Tag: drones

Homeland Security shares new details of mysterious drone flights over New Jersey

The large mysterious drones reported flying over parts of New Jersey in recent weeks appear to avoid detection by traditional methods such as helicopter and radio, according to a state lawmaker briefed Wednesday by the Department of Homeland Security.

In a post on the social media platform X, Assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia described the drones as up to 6 feet in diameter and sometimes traveling with their lights switched off. The Morris County Republican was among several state and local lawmakers who met with state police and Homeland Security officials to discuss the spate of sightings that range from the New York City area through New Jersey and westward into parts of Pennsylvania, including over Philadelphia.

The devices do not appear to be being flown by hobbyists, Fantasia wrote.

Dozens of mysterious nighttime flights started last month and have raised growing concern among residents and officials. Part of the worry stems from the flying objects initially being spotted near the Picatinny Arsenal, a U.S. military research and manufacturing facility; and over President-elect Donald Trump’s golf course in Bedminster. Drones are legal in New Jersey for recreational and commercial use, but they are subject to local and Federal Aviation Administration regulations and flight restrictions. Operators must be FAA certified.

Most, but not all, of the drones spotted in New Jersey were larger than those typically used by hobbyists.

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What The Hell Is All This About An ‘Iranian Mothership’?

Claims that an Iranian drone mothership is sitting off the east coast of the US and launching drones over New Jersey have added to the questions over what on earth is going on with the mystery.

For days now, large car sized drones sporting anticollision beacon lights have been seen hovering over at least 12 counties inNew Jersey, in particular close to the Trump National Golf Club of Bedminster, with a military base close by having made 11 sightings of the drones.

Now Republican Congressman Jeff Van Drew says intelligence insiders have told him that Iran is behind the drones.

“I learned from very high sources, from very qualified sources, Iran launched a mothership a month ago that contains these drones, Van Drew said, claiming “It’s off the east coast of the United States.”

Van Drew claimed that China has supplied Iran with the technology, urging “These drones should be shot down!” adding that “We are not getting the full deal, and the military is on alert.”

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Congressman Warns Iranian Mothership Lurking Off Coast Responsible For New Jersey Drone Scare 

Republican Congressman Jefferson Van Drew of New Jersey, a member of both the House Judiciary Committee and the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, told Fox News’ Harris Faulkner around noon that government sources have informed him that mysterious drones in New Jersey skies at night originate from an Iranian “mothership” stationed off the US East Coast. 

“Here’s the real deal Harris …. and I’ve gotten to know people. And from very high sources, very qualified sources, and very responsible sources… I’m going to tell you the real deal: Iran launched a mothership – probably about a month ago that contains these drones and is off the US East Coast,” Van Drew said. 

Van Drew continued, “Know that Iran made a deal with China to purchase drones – motherships and technology to go forward. The sources I know are good.” 

He emphasized, “These drones should be shot down,” adding the military “is on alert with this.” 

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Alert! The East Coast Is Being Buzzed By “Very Sophisticated” Giant Drones Every Night That “Go Dark” When Approached By U.S. Aircraft

Enormous “mystery drones” are buzzing rooftops and flying freely through the skies in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania, and our government is powerless to stop it.  As I discussed yesterday, these drones have been spotted over military facilities, water reservoirs, transportation hubs, police departments and other sensitive installations.  But even though some of these drones are the size of cars, and even though they are buzzing us at rooftop level in some cases, we can’t seem to track them effectively and when our aircraft do approach they “go dark” and disappear.

What in the world is going on?

These drones have been appearing just about every night since mid-November, and there are countless eyewitnesses.

In fact, New Jersey State Senator Doug Steinhardt says that he saw them from his own front porch…

And State Senator Doug Steinhardt says that’s simply not good enough.

“I’d be happy with an explanation that we’ve looked at it, and we don’t have information, or for law enforcement to say it’s an ongoing something or other, you know, and that’s as much as we can tell you, but we’re not even getting that which is unfortunate,” said Steinhardt.

