Mystery drones: Where they have been spotted?
The crux of the federal probe mysterious drone sightings in recent weeks has centered around the skies over New Jersey and New York, but the flying objects controlled by unknown operators has become a global phenomenon.
In the U.S., officials have insisted that the drones do not belong to the U.S. military and are also not the property of foreign governments. But as lawmakers and residents push for more government transparency and answers about what these objects are, the number of places sightings have taken place continues to grow.
Mid-Atlantic region
In New Jersey, two of the sightings creating the biggest buzz involved those located in sensitive areas including Picatinny Arsenal, a U.S. military research and manufacturing facility in Morris County, located in the northeastern part of the state.
President-elect Trump’s Trump National Golf Club, located in Bedminster — 40 miles west of New York City — has also been the site of drone sightings, WJAR reported.
Multiple drones are seen over Bernardsville, N.J., Dec. 5, 2024 (Brian Glenn/TMX via AP)
New Jersey state Rep. Dawn Fantasia (R) wrote in a social media post that the drones spotted in her state measured up to 6 feet in diameter and sometimes traveled with their lights off.
Fantasia said that the first sightings took place Nov. 18 and have continued every night since. She said the reported sightings typically take place between 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. and reports range between four and 180 sightings per night, she said.
She estimates that there are typically an average of 92 sightings per night and that conservatively, 2,500 sightings have been reported since they began.
Two lawmakers representing the Jersey Shore region of the state reported that a dozen drones were spotted near Barnegat Light and Island Beach State Park, which are located in Ocean County. In those cases, WJAR reported the drones were seen following a U.S. Coast Guard lifeboat.
A Coast Guard spokesperson told the outlet that “multiple low-altitude aircraft” were reported near one of the service's boats.
According to the WJAR report, drones are legal in New Jersey for recreational and commercial use. However, they are subject to local and Federal Aviation Administration regulations. Drone operators must be FAA-certified, the report said.
New Jersey lawmakers, including Sen. Cory Booker (D), have expressed concern and frustration over the federal government’s lack of transparency on the issue.
“We need to know what’s going on over our skies,” Booker said, according to WJAR.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) said he does not believe the drone sightings pose any threat. However, Murphy’s office announced Friday that it has contacted President Biden about concerns over the unmanned aircraft systems in and around the Garden State.
In the letter, Murphy wrote that more federal resources should be devoted to the matter since state and local law enforcement in his state are limited in dealing with drones.
Another lawmaker, Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.), reported seeing drones while on patrol with local law enforcement. Kim said he witnessed white, red and green lights appearing in groups of five to seven at a time.
Kim wrote in a series of posts on social platform X that he knew the lights were not associated with aircraft because the objects did not appear on the FlightAware tracker.
In New York City, residents in the Bronx and Queens have reported seeing multiple drones as well as sightings being reported over LaGuardia Airport, The New York Daily News reported Friday.
The New York City Emergency Management Department shared on X that it has not received any official reports of drone activity, but is aware of the reports of the sightings near the airport.
The report indicated that the drones took off once police reported on the scene in the Bronx. Police also reported that sightings had taken place on Staten Island.
In Maryland, residents in Bowie have released videos of drone sightings to local media organizations.
Autumn Stasulli and her family told DC News Now they were out looking at Christmas lights when they spotted flashing red and green lights. She said she saw between three and five drones the size of SUVs that were making loud noises.
There were “just drones all over the place," she added.
Stasulli also noted that it appeared that military jets were in pursuit of the drones and that she is concerned about where the aircraft may be coming from.
Former Gov. Larry Hogan (R-Md.) reported in a social media post that he witnessed dozens of large drones Thursday night over his home in Davidsonville, Md., which is located 25 miles outside of Washington, D.C. Hogan wrote that the drone activity lasted about 45 minutes.
Midwest
Residents in Northfield, Minn. — located south of Minneapolis-St. Paul — have reported seeing mysterious flashing lights over the night sky.
Deborah Wagner and her daughter told Fox 9 that the lights were hard to track.
“We started trying to follow them, but they just won’t be followed,” Wagner said, adding that the lights just seemed to disappear.
Her daughter, Chrissy Grady, tried to capture video of the orbs with her cellphone, and the video showed the objects hovering before disappearing.
“Are those UFOs? Are they a government thing?” Grady asked.
West Coast
Similar sightings have been reported in southern California, where residents spotted seeing colored lights.
Colin Rambo, who lives outside San Diego in Lemon Grove, told CBS 8 that he witnessed seeing “a bunch of red lights floating in the sky.” Rambo told the television station that he was driving when he saw what he called a fleet of "red glowing orbs.”
Over five minutes, Rambo reported seeing at least 25 of the orbs.
In Temecula, which is located in southern California’s wine country in Riverside County, residents reported seeing large drones hovering over the community.
One resident said the objects were the size of a car.
They’ll be going just straight one direction, and then, just all of a sudden, they’ll just zig or zag and keep going, or turn around, and just break really quick,” the man said.
Local sheriff’s officials said the drones did not belong to the department.
Camp Pendleton, a Marine Corps base north of San Diego, told the station it had received several reports of drone sightings from local residents. A spokesman for the base told CBS 8 that the base did not have any drone activity planned when the sightings took place.
International
Unidentified drones have also been spotted over four Royal Air Force bases in England, which has prompted the British government to request military assistance, the U.S. Air Force said.
Air Force officials said that “small” drones continue to be spotted in and around the four British military installations since Nov. 20. None of the activities interrupted base operations, officials said.
In a statement, the Air Force said that the objects have ranged in size and configurations and that the military is working with host-nation officials and mission partners to endure base personnel.
Reuters reported that drones have also been spotted at the U.S. Air Force base at Ramstein in Germany this month.
Sources told the international news wire that German officials have not determined who is operating the drones. They had, however, ruled out the possibility that the drones were operated by amateurs.
NewsNation's Ross Coulthart will examine the perplexing case of the mysterious drones seen all over New Jersey in an hourlong special program on NewsNation at 9 p.m. ET on Dec. 14.
NewsNation is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which also owns The Hill.