back to article US airspace closures, lack of answers deepen East Coast drone mystery

Mystery drone fever continues to grip the US East Coast – and appears to be moving inland – as elected officials beg the federal government to do something. Meanwhile the feds reiterate what they've been saying all along: We don't know what's going on, but you all need to calm the hell down.  Reported sightings of unidentified …

  1. Andy 73 Silver badge

    The Idiocracy takes flight

    Honestly, those of us who sat through the Gatwick fiasco are rolling our eyes and sighing so hard you could power a wind turbine.

    The astonishing thing is that while experienced investigators are pretty clear that the only thing being seen is manned aircraft (and the very occasional drone reacting to the news that there might be drones in the sky), the higher you go up through the various organisations the more hysterical the reporting becomes. It seems that anyone in a position of power has got there by leaving their brains on the doorstep.

    Meanwhile, the FAA, who made a huge deal about how Remote ID was vital and the only technical solution to making our skies safe from drones are apparently unable to draw a single conclusion about what might be in the skies. Could it be that Remote ID is a ridiculous waste of time, money and bureaucratic energy?

    1. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

      Re: The Idiocracy takes flight

      It will soon be resolved in the same way as Gatwick.

      Except the police will raid the home of the owner of a toy drone from Walmart and shoot them.

      1. Wang Cores

        Re: The Idiocracy takes flight

        Hey don't discount our street warriors in law enforcement.

        They'll make entry on the wrong address first *then* shoot the owner of a walmart drone.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          I bet it is a PSYOP. Because the "sightings" originated from social media.

          This is similar to what already happened a year or so ago with UFO conspiracies forcing secret services waste their time to report, respond to public requests etc. Besides promulgates the idea that "they" hide information from "us", undermining public trust in institutions.

          It also allows to reveal state secrets. Knowing that some adversaries already can eavesdrop on public communications, they can identify reporting paths within US military and secret services. So in case of a war they know which network elements to strike first.

          1. ecofeco Silver badge

            I'd bet good money it is as well.

            A total bollocks prank.

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Damn, this cost China even less than the $563 they spent on the Balloon War.

              1. trindflo Silver badge

                China balloon war?

                I'm trying to figure out if you're talking about the Chinese "weather balloon" or the Japanese bombing balloons from world war 2.

      2. awavey

        Re: The Idiocracy takes flight

        The police spending over 1million pounds on an investigation that couldn't even produce a single video or even photo of it ?

        1. Strahd Ivarius Silver badge
          Coat

          Re: The Idiocracy takes flight

          Was the drone operated by Nessie then?

        2. Evil Auditor Silver badge

          Re: The Idiocracy takes flight

          Hey, these were highly sophisticated stealth drones, that no one could see! That's why expensive and no evidence.

    2. Adair Silver badge

      Re: The Idiocracy takes flight

      To hijack, and only slightly misuse, an aphorism from another aspect of human life:

      'No one ever went broke under-estimating the gullibility of the buying public'.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: The Idiocracy takes flight

      >"investigators are pretty clear that the only thing being seen is manned aircraft"

      Oh it's not just manned aircraft. It sounds like at least one case was a constellation. No, not a constellation of drones. No, not the WWII era Lockheed airplane. People were seeing a literal constellation of freaking stars and reporting that they were drones.

      1. bombastic bob Silver badge
        Black Helicopters

        Re: The Idiocracy takes flight

        Today I saw night vision videos on Fox News that identified a quadrotor drone in one panel (from Monday evening I believe) and a flock of geese from last night. So like always there are legit sightings and people who want to see something but it turns out to be something else.

        In My Bombastic Opinion this may simple be a classified military operation, similar to development of the stealth fighter. "Drone War" is a distinct possibility and you KNOW the military industrial complex wants IN. If I am correct it may even be joint development, as these things are also being reported near UK bases and Ramstein DE. So if I take that to the next level, the US, UK, DE, and maybe Israel are developing drone-related tech in which they are capable of "going dark" and escaping (this was reported from a police helicopter crew) and operating over densely populated areas is part of the testing. For all we know, the PEOPLE are part of the testing...

