Swarms of large drones were repeatedly seen flying through the air over New Jersey this week. The autonomous vehicles were traveling at night and were said to be much larger than typical hobbyist drones. They are said to have been equipped with blinking lights and, in some instances, were described as being as large as a car. Unfortunately, nobody seems to know what the drones were doing, where they went, or who they belonged to.
Word of the mysterious UAV first spread on social media, where users posted videos and pictures they had snapped while the drones were flying through their neighborhoods. As word of the sightings spread, the government was forced to respond.
On Thursday, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said, in a statement shared on social media that he had convened a briefing with the Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to discuss the “reported drone activity over parts of North and Central New Jersey.” He added that the government was “actively monitoring the situation and in close coordination with our federal and law enforcement partners.”
During a press conference on Friday, Walt Miller, the police chief of Jersey’s Evesham township, told journalists that his department had been flooded with reports of the drones. “They weren’t like the normal drone that someone would purchase and use in their home,” Miller said. “They were large, some were described as being as large as an SUV, had blinking lights on them.” After sightings of the aerial vehicles poured in, the police chief said his agency contacted Jersey state police to try to ascertain what the flying robots were doing. Apparently, they couldn’t figure it out. “At this time we’re still investigating, we have no information of who the drones belong to or what their purpose was,” Miller told journalists Friday.
Now, Miller said his department is working with the FBI and federal authorities to try to understand what had happened. Miller said there was “definitely concern” about what the drones were doing there in the area. He also noted their unique ability to withstand the strong winds that were blowing through the area that night. “The wind that was present—one of those small, hobbyist drones wouldn’t have been able to fly,” he said, whereas the drones that flew over the township were able to “navigate the weather” with relative ease.
The Federal Aviation Administration has reportedly imposed drone flight restrictions on the area while law enforcement continues to investigate the sightings.
