after reviewing many videos of alleged drone sightings, he concluded they were "all literally airplanes." He suggested that public concern was arising from misidentification of high-altitude jets. Similarly, Tom Adams, a counter-drone defense consultant and former FBI agent, noted that satellites, aircraft, and celestial objects are frequently mistaken for drones and believed media coverage was contributing to "a little hysteria."

On December 16, the FBI's Newark office urged New Jersey residents against targeting suspected drones with lasers. The office cited increased laser strikes on pilots and warned that firing weapons posed "possibly deadly consequences" for civil aviation.

Mislabeled and doctored videos

A number of widely circulated social media images claiming to show drone sightings were identified as mislabeled older videos, doctored film, or AI-generated video. ''Popular Science'' reported that TikTok hosted "some of the most blatant and widely seen fake videos" related to these purported sightings.

A video on Threads claiming to show numerous drones over a U.S. city was found to be two-year-old footage from China, depicting government UAVs dispersing disinfectant during the COVID-19 pandemic. Another video on Instagram, which showed gunfire directed at a drone, was later revealed by its creator to have been edited with sound and visual effects as an artistic endeavor; the video was subsequently shared by others without these disclaimers.

A social media post by Doug Mastriano included an image purported to be a "crashed drone," which was later identified as a replica of a TIE fighter from the ''Star Wars'' franchise. In other instances, videos labeled as unidentified drones were actually recordings of drone light shows, some of which were several years old.

Nuclear material search

In a December 17 television interview, the mayor of Belleville, New Jersey, suggested that drones might be government-operated UAVs. He speculated they could be searching for something, possibly radioactive material, and noted that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission had recently reported a radioactive medical device as missing. Following this, Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis and other officials from Staten Island, New York, sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The letter inquired about the missing device and the measures DHS was taking to address the situation and protect public safety.

On December 18, a Nazha Cancer Center spokesman stated that a missing component contained an insignificant amount of Germanium-68 that was depleted before shipment and had since been recovered. A National Nuclear Security Administration spokesperson said that their Nuclear Emergency Support Team does not utilize drones for radiological detection and is not conducting aerial operations in the region.

Psychological and social explanations

Journalists, psychologists, and neurologists have described the drone sightings as "mass panic" or "mass delusion," some considering them a type of UFO flap. Mass panic, also termed mass or social delusion, is a collective societal behavior resulting from the spread of exaggerated beliefs. While sometimes equated with "mass hysteria," the latter term specifically denotes a medical condition.

On December 13, Max Boot proposed that "mass hysteria," which he identified as "a recurring feature of American life," could be a partial explanation for the sightings. Similarly, journalist Tyler Rogoway suggested "mass hysteria" along with misidentified aircraft as potential causes.

Neurologist William J. Bernstein suggested the phenomenon could be a case of "mass delusion," a view echoed by psychologist Gary Small, who described it as "mass panic" or a "shared delusion." Space photographer Andrew McCarthy asserted that all the videos he reviewed showed only ordinary helicopters or planes. He proposed that the sightings were a "social contagion," where people were simply noticing and misinterpreting regular air traffic.

An astronomy professor suggested that the widespread sightings might have stemmed from confirmation bias, leading the public to misinterpret mundane phenomena.

See also

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References

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