Drones over New Jersey?

Are you sure? I suppose it is possible that some prankster put a WWE action figure on a drone to be silly, but pareidolia seems more likely to me.
If that is pareidolia, then its the best example in the history of humanity.
Then again since its a perfect posed shot from where the cameraperson is, I think its more likely to be an crouched image image superimposed over the picture (then again FWIW - I did try doing a reverse image search and came up with nothing, but of course with such a low resolution shot its unlikely to find anything)
 
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Here's a woman who says her husband shone a "sniper laser" at a supposed drone.

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The time and location match this Fedex flight which passed over the eastern part of West Milford township at about 4,000 feet at 11.55pm local time.

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Public property records show Jaclyn (Jackie) Travers living at an address in the southeastern part of West Milford township, the closest corner to the flight path of FedEx 3926.

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Not pareidolia, I wish I could unsee that...
View attachment 74527
Looks fake to me. The illumination of the figure is what? A light inside of a hollow plastic action figure? The brightness of the different body parts is just way too perfect. And too bright compared to the brightness of the red and green lights. Very hard to imagine a combination of shape and illumination source that would produce that image.
 
This one has full DTLD but is just out of state in Dilsburg, PA, and was reported in ABC. It really does look like low-flying C-130s after leaving Harrisburg Airport to East but none were around at that time (17:38 EST 21 Nov). Location is US-15 going North at intersection with Mountain Road. There were two C-130s at low altitude at 12:38 going north but that doesn't coincide. The dashcam video on Nuforc is timestamped 17:38 and dated 21 Nov. The aircraft in the video are moving West.

https://nuforc.org/sighting/?id=184929
https://www.abc27.com/local-news/video-drones-spotted-flying-over-york-county-roadway/

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/UFOs/comments/1hdy1e9/drone_footage_dilsburg_pennsylvania/


https://maps.app.goo.gl/1jZSyb5wqVVLoy3g9

Perhaps a video overlay of either the craft or the dashcam data at the bottom but the quality is not great and the movement does seems to track ok. Aircraft (or drones) would seem to be at low altitude.

Dashcam is Viofo A229 Plus, which matches overlap, but with following stats.

SensorFront: Sony STARVIS 2 IMX675 5MP Sensor, Rear: Sony STARVIS 2 IMX675 5MP Sensor
Video resolutionFront + Rear: 2K 2560x1440P 30fps + 2K 2560x1440P 30fps

The Nuforc video itself is only 576p so has been compressed. The dashcam's lowest configurable resolution is 1080p, which matches the file on ABC page which has blacked out the identifiable info at bottom.
 
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This one has full DTLD but is just out of state in Dilsburg, PA, and was reported in ABC. It really does look like low-flying C-130s after leaving Harrisburg Airport to East but none were around at that time (17:38 EST 21 Nov). Location is US-15 going North at intersection with Mountain Road. There were two C-130s at low altitude at 12:38 going north but that doesn't coincide. The dashcam video on Nuforc is timestamped 17:38 and dated 21 Nov. The aircraft in the video are moving West...
The date/time stamp on the dashcam could very well be inaccurate. On November 21, sunset was 4:46pm and nautical twilight was from 5:16-5:49pm. The sky looks pitch black in the video, much too dark to be in the middle of nautical twilight. Also another slightly suspicious thing- if the video started a second earlier, the gas price sign for the Gulf station would have been visible, which could have been useful for confirming the date of the video. The two C-130s going north later in the night at least prove that it's not an unusual thing for a pair of C-130s to be flying over this location, and this easily could have been recorded any other night if the date/time was not set properly.
 
This one has full DTLD but is just out of state in Dilsburg, PA, and was reported in ABC. It really does look like low-flying C-130s after leaving Harrisburg Airport to East but none were around at that time (17:38 EST 21 Nov). Location is US-15 going North at intersection with Mountain Road. There were two C-130s at low altitude at 12:38 going north but that doesn't coincide. The dashcam video on Nuforc is timestamped 17:38 and dated 21 Nov. The aircraft in the video are moving West.

I thought it looked a bit dark for 5:30pm but suncalc shows dusk ended at 17:16 so that matches.

The Pennsylvania Air National Guard's 193rd Special Operations Wing flies out of Harrisburg and have been flying the MC-130J Commando II since 2023.

External Quote:
The MC-130J Commando II flies clandestine – or low visibility – single or multi-ship, low-level infiltration, exfiltration and resupply of special operations forces, by airdrop or airland and air refueling missions for special operations helicopters and tiltrotor aircraft, intruding politically sensitive or hostile territories.

