Imagine living an ordinary day at your house in New Jersey, United States, and then, suddenly, while gazing at the sky, you notice some mysterious object flying above your head, blinking lights. Abruptly, it goes away with an unusual speed. You look on the internet and surprisingly find out that a lot of people are talking about these drones, calling for Russian or Chinese’ espionage attacks or aliens invading Earth.
This is what is happening in the US in recent days. As reported by the FBI, from November 18, more than 5000 reports of unidentified objects flying in the skies above New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Ohio have been carried by citizens. The tension has risen as some of these drones have been detected overflying a military area containing some arsenal and President-Elect Donald Trump’s golf court at Bedminster.
After investigating the alerts, the Department of Defense has claimed that no threat has been identified in the reported activities. The unidentified aircrafts were a combination of fully legal flights, including commercial drones, fixed-wing aircraft, or even stars mistaken for drones, the report states.
On social media, like X or TikTok, the most various range of explanations is proliferating, with several conspiracy theories and calls for the world’s end popping out. This spread of fake news on the internet is counterbalanced by the demand for official responses by the government.
Some response has been provided. As White House’s National Security Communications Advisor, John Kirby, tells Fox News that “this is lawful, legal, commercial, hobbyist and even law enforcement aircraft activity”, there has been a federal intervention on December 17, with the government sending a drone detection system to New York to reassure citizens, upon request of Governor Kathy Hochul.
The demand of Governor Hochul comes after the frustration of having had to suspend the activity of New York’s Stewart International Airport for an hour on the night of Friday 13, due to suspect drone activity.
A couple of days before, on December 15, Alejandro Mayorkas, US homeland security secretary, has claimed that no acknowledged foreign involvement is connected to the detected drones’ activity, while being concerned that innocents may be hit by falling debris of devices taken out amateurishly.
More controversial is the comment of Trump on the matter. He told at a conference on Monday 16th that “the government knows what’s happening” and that “for some reason they don’t want to comment, and […] keep people on suspense”, addressing President Biden too. On the same occasion Trump commanded the government to clarify with the public, otherwise to shoot the drones down. This hypothesis has been rejected by the authorities.
Aside from political attacks, the Typhoon did not delay on ironicizing the issue too. On December 14, he posted from his X’s account a fake picture of ex Governor of New Jersey Chris Christie being delivered hamburgers by several drones, as to suppose that the huge amount of aircrafts detected was to bring food to Christie, recalling his body shape.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 14, 2024
Among this general turmoil, there has been an arrest, in connection with drones activities. Two men have been apprehended near Logan International Airport, in Boston, for piloting drones over a restricted area, while a third man has escaped. The Boston Police Department recalls the importance of following the guidelines of Federal Aviation Administration (Faa).
Amid political disputes and conspiracy theories, the government is trying to reassure the growing concern of the population as it awaits further clarifications.