        Occam's Razor, they're "ours", it's classified, and gummint is lying about it, just like they lie about area 51 [where classified research like stealth fighter] haas been eveloped.

        In any case, UK has a laser to shoot 'em down now.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: The Idiocracy takes flight

          It is in fact 2 distinct military operations, one from Russia, one from Ukraine, to remember Mr President-to-be that he will not be safe in his resort and that he has to make the good choice or else...

    4. herman Silver badge

      Re: The Idiocracy takes flight

      My conclusion is that it is Cucumber Time. The news reporters are all on holiday and there is nothing to fill the pages with.

      Next up: Noah’s Ark Found!

      1. Strahd Ivarius Silver badge
        Trollface

        Re: The Idiocracy takes flight

        Here it is:

        Noah's Ark

        1. herman Silver badge

          Re: The Idiocracy takes flight

          Thanks! I’ll be sure to drop into the Ark when in Blighty and feeling thirsty.

    5. herman Silver badge

      Real reason - air defense tests

      Here is the real story behind all the aircraft/drone flight tests that were driving some people nuts: https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/3977550/new-ai-enabled-cameras-improve-airspace-monitoring-in-washington-area/

  2. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

    "Our military knows where they took off from, where it came from and where it went, and for some reason they don't want to comment," Trump opined. "Our military knows and our president [Biden] knows, and for some reason, they want to keep people in suspense.

    So when he becomes POTUS in a month's time and can be told what Biden's been told will he share that with us? Even if he's told it was a load of hysterical bollox? Or will he accuse the Deep State of keeping things from him?

    1. Brewster's Angle Grinder Silver badge

      He's going to dismantle the US military and let Musk build him a new one.

      1. KittenHuffer Silver badge

        All Humvee's will be scrapped and replaced by Cybertrucks! They are bulletproof after all!

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          BTW: https://www.wired.com/story/the-uk-now-has-its-own-illegal-rubberized-cybertruck-on-the-road/

          EU/UK road vehicle construction regulations compliant? Hell no says Elon!

    2. HereIAmJH Silver badge

      That's not a drone

      So when he becomes POTUS in a month's time and can be told what Biden's been told will he share that with us?

      He's already getting National Security briefings, and if there was anything actually going on he would know it. The only Deep State is in his demented mind.

      But conveniently, what is no longer headlining the news? Tariffs, and what they are going to do to prices. Welcome back to the daily dramas of the Trump administration. Conspiracy squirrels to distract the masses.

    3. DS999 Silver badge

      There's a reason why Fox News is hyping the drone bullshit

      They want to continue to paint their false picture that the United States is in chaos.

      Look for their reporting to take a 180* turn on inauguration day, when suddenly everything they report will be about new jobs being created, stock market highs, record amounts of oil being pumped. All the same stuff that is happening today and has been for the last couple years, but Trump will get all the credit despite being in office for about 25 minutes when this turnabout occurs.

      Fox will never mention the drones again, except perhaps to claim that they were a problem under Biden but have disappeared since Trump took office - implying that his mere presence chased away all the scary "foreign interests" operating drones to spy on the US.

      1. StudeJeff

        Re: There's a reason why Fox News is hyping the drone bullshit

        Well... nothing would surprise me with the media these days, but this is nothing new. Keep in mind Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize when all he had done is won an election!

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: There's a reason why Fox News is hyping the drone bullshit

          then ended up bombing more countries than any prior US president in history. Nobel Peace Prize is a "token" now that has no value in the real world.

    4. bombastic bob Silver badge
      Devil

      Trump probably knows already

      Trump has a history of revealing a LOT of things other presidents won't. He's big on transparency. He gets briefings and PROBABLY KNOWS ALREADY, but speaks carefully as he's not in office yet (so it might be a crime to "confirm or deny"). But he CAN say a lot, if it SOUNDS like an opinion.

      Imagine the Trump admin NOT getting to the bottom (once and for all) of the Kennedy assassinations from the 60's, with RFKJr. as a member of his cabinet... you KNOW this is getting revealed if there's something to find. THAT and a zillion OTHER conspiracies. No need for tinfoil hats. "Deep State" is already on notice. Truth.