The MC-130J primarily flies missions at night to reduce probability of visual acquisition and intercept by airborne threats. Its secondary mission includes the airdrop of leaflets.
Source: https://www.193sow.ang.af.mil/MC-130J/

They say as part of the transition from EC-130Js to MC-130Js they will be flying fewer missions out of Harrisburg, but it is still quit a few
External Quote:
This mission conversion should not lower the current economic impact of the installation. The transition should result in a net neutral change in manpower.

The unit will fly fewer missions out of Harrisburg International Airport.
  • EC-130J ~11 sorties/wk – MC-130J ~6 sorties/wk
  • Little change to current airspace use
Source: https://www.193sow.ang.af.mil/MC-130J/

Perhaps if it was them, they were flying a training mission with ADSB off?
 
just to the top right of the car dealership sign you've got this guy with 3 lights (screenshot attached). its just about center frame in the image.
Looks similar to this video I saw...


Source: https://www.tiktok.com/@meanguru/video/7448503635060952366?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7448577937878599186


Unfortunately the source is dodgy at best, with little to no information of who it is from. Looks to be filmed from an aircraft if the video is real.

Screenshot 2024-12-15 at 9.08.16 pm.png
 
I thought it looked a bit dark for 5:30pm but suncalc shows dusk ended at 17:16 so that matches.

The Pennsylvania Air National Guard's 193rd Special Operations Wing flies out of Harrisburg and have been flying the MC-130J Commando II since 2023.

External Quote:
The MC-130J Commando II flies clandestine – or low visibility – single or multi-ship, low-level infiltration, exfiltration and resupply of special operations forces, by airdrop or airland and air refueling missions for special operations helicopters and tiltrotor aircraft, intruding politically sensitive or hostile territories.

The MC-130J primarily flies missions at night to reduce probability of visual acquisition and intercept by airborne threats. Its secondary mission includes the airdrop of leaflets.
Source: https://www.193sow.ang.af.mil/MC-130J/

They say as part of the transition from EC-130Js to MC-130Js they will be flying fewer missions out of Harrisburg, but it is still quit a few
External Quote:
This mission conversion should not lower the current economic impact of the installation. The transition should result in a net neutral change in manpower.

The unit will fly fewer missions out of Harrisburg International Airport.
  • EC-130J ~11 sorties/wk – MC-130J ~6 sorties/wk
  • Little change to current airspace use
Source: https://www.193sow.ang.af.mil/MC-130J/

Perhaps if it was them, they were flying a training mission with ADSB off?
You could always contact the Public Affairs Officer at the 193rd and ask for their flight logs for the date/time in question. They'd much rather have someone ask than file a FOIA request, the latter creates an awful lot of bureaucratic documentation and tracking.

In a real world situation you'd expect the secret squirrel SOW guys to fly covertly without broadcasting their presence, so training without squawking would comply with the "train like you fight" training concept used by the US military. Doing so could present flight safety issues, however, but I'm not sure under what conditions they can go dark. Must they have ATC approval? Can they only do so in restricted airspace? I'm sure the 193rd PAO could get an explanation for such scenarios. We also have at least a couple former military pilots here who can probably explain that aspect.
 
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This (phenomenon in general) is an absolutely fascinating case of mass hysteria, playing out in real time. One thing it demonstrates is that most people are absolutely terrible witnesses.

One culprit that might take some of the blame is the recent improvement in smartphone cameras. Earlier this year we were all treated to beautiful photos taken with smartphones showing the Aurora Borealis; because of the increased nightvision now available, we could all see the aurora in blazing colours, which contrasted with the rather faint colours we could see with our eyes. One friend of mine filmed the aurora from the nearby moors, accompanied by objects he called 'drones' but which were actually identifiable stars.

Similarly, some of these new smartphones have very good electronic telephoto capability, and can amplify the lights of distant aircraft until they look both brilliant and unfamiliar. Well done, smartphone manufacturers! You've made it possible to see things that can't be seen easily with the naked eye, with hilarious results.
 
While there's strong links with UFOs and this event, I can't help thinking it's clearer in the context of ghosts.

Cos isn't that kinda what people are seeing? Is seeing a drone that's not there in a pattern of light that different to seeing a person who's not there in a pattern of light?

Ghosts disappear (or go dark) when you look for them. Not aliens.
 