And Steinhardt says he’s not just speaking as a lawmaker, he’s speaking as a witness.

“I walked out of my front porch last night and saw it would look like drone activity to me. I mean, I’ve seen airplanes cross the sky before and this wasn’t that,” he says.

We have never seen anything quite like this before, and people are really starting to freak out.

Many can’t seem to understand why nothing is being done to stop these unidentified drones from doing whatever they want in our airspace.

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Mystery Drones Invading New Jersey Airspace Are Keeping Officials on Edge as Feds Probe for Answers

Ongoing sightings of mysterious drones in the skies over New Jersey have sparked alarm among residents as officials continue to investigate the odd nightly incursions.

Although authorities maintain that the drones pose no apparent threat to the public, many questions remain about the mysterious objects, and their operators and ultimate purpose remain unknown.

This week, sightings of the small aircraft, which have reportedly been occurring over New Jersey now for several weeks, have extended into surrounding states, with recent observations occurring over Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Brooklyn, New York.

In New Jersey, many of the recent sightings reported by residents have occurred in Morris County, home to the U.S. Army’s Picatinny Arsenal. One of the earliest known sightings of the New Jersey mystery drones occurred there on November 13, when a security officer was reportedly one of the first to have observed the objects.

Since then, at least ten more confirmed sightings have taken place near the arsenal, and seven more potential sightings remain unconfirmed.

In a statement provided to The Debrief, a spokesperson with Picatinny Arsenal said officials there quickly began investigating and increasing outreach and coordination with multiple local, state, and federal organizations after the initial sightings several weeks ago.

“While the source and cause of these aircraft operating in our area remain unknown, we can confirm that they are not the result of any Picatinny Arsenal-related activities,” said Lt. Col. Craig A. Bonham II, Picatinny Arsenal Garrison Commander, in a statement provided to The Debrief.

The investigation into the drone sightings is ongoing, a Picatinny Arsenal spokesperson said on Tuesday.

Several days after the initial sightings, Morris County officials acknowledged that the mystery drones had also been observed by area law enforcement officers on the evening of Monday, November 18.

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Drones Reported in at Least 11 New Jersey Counties – FOX News Host Captures Footage from Her Yard

Several mysterious drones were spotted flying over New Jersey last week prompting mayors to contact the governor and demand answers. The drones were spotted over at least 12 counties.

FOX News host Rachel Campos Duffy and her children caught footage of the drones in the sky over their home.

Local mayors sent this message to Governor Phil Murphy: “While the benefits of drone technology are widely recognized when used responsibly and transparently, the lack of information and clarity regarding these operations has caused fear and frustration among our constituents. Despite inquiries made to relevant authorities, we have yet to receive satisfactory answers about the purpose, operators, or safety protocols governing these flights.”

Last week the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) restricted all drone flights over the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey.

The ban on flying drones over Trump National Golf Club was first initiated on November 22 and will last until December 6. But the continued sightings forced the FAA to extend the drone ban.

Any unauthorized drone flying over the Picatinny Arsenal Military Base in Rockaway is also included in the drone flying ban.

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UFO expert not ruling out Russia or China links to drones seen at RAF bases

A British former UFO hunter has said he does not “rule out” recent drone incursions over RAF bases in England being connected to Russia and China and nuclear weapons.

Unidentified drones were spotted in November over three airbases in the east of England that are used by the US air force (USAF).

“Small unmanned aerial systems” were seen between 20 and 22 November over RAF Lakenheath and RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk and RAF Feltwell in Norfolk. The USAF, which occupies the bases, could not confirm if the drones were hostile.

According to a January US Department of Defense (DoD) notice, plans to deploy American nuclear weapons to RAF Lakenheath have progressed. The document states the work was in preparation for the base’s “upcoming nuclear mission”.

“I don’t rule out the activity being connected with nuclear weapons,” said Nick Pope, a former Ministry of Defence official who headed the UFO desk in Whitehall from 1991 to 1994.