      1. JLV Silver badge

        Re: Trump probably knows already

        > big on transparency

        > speaks carefully

        LOL. Those are not qualifiers that immediately come to mind with Trump. Like another comment goes: once he's back in the oval office, Fox will magically forget about the problem. Nor will Trump mention it again.

        The whole thing sounds like it will end up like one of those Soviet hysteria moments during the Cold War, when everyone was seeing Soviet gear marauding around. The notion of SUV-sized UAVs seems really bizarre as a) few countries have those b) they fly high (Reapers) and c) if you did have them on US territory you wouldn't waste the element of surprise putzing around this way.

        I suggest you have a few beers, and watch 1941 with John Belushi for more background.

  3. Wang Cores
    Holmes

    New Jersey: stupid isn't just for red states since 1787

    Thankfully New Jersey is ridiculously tight on gun control otherwise we might start to see idiots shooting down drones. The problem is when they turn up in Florida and we start having skeet contests on the street.

    1. breakfast

      Re: New Jersey: stupid isn't just for red states since 1787

      I saw a story yesterday of some people shooting at a USPS plane under the misapprehension that it was a drone, which is probably a more tangible risk than whatever the imaginary drones are up to.

      1. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

        Re: New Jersey: stupid isn't just for red states since 1787

        So going anti-postal ?

      2. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

        Re: New Jersey: stupid isn't just for red states since 1787

        Hopefully, it was a very large aircraft far away, and not a small drone near by, and therefore well out of range :-)

        1. MyffyW Silver badge

          Re: New Jersey: stupid isn't just for red states since 1787

          Craggy Island ATC here, Dougal. Continue on your glide path and land on 27R

      3. Alan Brown Silver badge

        Re: New Jersey: stupid isn't just for red states since 1787

        "some people shooting at a USPS plane"

        Being shot at is an occupational hazard for aircraft around many USA airports

        I wish I was joking. Bullet holes are a depressingly common discovery during maintenance checks

    2. Antron Argaiv Silver badge

      Re: New Jersey: stupid isn't just for red states since 1787

      I saw a video on some "if it bleeds, it leads" website, so take this with *several* grains of salt, of an American exercising his Second Amendment Rights, by firing tracer ammunition at what was clearly a landing commercial jet aircraft. It's mind-boggling, the amount of stupid being exhibited here.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: New Jersey: stupid isn't just for red states since 1787

        Reminds me when news broadcasted Georgia ( the country ) was being invaded by the Russians.

        There was a shortage of ammunition in Georgia ( USA ).

      2. StudeJeff

        Re: New Jersey: stupid isn't just for red states since 1787

        No, if that story was true he wasn't exercising his Second Amendment rights, he was demonstrating world class stupidity.

        1. ariels-again

          Re: New Jersey: stupid isn't just for red states since 1787

          The difference being...?

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The Feds know what's going on

    The drones in question were the size of a car. These aren't the type of toys available to amateur pranksters.

    The authorities are now in possession of sophisticated drone tracking tech which would enable them to pinpoint the source of the offender in very short order. Failing that, aircraft could be scrambled to intercept the drones in much the same way as any other unidentified flying vehicle would be if it was breaching US airspace.

    No, the only logical explanation is that it's the Feds themselves that are responsible for these drone flights and, for whatever reason, they're currently unwilling to explain why.

    1. Ace2 Silver badge

      Re: The Feds know what's going on

      The drones in question were fixed-wing aircraft misidentified by the uninformed.

      1. HuBo Silver badge
        Alien

        Re: The Feds know what's going on

        Yes, theoretically, but according to the reliable eyewitnesses in the linked Forbes deep investigation (under "roundup", famous herbicide ... coincidence?!?! Think Agent Orange, or Napalm ...) these here UASes ain't drones at all but holographic spiritual orbs of Biblically accurate interdimensional Winnebago tourism, prepping festive landing strips for the next coming of the Santa Cthulhu, its Pastafarian elves, and their crew of blinking-nosed vodka-infused humanoid cyber reindeers, all kept in drunkhard line by the unmanned whips of Martian mini-meme AI co-pilots!