Why is everyone he so certain there aren't any drones? Is it that unbelievable? Even if there weren't any drones initially, wouldn't copycats or curious drone enthusiasts have added drones to the mix by now?
 
Why is everyone he so certain there aren't any drones? Is it that unbelievable? Even if there weren't any drones initially, wouldn't copycats or curious drone enthusiasts have added drones to the mix by now?
I'm sure there are actual drones around, but as most hobby drones are small and are flown within a limited range and height, they're not as widely noticed. Of concern is the misidentification of actual planes and helicopters which lead to scare stories, including hysterical cries of "Shoot them down" from officials who should know better.
 
Why is everyone he so certain there aren't any drones? Is it that unbelievable? Even if there weren't any drones initially, wouldn't copycats or curious drone enthusiasts have added drones to the mix by now?
Again, I don't think anyone is substantially arguing that there are zero drones flying at night in New Jersey and New York.

The question is whether there are any drones of unusual size, characteristics or groupings and nobody has done anything to establish that.

Every claim seems to be a game of telephone or misinterpretation, like one sheriff reporting that one witness thought that whatever they saw in the distance was the size of an SUV, and then some military facility reporting a sighting of "a drone" in their airspace, and people then conclude that SUV-sized drones are flying over U.S. military bases.
 
Why is everyone he so certain there aren't any drones? Is it that unbelievable? Even if there weren't any drones initially, wouldn't copycats or curious drone enthusiasts have added drones to the mix by now?

EDIT: Not piling on, just cross posted with @jdog above.

I don't anyone here is saying categorically "There are no drones". I think if you read through the admittedly long thread, most people have maintained that's it's certainly possible there are SOME drones being seen. The real question becomes, is this a consorted and possibly organized event being orchestrated by hostile foreign governments or other rouge players for nefarious reasons.

Given that so far, the vast majority of supposed drones captured on video and presented as evidence of this drone invasion, have been shown to be ordinary aircraft or even celestial bodies, even if there are a few actual drones out and about, it's likely not in any meaningful number. The driving story is not that there are a few drones flying over NJ, and increasingly across the country, rather there is an invasion of hundreds to thousands of drones swarming all over the place that can't be identified, and the government is impotent in dealing with them.

This is a classic flap. Someone got the ball rolling by reporting aircraft as drones so that lots of people that saw similar aircraft reported them as drones. The media looking for viewers, politicians looking for relevance, conspiracist looking for conspiracies, hoaxers looking for likes, and ordinary people just wanting to be part of a story all jumped on the band wagon and created this self-fulfilling feedback loop where nearly anything in the sky is now a drone. The few actual drones that may be included in these observations are likely, numerically insignificant.

However many actual drones there are, they're doing little to contribute to the drone flap.
 
Something that's worth considering also even for actual drone cases. 95% of what people mention is not at all an indicator of what they think, it's purely assumption based perceptive indicators and not true indicators.

There are 100,000s of drone detections within our continental airspace every year. The southwest border corridor alone had over 45,000 last year, with some 2,500+ incursions across the border (unfortunately they didn't tell us how many specifically on each side but the SBC monitors both sides of the borders not just ours). That's just from CBP too, not including other DHS bodies or DoD and respective unshared systems.
https://fedscoop.com/fbi-doj-customs-border-drone-laws/
Screenshot (9435).png
 
Why is everyone he so certain there aren't any drones? Is it that unbelievable? Even if there weren't any drones initially, wouldn't copycats or curious drone enthusiasts have added drones to the mix by now?
This is a good question. Everyone knows drones exist, and that they exist in New Jersey as well. What we don't have evidence of is that there's anything unusual about the drones in New Jersey.

Compare:
Everyone knows that lights in sky exist. What we don't have evidence of is that any lights in the sky are/were caused by extraterrestrial visitors/non-human intelligences.

As debunkers, we examine these claims of unusual things ("aircraft spray mind-control/geoengineering chemicals") and reduce them to the mundane, if we can ("these are condensation trails from the jet engines").

So we definitely do believe in drones. But absent adequate evidence, we won't believe there's anything unusual about the drones in New Jersey this month.
 

Your "drones" have regulary FAA blinking lights, flying like short motor aircraft. How you know thats drones? You only thinking of drones, without evidence. There are flying at night alot of short aircrafts with propellers. And you do not hear it, because you are to far away of them.
 
Just as in an outbreak of mass hysteria, only a portion of the population is going to be affected.

During a flap of any kind, there are people who are going to be more attuned to the false belief, while the largest part of the population, the more stolid folk, stand around wondering what the heck is going on.