“Adversaries (probably Russia or China) might use drones to gather data on this, in parallel with using other intelligence-gathering strategies. But they’d be unlikely to risk an intelligence officer (either declared, let alone a highly prized illegal) on something like this.”

Pope thinks that if foreign adversaries were responsible, they might use third parties, perhaps by supplying local drone hobbyists with some equipment.

“Perhaps convincing them they’d be working for an independent news agency. Anti-nuclear groups or individual activists might also be potential culprits in this scenario.”

November’s incursions wouldn’t be the first time unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP, the military’s preferred acronym for unidentified flying objects or UFOs) have poked around RAF airbases housing nuclear weapons.

On Boxing Day 1980, United States airmen spotted strange objects flying over Rendlesham forest on the doorstep of RAF Bentwaters in Suffolk, a former airbase used by the US air force.

Charles Halt, the on-base commander at the time, said he saw crafts shooting down beams of light to the ground and heard over his radio that “the beams went down into the weapons storage area”.

Pope said that, unlike other UFO tales, eyewitness reports from Rendlesham were backed up by hard evidence. “It’s the perfect storm of a UFO case. It’s multiple witnesses, including the military. It’s sightings over three consecutive nights.

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Drone Swarms are Flying Circles Around the U.S. Government Inter-Agency Process

Establishing a trendline means having at least three data points.  Now we have three data points in drone incursions against U.S. military facilities.

During December 2023 we had 17 days of unrelenting, unchallenged drone swarms over the largest cluster of military facilities in the world, the Hampton Roads/Virginia Beach region of Virginia.

Then starting on November 18, 2024, drone swarms started visiting Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey, approximately 35 miles to the west of New Jersey.  Picatinny is the DOD center for small arms and ammunition.

Now, the three core U.S. Air Force facilities in Europe, Royal Air Force (RAF) Stations Lakenheath, Mildenhall, and Feltwell have experienced drone swarms.  One note – it is a long-standing clause of the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) that these are called RAF vice U.S. Air Force Bases.

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WORLD AT WAR: British Troops Deployed to US Air Bases in England To Protect Them From Drone Attacks

In the context of increasing tensions in Europe, the appearance of surveillance drones over US Air Force Bases in England is a worrying development.

It arises that British troops are now deployed to these bases to protect them from drone attacks.

While it hasn’t been confirmed that the UAVs are ‘hostile’, there’s widespread concern of ‘sinister’ involvement from foreign foes.

Personnel with counter-drone and surveillance equipment are deployed to counter the multiple unidentified drones reported flying three air bases over the past week.

The Telegraph reported:

“It is understood that to counter any threats, personnel from the RAF Regiment, trained in security tasks related to air power delivery, will be operating the force’s Orcus Counter-Uncrewed Air System at RAF Lakenheath and RAF Mildenhall, in Suffolk, and RAF Feltwell, in Norfolk. The system can detect, track, identify and if necessary defeat hostile drones.”

The US Air Force continues to monitor the airspace over the three bases.

“Military sources told The Telegraph that while it was not known whether they were dealing with a ‘troublemaker’ or something ‘more sinister’ – such as Russian involvement – there were concerns that a state actor could be behind the disruption.”

‘Small unmanned aerial systems’ hovered over US bases last week, and again on Monday.

Besides that, a ‘mystery drone’ also followed British aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth into the port of Hamburg, in Germany, last Friday.

“In a statement, a spokesman for the US Air Force in Europe, said: ‘We can confirm there were sightings yesterday [Monday] during night-time hours and can only confirm that the number fluctuated and varied between the bases over the night’.”

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WORLD AT WAR: Surveilling Drones Spotted Near 3 US Air Force Bases in England Last Week

After a week with unprecedented escalations on the war in Ukraine, tensions in Europe are running higher than ever.

Not since the darkest days of the Cold war have Russia and OTAN been so close to open confrontation.

So, it’s not surprising that strange and concerning things are happening in the old continent.

Reports quote the U.S. Air Force as saying that a number of small drones have been detected over last week around three bases in England used by American forces.

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