        Accordingly, children are instructed to ready their collanders for multiple simultaneous cracked piñata landings on this joyful advent ... unless they've been naughty all year that is (iirc)!

    2. Wang Cores

      Re: The Feds know what's going on

      The images I've seen circulated basically match small jets. Where is this coming from?

    3. Alan Brown Silver badge

      Re: The Feds know what's going on

      "The drones in question were CLAIMED TO BE the size of a car"

      FTFY

      You're assuming there were drones in the first place and you don't need "drone tracking tech" to follow something that large on primary radar in any case

      In other news there are reports of drones buzzing USAF bases in Britain and it strikes me that if I was a "hostile actor", seeding "stories of drones" could be a way of causing vastly more transport disruption than actually acquiring and flying drones

      1. Strahd Ivarius Silver badge
        Devil

        Re: The Feds know what's going on

        And if you don't see anything on your radar, it is definitely the proof that they have stealth drones!

    4. Brewster's Angle Grinder Silver badge

      It's not very small, it's just very far away...

      "The drones in question were the size of a car."

      You have no way to estimate it's size. Once something is above the trees there is nothing to compare it with. Worse, consistency of scaling breaks down at these distances. So, for example, your brain should tell you the moon is about the size of a football soccer ball or a dinner plate. If you see a plane in the sky (as I regularly do living under a flight path) you are relying on knowing how big that plane ought to be to understand its size. But absent an accurate measurement of it's distance, the size of these things is pure speculation; all you know is the angle it subtends.

      1. seven of five Silver badge

        Re: It's not very small, it's just very far away...

        > you are relying on knowing how big that plane ought to be to understand its size.

        Yep:

        A320/A350/737/777/787: plane.

        Same, but in vertical descent: 737-max.

        BAe 146/A340/DC-10 bigger plane (all same due to "moar than two propellers-things")

        747: 747, recognised due to wart on top.

        A380: uuu, biig.

        1. MyffyW Silver badge

          Re: It's not very small, it's just very far away...

          727/Embraer/Learjet/Taylor's Version - 2 propellor-things at back, sometimes splattered with orange paint

      2. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

        Re: It's not very small, it's just very far away...

        Now concentrate this time, America. These are small, but those are far away... Small, far away

      3. tiggity Silver badge

        Re: It's not very small, it's just very far away...

        Indeed

        I do a lot of walking and enjoy wildlife watching.

        If I see a bird flying, unless it is conveniently near a tree or other geographical feature (so unlikely if it is "overhead") it can be very difficult to get an accurate idea of range (& thus bird size)

        Only way for distant birds is to get bins on it (assuming its too distant for naked eye ID), can then (unless its something very unusually rare & unexpected!) ID the bird species*, & from that work out the size**.

        So generally, for "overhead" birds its ID first & only then do I know the size

        * Assuming scenario of bird(s) not calling as obviously sound can help in ID.

        ** Does not always work, as beyond a certain distance can sometimes be a struggle to be 100% certain on ID (e.g. the classic "commic tern" dilemma - observer could not be sure if an arctic or a common tern)

        1. KittenHuffer Silver badge
          Coat

          Re: It's not very small, it's just very far away...

          As I understand it you identify birds by their JIZZ!

          --------> Mine's the one with the book full of bird Jizz in the pocket!

    5. Antron Argaiv Silver badge

      Re: The Feds know what's going on

      Does anyone actually have a non-blurry, in focus, image of said "size of a car" drones?

      Because I'm not going to take some Fox "News" personality or mouth-breathing New Jerseyite as a reliable source of that information.

      1. FirstTangoInParis Silver badge

        Re: The Feds know what's going on

        Well they could actually be flying SUVs. Perhaps a startup is running in stealth mode and needed a test flight.

        1. Fruit and Nutcase Silver badge
          Joke

          Re: The Feds know what's going on

          May be it's a Moller Skycar. Moller International has been in "stealth mode" now for some forty-fifty years!

          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moller_M400_Skycar

          https://moller.com/

    6. Rich 2 Silver badge

      Re: The Feds know what's going on

      I suggest you take a look on YouTube. There are literally dozens of videos of these things.

