The Federal Aviation Administration outlines specific laws for flying unmanned aircraft, such as drones, which states that owners must “Fly at or below 400 feet in Class G (uncontrolled) airspace.” So why have drones been flying above residential neighborhoods in New Jersey and military bases for about three days, and why hasn’t the government addressed concerns about any of this? Why are drones all over America?

Last year, a Chinese spy balloon was spotted flying across North American airspace and areas like Canada and Alaska. After orders were given to shoot down the balloon, it was discovered that it had multiple antennas for “reconnaissance purposes.” The incident sparked a lot of controversy about who the culprit of the balloon was and it was presumed that the Chinese launched it in hopes of gathering information on America. Several nights ago many drones were reportedly flying over New Jersey neighborhoods and military bases. Could an incident like the Chinese spy balloon be happening again and should the government be concerned about the safety of the American people?

The first confirmed sighting of the drones happened on the evening of December 5th, when a man named Brian Glenn took a picture of at least one drone flying over his house in Bernardsville, N.J. Many more sightings have begun to pop up around the surrounding areas in New Jersey.

Last week on Thursday, December 12th a video was uploaded to X formally named Twitter by a woman named Kristen Cobo who reportedly spotted 8 drones flying over a farm near her home. The video shows 8 drones with lights on them flying around a farm seemingly with no purpose. After the video was uploaded more sightings began to happen over the weekend and over 200 have been confirmed up to this point.

The video has sparked mass hysteria on many other social media platforms. Many are beginning to believe that the drones have very malicious intentions rather than just “surveillance” like the Chinese spy balloon was thought to be intended for.

The problem with all of this is that no high-ranking government official has officially confirmed what these drones may be. “Mystery Drone sightings all over the Country. Can this be happening without our government’s knowledge? I don’t think so! Let the public know, and now. Otherwise, shoot them down!!!” Donald Trump posted on Truth Social. The intent behind the post was to give the idea of shooting down the drones to the American people. Shooting the drones down is extremely risky and could do more harm than good. Without a true source of what these drones are, it doesn’t seem like the idea of taking them down will stop anytime soon.

Officials have yet to be able to identify specifically what type of drone they are but many seem to be commercial-grade and could be up to 6 feet in diameter. The drones reportedly are not being picked up on radio waves as well.

So what’s next regarding these drones? At this point, not many people know and at the time of writing this article, there has not been a single word from the federal government about what these drones may be. I believe that drones are not meant to bring harm to anybody rather they are being used as “surveillance” just like the Chinese spy balloon. It is still extremely dangerous for unknown aircraft to be flying over military bases and it should be taken seriously. As more ideas begin to arise about what these drones are it is entirely left up to speculation. With more and more sightings happening every day are these drones just for surveillance or is something happening that the American people should know about?

Sources:

https://www.faa.gov/uas/recreational_flyers 

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/what-to-know-drones-spotted-new-jersey-rcna184218