What is glowing, flying and reportedly swarming in the night sky over northern New Jersey?
The answer, apparently, is \”drones,\” but no one knows much more than that — or, at least, hasn\’t been able to reveal.
The past several weeks have seen increasing reports of strange unidentified aircraft flying over parts of the Garden State — some reportedly as large as a car. Witnesses and video show that some are rotorcraft and others are fixed-wing. Some reportedly fly alone and erratically, while others seem to operate in an orderly formation.
However, not all show any signs of stealth; they are best described as apparently glowing lights. And, according to a December 5 social media post by New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, the sightings are being seriously investigated — but \”there is no known threat to the public at this time.\”
Many of the reports initially centered on Morris County, New Jersey — where strange objects were seen hovering over major waterways, municipal reservoirs and even sensitive military facilities like the U.S. Army\’s Picatinny Arsenal — but some of the latest sightings are from other nearby counties and extend south to the outskirts of Philadelphia.
The activity comes amid fresh reports of dangerous drone activity elsewhere, including around four U.S.-used military bases in the U.K. in recent weeks and Langley Air Force Base in Virginia in December 2023.
The surge in reports in New Jersey has prompted a patchwork of responses from local, state and national officials. Nearly 20 elected officials from Morris County signed and sent a letter to relevant federal agencies, and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) temporarily banned drone flights over Picatinny Arsenal and the Bedminster, New Jersey golf club owned by President-elect Donald Trump.
Last week, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced it was investigating the case, issuing a statement with New Jersey State Police and the state’s Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness seeking information related to drone sightings. In its advisory, the FBI asked witnesses to submit their reports via the “Call FBI” hotline (1-800-225-5324) or the agency’s website.
Meanwhile, many eyewitnesses have turned to local news organizations as well as New York City-based startup Enigma Labs, which allows users of its smartphone app to submit geolocated reports and recordings of unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP).
According to Christine Kim, Enigma Labs’ head of marketing, the company processes thousands of sightings each month, and in the past three weeks has received dozens of related reports (some including videos) from users in the area, with 16 percent of U.S. submissions during that time being related to NJ drones.
\”This is an active investigation, where more eyes need to be on the skies,\” says Kim. \”For us, it\’s like a \’stress test\’ to get our users to film and report what they see, so we can crowdsource it and investigate together. … We don\’t have clear answers yet, but by getting more data we can try to find and understand patterns in what we\’re seeing.\”
Kim said the content and quality of reports so far have been so variable that certainty is elusive. \”One person wrote that they saw a large triangular craft with three lights at the corners, flying neither high nor fast, with a brightness much brighter than a conventional aircraft.
Another saw multiple craft throughout the night, flying very fast, with varying brightness and looking relatively small next to the other helicopters and planes. … From some of the photos I\’ve seen, we thought, \’Yeah, that\’s what aircraft look like in the clouds.\’\” So we are rejecting some of these ourselves.\”