      I’ve also seen several pics (again on YT) of what looks like a (very) large drone that apparently crashed and was later carted away on the back of what looks like a low-loader. If genuine (and I have to admit it looks so, and yes, I’m not blind to the fact that this stuff is very easy to fake these days) then clearly SOMEONE at US gov level has SOME idea of what they are

      1. Antron Argaiv Silver badge
        Black Helicopters

        Re: The Feds know what's going on

        I suggest you take a look on YouTube. There are literally dozens of out of focus, jumpy, short and pretty much useless videos of these things.

        I'm not even considering the deliberate fakes, of which I'm sure there are many. All the recognisable videos I have seen are of commercial airliners, private planes or helicopters.

    7. mcswell

      Re: The Feds know what's going on

      Hey, Anonymous Coward: there are hobbyist drones that have just under 8 feet wingspans. That's pretty close to the size of a car, assuming of course that someone was actually able to determine the size of the alleged drones, and that they reported accurately (as opposed to "Golly gee willakers, it must have been the size of a car!").

      Of course, as others have pointed out, unless the drone lands alongside you, it's pretty hard--as in impossible--to determine its size.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: The Feds know what's going on

        We are speaking there of the USA.

        If they say that they are the size of a "big" SUV, assume its surface is around the same as a rugby field...

  5. Alan Brown Silver badge

    Observations

    1: The increase in "drone sightings" around airports bears a direct and inverse relationship with the number of "bird sightings" around airports

    2: There are a lot more eyes in aircraft approach paths than not in aircraft approach paths

    3: It's incredibly difficult to estimate size and distance of things in the air from another fast moving platform in the air unless you ALREADY KNOW how big the thing is that you're looking at

    #1 is a classic example of "priming" - I can say as a pilot of a LIGHT plane having a combination of birdstrike and near miss (flock of ducks), that I only got a tiny flash of the mallard I almost hit and didn't even see the one I did hit - and that was at 60 mph, not 180mph. Any pilot giving a detailed description of drones is "suspect" in my eyes (and as we saw at Heathrow, a "drone" might just be a plastic bag)

    #2 should be obvious. More eyes means more opportunities to see "something" - even if it's a plastic bag caught in thermals

    This has all the hallmarks of a "moral panic"

    1. Wang Cores
      Black Helicopters

      Re: Observations

      It quite literally might be the textbook definition of a moral panic. Somebody needs to scream about transgender people/communists/the jews doing it and we have bingo.

      1. Mike 137 Silver badge

        Re: Observations

        "textbook definition of a moral panic"

        Surely amoral panic -- as far as I can see morality has no bearing on all this nonsense.

        1. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

          Re: Observations

          "textbook definition of a moral panic"

          And that's why we need to ban textbooks

      2. Antron Argaiv Silver badge
        Thumb Up

        Re: Observations

        It quite literally might be the textbook definition of a moral panic bunch of deluded, clueless, attention-seeking idiots.

        Fixed that for you.

    2. Mog_X

      Re: Observations

      #3 - "these drones are small, but the ones out there are far away"

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Observations

        The Vatican Airforce?

        1. Paul Herber Silver badge
          Alien

          Re: Observations

          Are drones appearing in the sky around the figures on the Sistine Chapel ceiling?

          1. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

            Re: Observations

            I like the Vatican airforce attacking the death star (or Richard Dawkins house)

            Cherub 1, this is Cherub leader standing by...

        2. DoctorPaul Bronze badge

          Re: Observations

          That would be an ecumenical matter.

        3. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Observations

          Using only biblically accurate drones of course?

    3. This post has been deleted by its author

    4. Philo T Farnsworth Silver badge

      Re: Observations

      Perhaps there are a lot of "drone sitings" in New Jersey because there are (get ready for it) a lot of drones in New Jersey.

      New Jersey, with its dense population centers and busy international airports, would seem like an inauspicious site for a burgeoning drone industry. But, in fact, the Garden State is a national trend-setter, ranking #10 on the Virginia-based Mercatus Center’s 2023 scorecard of America’s most “drone-ready” state jurisdictions. New Jersey scored 58 out of a possible 100 points, ranking it just below states like Arkansas, Oklahoma and Minnesota, all of which have wide open rural landscapes that facilitate unrestricted drone-flying, but above states like Montana, Nevada and Texas with similar drone-friendly characteristics.

