At the turn of the year, it’s almost expected for something weird and momentous to happen. Remember the monolith craze from the end of 2020? Well, this year, we have drones and lots of them. Everyone is talking about it and what it all means. But as with the monoliths, does it necessarily mean anything? Or will it just be another thing to look back on as that strange thing at the New Year? On the other hand, could this be leading up to something quite serious?
The stories of hundreds of drones appearing over homes, particularly in New Jersey, were slow to take off on social media. But after about a month, the reports became overwhelming, and the mainstream picked them up. Now we have reports that the governor of New Jersey demands President Biden lead an investigation into the mystery.
Yet, thus far, the White House, Pentagon, and FBI have largely dismissed the drone sightings. According to a White House spokesman, they were mostly “manned aircraft … being operated lawfully.” And the former organizations say they aren’t military or of foreign origin. But how can they be so sure?
Questioning if Drone Sightings are Real?
NJ.com is showing many reports about the drones, and eyewitnesses are constantly posting videos on social media. Nevertheless, one report’s title surprisingly states, “Feds question whether N.J. drone sightings are real.” Rather than clusters of car-sized drones, the report suggests a case of “mistaken identity.” Yet the many videos of the drones seen online don’t appear to be manned aircraft.
Indeed, former Congressman Adam Kinzinger has been vocal on Bluesky, stating that he’s observed the drone complying with FAA lighting laws. Likewise, he has little concern that these are something illegal or necessarily worrisome.
Although Governor Murphy says, “We don’t see any concern for public safety,” other officials are not so sure. For example, in Morris County, commissioners have called on the feds to bring out the military to take care of the problem.
Importantly, experts warn that it’s typically illegal to shoot down a drone flying over a property. But its curious that authorities thus far haven’t taken one, or at least not that has been reported.
Video by CBS News about the drone sightings:
The 2024 Version of War of the Worlds?
In another post, Kinzinger notes that the drone sighting may be something harking back to a much earlier story. In 1938, at the time of Nazi Germany, Orson Welles broadcast War of the Worlds on the radio, causing widespread panic about Martian invaders.
Unlike the radio broadcast, these drones are real.
Mysterious Airships and A Previous Drone ‘Prank’
The story is also reminiscent of other strange flying craft, bizarre airships that appeared across the United States 50 years before Roswell, as I’ve shared before. These airships appeared even before the first airplanes and yet hundreds saw them. Such hysteria seemed to serve to instill fear to justify a military buildup at the time. Is that something like what’s going on now?
Like UFOs or UAPs today, the airships were sometimes seen near military sites.
Stopping an International Drone ‘Prank’
In 2022, UFO researcher Nigel Watson came forward to say he’d stopped an “international conspiracy” to fool people about drones flying over major cities. According to his account, he happened across it in a forum for remote-controlled drone hobbyists.
In the forum, organizers asked drone owners to put LED lights on their drones and fly them where the public would see them around April Fool’s Day. This event was to be carried out in the US, UK, France, South Africa, and the Netherlands, per the Daily Star. However, after Watson publicized the story, it may have discouraged the organizers from going through with their drone “prank.”
Initially, authorities considered Watson’s potential involvement, but he maintained he was not behind the hoax. Even so, he pointed out its known that other hoaxes have been conducted to test the public’s reaction.
“I don’t agree with hoaxing,” he says. “Nonetheless, some people have secretly conducted hoaxes to ‘scientifically’ test the reactions of UFO investigators and the public,” he said.
Unlike in 2022, this time, eyewitnesses say the drones are way beyond something that hobbyists would fly.
In the video by CBS Evening News below, New Jersey witness Olivia Demattio said, “They are the size of small cars, almost like a Mini Cooper or a Ford Escape size. So it’s not something that a kid is buying off Amazon and flying around as a prank. It’s way, way past that.”
Whatever is going on, It’s interesting to see even mainstream journalists reservedly talking about the weird subject. And also strange that nobody seems to have an answer yet. Meanwhile, conspiracies and well-informed theories swirl online about who might be behind the drones and what might be their real purpose.
Video by CBS Evening News about the drones:
Featured image: War of the Worlds via Wikimedia Commons, Steve Jurvetson from Los Altos, USA