New Jersey’s Ongoing Drone Mystery
A year ago, New Jersey found itself in the midst of a perplexing drone situation, starting with 11 sightings over the Morris County Military Base. The intrigue surrounding these events has only intensified since then. One observer noted that a drone, roughly the size of a school bus, seemed capable of taking control of smaller recreational drones nearby.
The military verified that the first known unauthorized drone sighting in Picatinny Arsenal airspace occurred on November 13, 2024, followed by ten additional sightings by December 6.
Law enforcement officials at the base confirmed this sighting, clarifying that the drone activity was not associated with any military operations and was unauthorized. A spokesperson for Picatinny stated that the situation was indeed not under their jurisdiction.
In the aftermath, a wave of hysteria swept through the state, with countless individuals reporting their own dramatic drone encounters, though many of these were later found to have simple explanations.
Yet, some information about these incidents had stayed under wraps until recently.
Montvale Mayor Mike Gassari shared an alarming experience relayed by a local drone enthusiast. The enthusiast, whom Gassari deemed “trusted,” revealed how his drone was commandeered by one of the larger drones flying overhead. He refrained from speaking out, worried about the consequences for his profession.
According to the mayor, the massive drone was comparable in size to a “small school bus…maybe 15 or 20 feet,” which is significantly larger than any consumer model.
Gassari mentioned that reports of two or three drones flying in formation persisted for several weeks. They were spotted flying over various areas, including a reservoir and downtown.
The mayor expressed that after some time, things calmed down, and people seemed resigned to seeing more drones in the sky.
However, he pointed out that neither federal nor state officials have provided clarity on the drone activities that lit up Montvale’s skies.
While Montvale garnered the most attention, credible sightings popped up throughout the state around the same timeframe, many of which remain unsolved.
On December 8, 2024, a cluster of 12 to 30 drones was reported by U.S. Coast Guard personnel patrolling the Atlantic Ocean. One sailor recounted being deployed to investigate when the drones were noticed “spotting us.”
At about 9 p.m., “they appeared out of nowhere” and trailed the patrol boat for roughly 15 minutes. The sailor described the drones as having four propellers, measuring about seven feet across, adorned with colorful flashing lights.
Other reported sightings seem to have been overlooked by federal authorities. An internal TSA assessment deemed numerous incidents—from the diversion of a medical helicopter to reports from a National Guard installation—mere misidentifications of various aircraft.
“No one had an answer. Even when the state police and the FBI gathered information from local mayors, they left saying, ‘We don’t know.’ To this day, we still don’t know,” Gassari lamented.
