The reports of mystery drones above New Jersey began on November 18th. It didn’t take long for other residents across multiple states to claim seeing similar events. The Department of Homeland Security, FBI, FAA and the Department of Defense have since received more than 5,000 drone sighting reports over the last few weeks alone. But according to them, only about two percent of the events potentially warrant further investigation. And although not mentioned in their December 16th joint statement, the sightings definitely have nothing to do with a conspiracy theory called Project Blue Beam that has reemerged online.
According to Monday’s press release, expert analysis of the “technical data and tips from concerned citizens” already resulted in attributing the vast majority of sightings to “lawful commercial drones, hobbyist drones, and law enforcement drones, as well as manned fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and stars mistakenly reported as drones.” Authorities added they have not yet identified “anything anomalous,” and they do not believe the events are national or public safety risks.
The recent wave of supposedly unidentified uncrewed aerial vehicles began last year after New Jersey residents reported multiple drones flying over the state. Similar sightings have now been documented nearly every evening across New York, Ohio, and elsewhere, prompting bipartisan calls for immediate investigation into the matter. Some state politicians and governors have even claimed the drones may pose a national security threat, while New Jersey Rep. Jeff Van Drew went so far as to contend the machines are controlled by an Iranian “mothership” off the East Coast. (They aren’t.)
Similar in Netcong NJ pic.twitter.com/h78D4U4kj9
— Joanne Cuomo (@JoanneCuomo) December 16, 2024
If history is any guidance, the explanation behind the sudden proliferation of sightings may be something much more mundane. As 404 Media explained on December 12th, a nearly identical situation occurred across Colorado in the winter of 2019-2020. The events were largely chalked up to Starlink satellite constellations, low-flying aircraft, hobbyists, and ironically, remote-piloted devices deployed by law enforcement to investigate the original reports.
“Mass hysteria” aerial sightings date further back than the UFO panic of the 1940s and ‘50s, or even Orson Welles’ famous War of the Worlds radio broadcast panic in 1938. In the late 19th century, for example, thousands of Americans claimed to have seen a massive “cigar shaped” dirigible floating across the sky in what would eventually be named the “Great Airship Wave” of 1896-1897. Nevermind that the era’s technological abilities prevented anything of that size from existing.
Modernity hasn’t lessened some people’s susceptibility to such influence. If anything, an internet flooded with misinformation from bad actors and uninformed influencers may be making it worse. One prominent rightwing columnist previously fired from Buzzfeed for plagiarism has claimed without evidence the US is secretly using experimental drones to locate a missing nuclear weapon or radioactive waste. Joe Rogan, meanwhile, also recently echoed the theories on his popular podcast.
And then there’s Project Blue Beam. First publicized in 1994 by Canadian conspiracy theorist Serge Monast, Project Blue Beam falsely asserts that an international cabal is planning to stage a faked extraterrestrial invasion. Once deployed, the villainous New World Order government will use it to help replace the world’s Abrahamic religions with a totalitarian, New Age belief system. A favorite theory of former InfoWars figurehead, Alex Jones, the latest drone sightings prompted at least one prominent Trump ally to revive the baseless conspiracy claim on social media.
It may be comparatively unexciting, but there is no evidence supporting the holiday season’s drone sightings’ link to nuclear cover-ups, staged alien invasions, Iran, or anything else nefarious. If anything, the reports indicate that the public’s ongoing drone fears simply echo a longstanding American tradition of mass panic.
Win the Holidays with PopSci’s Gift Guides