      New Jersey’s high ranking is due, in part, to the establishment of a standing executive-level coordinating body located within the Bureau of Aeronautics in the New Jersey Department of Transportation. The state’s drone task force avidly promotes drone technology for initiatives related to traffic management, structural inspections, and aerial corridor 3D mapping, as well as public safety and disaster relief support operations. In addition, the state passed a law that indemnifies drone fliers against lawsuits from New Jersey landowners for use of their property for drone overflights1.

      Or, maybe they're "birds2."

      _________________________

      1 See New Jersey is a Drone Industry Trend Setter

      2 Or maybe they aren't

      1. KarMann Silver badge
        Headmaster

        Re: Observations

        You were >this close< to being funny with a pithy comment like 'a lot of drone sightings because there are a lot of drone sitings.' But you didn't quite get there.

        1. Philo T Farnsworth Silver badge

          Re: Observations

          Not only that, but I wrote "sitings" rather than "sightings."

          Some day I'll make a posting to this forum without either a egregious grammatical error, a speling error, or a tpyo.

      2. KittenHuffer Silver badge
        Joke

        Re: Observations

        "New Jersey, with its dense population"

        You could have just finished that sentence at that point!

  6. Sparkus

    Buzzfeed.....

    Even in its' death throws, Buzzfeed occasionally gets something right/funny.......

    https://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/new-jersey-drone-reactions

  7. codejunky Silver badge

    Hmm

    This is in the country that didnt tell the people about the 'Chinese weather balloons' which were subsequently spotted by the public.

  8. A. Coatsworth Silver badge
    Trollface

    "but you all need to calm the hell down"

    What? no! Crank the conspiracy teories to 11!

    A "Los Angeles air raid "scenario would be hilarious for all onlookers, as shown in Spielberg's documentary 1941

  9. Bill Gray

    I gotta wonder...

    We now have a lot of people looking up who probably don't do so on a regular basis. As an astronomer, I'm used to seeing stuff go overhead all the time, and I'm in Maine, not New Jersey. There are always plenty of planes (doubtless even more of them in New Jersey). Lately, the number of satellites has exploded; you can't look through a pair of binoculars more than about half a minute without something passing through the field of view, and we've long had a few brightish ones (International Space Station, some spy sats) that you can see on any given night. Twice, I've seen Starlink "cluster" flares. And I can't say I even spend all that much time outdoors; I'm more of a computational astronomer than an observer.

    The sizes estimated correspond well with what people commonly report for UFOs (most of which, when "identified", are mundane things such as airplanes). Your concept of distance/size goes to hell in a handbasket for things off the horizon, and that gets worse at night.

  10. James Loughner

    Running lights???

    Why would "Secret" drones have running lights???

    1. Antron Argaiv Silver badge

      Re: Running lights???

      They're disguised as normal, everyday drones. See? They fooled you!

  11. ecofeco Silver badge
    Facepalm

    Much ado

    ...about nothing.

    This has gotten ridiculous.

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Ahhh,now there’s ya problem

    Americans…

  13. StargateSg7 Bronze badge

    MOST of the drones seem to be LARGE four-propeller or Hexapod drones which indicates standard military or commercial testing activity especially since some of them are sporting the standard FAA-required red and white flashing lights and some drones had BLUE lights indicating federal-level policing-related activities (i.e. FBI or DHS).

    There were OTHER drones that were seen in online imagery that were shaped in such a way that it was obvious that they are COANDA EFFECT drones or had internally-mounted multi-directional jetted-port drones which DEFINITELY indicates military testing related systems.

    OTHER drones were basically silent and had the typical bulges and extended poled indicating an RF radio control system and a WESCAM-like RGB and FLIR camera pod! The silent nature of SOME of the drones means the major Defense Contractors (LMCO, Northrup, Boeing, BAE) have FINALLY PERFECTED Electrostatics-based propulsion which have UFO-like manuevering abilities. Electrostatics propulsion doesn't need wings and was FIRST researched in the 1950's by North American Aviation Company which is now part of Northrup Grumman!

