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So what's the deal with these unexplained drones descending on New Jersey?

New Jersey residents are sounding the alarm after witnesses say they’ve seen and recorded dozens of unexplained aerial phenomena (UAP) flying across the state over the past month. Now, one congressman has claimed the UAPs are actually Iranian drones being controlled by a "mothership" parked off the East Coast of the US. Cybernews takes a deep dive to find out the real story.

Drone flying sunset

Image by Vaakim | Shutterstock

Stefanie Schappert
Stefanie Schappert Senior Journalist
Dec 12, 2024 Updated: 12 December 2024 4 min read

New Jersey residents are sounding the alarm after witnesses say they’ve seen and recorded hundreds of unexplained aerial phenomena (UAP) flying across the state daily over the past month. Now, one congressman has claimed the UAPs are actually Iranian drones being controlled by a "mothership" parked off the East Coast of the US. Cybernews takes a deep dive to find out the real story.

It all began about a month ago on November 18th, when folks in the Garden State began plastering videos and images of the unexplained objects on social media, including X, Facebook, and Reddit.

The firestorm of theories put forth by average joes, paranormal investigators, self-proclaimed internet sleuths, and conspiracy theorists has not only garnered national attention but has led to press conferences from New Jersey’s governor to the Pentagon.

Some believe the UAPs are military drones, some say they are orbs, while others have denounced the sightings as simply mistaken helicopters and airplanes. Even the UAPs' red, white, and green lights (colors of the Italian flag) have spurred Italian-style drone memes by the hornfull.

Different recordings have allegedly shown these mystery objects spraying substances into the night skies, being chased by military helicopters in mid-air, and at least one instance in which an alleged drone was reported to have been downed on a roadway after crashing into powerlines causing a major police presence.

According to a post by X user @DougSpac, who has feverishly been following the case and allegedly obtained information directly from the New Jersey State Police, the drones seem to share several characteristics, including:

  • A wingspan of 6 feet.
  • Able to operate WITHOUT lights.
  • Can fly for 6 to 7 hours at a time
  • Not detectable by radio frequency.
  • Difficult to detect by helicopter.
  • Highly maneuverable.

Meantime, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy was getting so many inquiries, that he held a press conference on Monday about the matter, calling the drones “very sophisticated” and difficult for authorities to track as “the minute you get your eyes on them, they go dark,” the New York Post had reported.

Murphy also mentioned a Newsweek story in which 49 sightings had been reported alone on Sunday, with most concentrated in just one county (Hunterdon County), with another 180 drone sightings reported on another night, the Post said.

Apparently, local and federal agencies, including the FBI, Homeland Security, and the more recently reported US Coast Guard, have all been sent to investigate the UAPs, prompting Murphy to declare, “We don’t see any concern for public safety.”

As one can imagine, the public remains skeptical.

US Congressman: Iranian mothership is launching drones

Blowing up the entire story, we fast forward to Wednesday morning and New Jersey Congressman Jeff Van Drew, who made an appearance on Fox News to say “confidential sources” told him that the drones were being launched from an Iranian vessel anchored somewhere in the Atlantic.

“I’m going to tell you the real deal. Iran launched a mothership that contains these drones. It’s off the East Coast of the United States of America. They’ve launched drones,” he said.

The three-term Republican also claimed the US military “was on full alert with this” and called for the drones to be "shot down.” “This is a clear and present danger to the United States,” he said.

Van Drew additionally sent a letter to President Joe Biden laying out “circumstantial evidence,” citing Iran’s cozy partnership with China over drone technology, urging Biden to take action, the newspaper reported.

“We have information that a sea-based Iranian drone mothership is currently missing from port, and that its embarkation timeline would align with the appearance of the New Jersey Drones,” Van Drew wrote in the letter obtained by Agudath Israel of America news based in New York, the Post said.

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Government gets involved, prompting more confusion

In response to Van Drew's remarks Wednesday, the Pentagon held its own press conference, emphatically denying the presence of an Iranian ship as the origin of the UAPs.

In this short clip posted by X user @UAPJames, a reporter asks Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh if the rumors are true.

“There is not any truth to that, there is no Iranian ship off the coast of the United States and there is no ‘so-called’ mothership launching drones towards the United States,” Singh said.

Later on Wednesday, the US Northern Command, headquartered at Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado (far away in the Midwest), also released an official statement on the unsolved matter.

“We are aware and monitoring the reports of unauthorized drone flights in the vicinity of military installations in New Jersey,” specifically identifying the Picatinny Arsenal and Naval Weapons Station Earle military bases in Morris and Monmouth counties.

“US Northern Command conducted a deliberate analysis of the events, in consultation with other military organizations and interagency partners, and at this time we have not been requested to assist with these events,“ it continued, adding that “the agency is prepared to respond when asked or should the situation escalate to threaten any DoD installations.”

The Picatinny Arsenal is a military research and manufacturing facility on about 6400 acres and the Naval Weapons Station Earle is listed as a Naval military base.

Overall, it seems these statements have led to more questions than they've answered. And it's been reported by some social media users that posts are being removed from certain platforms, without explanation.

Commenting on the government’s so-called denial of national security issues about the unknown origin of the drones, X user @DougSpac summed up what many New Jersians have continued to express on social media Wednesday:

“Pentagon: This is not the US Military and this is not a foreign adversary. The American Public calls bullshit,” he said.

“The fact that the answer was so measured and no attempt to comment on what they are, leads me to believe they are either lying or hiding something,” Navy veteran, pilot, and X user @Marc_Kenyon further commented.

Cybernews will follow the story.

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