The most attuned people are going to share certain personality traits. There's a small core of "superspreaders" - a majority of the reports will be generated and spread by this small core.

The superspreaders are aided and abetted by local news media who have a different agenda. The want a story to sell. So they "interview" the superspreaders. This interview is an uncritical fluff piece. Everything the superspreader says is uncritically accepted as fact.

Sometimes you get a convergence. A member of the local news media becomes a true believer. Then you get an ultra-spreader. Either way the "silly season" starts. The silly season is something like the "Summer of the Shark."

Later a more professional member of the media will come along and start doing more analytical, common sense stories. They'll be shouted down by the true believers. The more uncritical members of the media will be "skeptical" of the mass delusion explanation, citing that the witnesses are solid citizens who must have seen something "real." It's not "fair" to criticise (read as "insult") solid citizens, some of whom are police officers or pilots!

The more stolid folk - the majority - won't care either way and won't engage in the debate. They'll just turn to the sports section. (Read as "swipe left" in the current vernacular.)

And by the time the analytical stories start coming out, the flap is already dying a natural death.

Mystery Aircraft Over New Jersey Might Not Be Drones


Well... not just the sillier reporters will be skeptical of the mass delusion explanation...

Reporter: Some experts seem doubtful as well.

Intelligence analyst, John Miller: Fixed-wing aircraft don't stop, hover, go dark, and then take off again.

National security analyst, Juliette Kayyem: There are too many eyewitness accounts to dismiss these sightings as just manned aircraft.
Juliette Kayyem believes in ghosts and fairies too, it seems. There have been too many eyewitness reports...



Another common sense report.

I was able to review countless hours of videos and pictures that people and reporters have sent me. I can say with confidence that I have seen zero large drones.

One hundred percent of the footage shows either airplanes that have been misidentified or smaller drones, under 55 pounds, which have grown in use since the media attention began.
 
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Off-topic, but I would so love to see one of these beauties in the skies again. Sadly no Concordes will be mistaken for drones.

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british_airways_concorde-1.jpg
 
I'm still shaking my head at all this nonsense. I've lost a lot of faith in Americans to be sensible
in recent years, but this is one of the most egregious examples of elected officials and lazy media
just swallowing this idiocy whole...seemingly with no worries that they might look like idiots if/when
it all comes to nothing. Hopefully it's over before a certain erratic, impulsive "...shoot them down!!!"
politician is in a position to order the demolition of a passenger plane full of innocent Americans...
 
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Hopefully it's over before a certain erratic, impulsive "...shoot them down!!!"
politician is in a position to order the demolition of a passenger plane full of innocent Americans...
As someone (here or elsewhere) has pointed out, the ordinary man-with-a-gun is not going to bring down an airplane, but he is going to send projectiles into the air that are going to come down SOMEWHERE, at risk to non-passengers. And the danger to aircraft is more likely to come from lasers shining in the eyes of the pilot.
 
I'm still shaking my heard at all this nonsense. I've lost a lot of faith in Americans to be sensible
in recent years, but this is one of the most egregious examples of elected officials and lazy media
just swallowing this idiocy whole...seemingly with no worries that they might look like idiots if/when
it all comes to nothing. Hopefully it's over before a certain erratic, impulsive "...shoot them down!!!"
politician is in a position to order the demolition of a passenger plane full of innocent Americans...
Yeah. I decided to look at nextdoor.com for my East Bay neighborhood, and people are seeing drones. I saw project blue beam mentioned. Posts seemed to be 60/40 in favor of "something strange is going on". We have Oakland, San Franciso and San Jose airports all within an hour.
I walk my dog every evening and always look at the sky to see what's going on, just two nights ago I saw the bright hovering light that revealed itself as a head on airplane when the smaller flashing light appeared.
Whenever people say children need to be protected from social media, I always think not as much as "grown ups".
 
the ordinary man-with-a-gun is not going to bring down an airplane
Not a sufficiently distant or sufficiently large one. But helicopters and small general aviation planes which fly lower and possibly slower would be at least at some degree of risk. And bullets coming into planes on approach to an airport is not a ideal thing, even if it does not cause a crash.
 
Well, here we finally have some real evidence in this New Jersey crisis!

D'oh, except it's in Massachusetts.
D'oh, doh: And the SUV sized "...drone was discovered in a backpack..." Either Robert Duffy has the
world's biggest backpack...or we still have zero evidence of scary giant drones menacing America...
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyvnnj8g34o
 
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