    You just need a high-voltage/high-amperage electrical power supply such as a Megawatt-class fuel cell or Supercapacitor-based EV battery system to drive the cavity resonators and waveguide system needed to create a large EM field from the outer hull which is multi-layered with Aluminum, Titanium, Magnesium, Bismuth, Palladium and a few other exotic metals to form a large continuous Terahertz EM waveguide/emitter system.

    The dark black flying triangles in the 1980's that everyone THINKS were UFOs were originally tested in upstate New York, Vermont and Utah, Nevada, Arizona and those were GWASER-based and Electrostatic Field Effects propulsion-based MANNED aerospace craft that the DOD was testing back in the mid-80's and nobody batted an eye back then! Those flight were totally done in secret and not even the FAA or local Air Force, Army, Navy, Marine-based flight control was notified of their test flights so everyone thought they were UFOs way back in the day (i.e. now 40 years ago!)

    These New Jersey drones are DIFFERENT in that they have proper FAA-mandated Red and White flashing navigation lighting which means the government KNOWS ABOUT and APPROVED their flight plans! Plus, I should note that the designs are from KNOWN styles of quad-copter and hexapod drone aircraft but merely UPSCALED in size! This whole drone thing in New Jersey is all overblown as you can SEE they are normal drones but merely upsized! I highly doubt Iran, China, North Korea or Russia is going to put FAA red and blue navigation lights on their drones! They would operate them at a lower flight level and in secret over more militarily-sensitive locations and not over New Jersey streets! Anyways, I am guessing based upon the public flight path tracking systems I am monitoring, I would say 50% are coming from near the Westchester Airport area and Hudson Valley area which is 20 to 30 km north of New York City!

    I just happen to know that there are USAF and US ARMY (Camp Smith Training Site) drone flight squadrons deployed there plus I am quite sure the Air National Guard 109th Airlift Wing is testing some of the larger cargo drones in that area and are PROBABLY doing autonomous night cargo delivery systems testing for the car-sized and school-bus sized drones! This media brouha is so overblown!

    V

    1. Killing Time

      I think your tinfoil hat has slipped. Those extraterrestrial signals are getting through!

  14. DS999 Silver badge

    The utter bullshit of the "SUV sized drones"

    People were claiming not only were the drones SUV sized, but they were "hovering 50 feet over my house". A drone that size able to hover would be LOUD from 50 feet away. It would also be very easy to take a photo/video with your smartphone, something everyone owns now.

    The fact there are zero photos of these alleged SUV sized drones shows that whatever "journalist" is collecting those reports is beating the bushes the same wackos who in the past would claim they're being abducted by aliens and subjected to anal probes. I guess drones are the new UFOs. Was the original story about the SUV sized drones in the National Enquirer, perchance?

    1. StargateSg7 Bronze badge

      Re: The utter bullshit of the "SUV sized drones"

      I have photos of both the car sized one which is a quad-copter AND the school bus sized one which is suspiciously the right size for carrying a 40 foot container and that was a ducted-fan model which the photos are clear enough to see the submarine-like ducted fan propellers on them. Depending upon the shape of the blades used, especially in the ducted-fan versions, they can be very quiet below 80 dB and if you are hovering 20 meters (60 feet) above the ground you won't actually hear them all that much. It entirely depends on the blade design and type of powerplant which TENDS to be all-EV-based now.

      1. Antron Argaiv Silver badge

        Re: The utter bullshit of the "SUV sized drones"

        Your post is interesting, but lacks a link to those photos you claim to have.

        Which makes it essentially useless.

        1. DS999 Silver badge
          Black Helicopters

          Re: The utter bullshit of the "SUV sized drones"

          The evil forces that are flying these nonexistent drones he claims to have pictures of are preventing him from posting his non existent photos.

    2. Bill Gray

      Re: The utter bullshit of the "SUV sized drones"

      ... there are zero photos of these alleged SUV sized drones...

      Obligatory XKCD. (Will admit that I'm in the declining fraction of people who do not carry a phone with me everywhere, which probably has put me on a watchlist somewhere.)

  15. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    BS

    Some gas lighting going on here I think. The US with all it's resources cannot find the source of the drones? Really? Looks like China and Russia will kick your arses soon if that's the case.

    I would bet good money these are actually from some government department or other flying a kite to see if they can convince the Americans there's an alien invasion and they need all your money, property and rights to fight them.

    1. Geoff Campbell Silver badge
      Holmes

      Re: Looks like China and Russia will kick your arses soon

      That's already happened.

      GJC

  16. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Why is this like crop circles deja vu? A few hooligans with cheapo Temu FPVs getting their jollies making the evening news.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Yes, of course, except ancient alien crop circles *did* inspire the design of the human asshole ... (or so I'm told)!

  17. Big_Boomer

    I for one,.....

    would like to be the first tell our wannabe Alien Overlords to **** off. Just because their Lizard in a Human Suit has bought the ear of Ancient Orange does not mean that they can do whatever they like,... at least not yet. As for the hysteria over this,.... dumbfuqs gonna dumbfuq <sigh>

  18. imanidiot Silver badge

    I have a very hard time believing the stories about SUV sized "drones". Something that size would weight several hundred kilograms at least and require ground handling equipment at the site of launch and landing. It would also be about as stealthy as an aluminium blimp and be easily visible on primary radar.

    The one photo I can find of something that MAYBE depicts something like that is either one of the idiotic manned "air taxi"/"personal multirotor" type craft or just a much smaller drone (but closer by). The talk about these giant drones being ultra silent makes me thing they're either just small drones not that far away or maybe indeed large drones but very far away (multi-rotor sound is more of a white-noise type sound and doesn't carry far. It easily get's drowned out by nearby traffic noise and stuff like wind blowing through trees).

    My suspicion is just stupid people flying normal drones for stupid reasons. (That includes startups doing things like drone transport/delivery and mapping that can be done far easier at scale with normal aircraft)

    1. StargateSg7 Bronze badge

      I could put active-tiling on those drones that are TUNED (i.e. Negative Index Metamaterials) for absorbing/diffracting 500 Mhz to 120 GHz radars and if the active tiling is tuned for Tri-Band Thermal and RGB optical bands, you couldn't see it even with Thermal or Starlight nightvision. I've got the photo of the unstealthed multi-rotor SUV sized drone and it is DEFINITELY LARGE and is carrying about 1200 KG (3000+ LBS).

      The school-bus sized one I see in the VERY CLEAR photo is carrying about 40,000 lbs (40 foot container sized!) and is a full ducted-fan model with some acoustic stealth built-in using EITHER active noise cancellation via pre-shaped acoustic engine noise recordings emitted 180 degrees out of phase for proper Bose Headphone-like noise cancellation but upsized to huge proportions. The shape of the EV-driven ducted fan blades can easily reduce noise to below 80 dB which is inverse-squared downward depending upon distance from the observed craft!

      This stuff I can make an actual comment on as we use active tiling on our own aircraft AND use pre-shaped 180-degrees-out-of-phase acoustic signature emissions to reduce our own small drone rotor designs downto below 80 dB of noise. In some of our OTHER much larger aircraft, we have also perfected the SAME Electrostatic Field Effects-based propulsion system used in SOME of the drones seen within the last 30 days! You don't actually NEED wings and rotors to fly a heavy craft just a LOT of onboard power and some multi-band EM emissions gear!

      V

  19. JoeCool Silver badge

    those who neglect history ...

    it's the martians. again. back in new jersey.

  20. Richard Read

    This is clearly just social contagion and the press silly season over Christmas.

    Looking at the photos most are clearly helicopters and crewed aircraft; most of the sightings are around major airports.

    For the rest its surely no coincidence that the FAA changed drone rules in 2023 to allow night flights.

    In short: nothing to see here.

  21. TangoDelta72
    Coat

    A military base in NJ

    It's the past catching up with us. I'm sure it's the same base where Steve Rogers became Captain America, Shield was founded, and Hydra embedded. It's just those last folks' toys that are just coming out to play. See?

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