From Mysterious Sightings To Military Applications, Drone Demand Is Flying

The last few days have been abuzz with numerous sightings of mysterious drones.

The prevailing theory is that no one knows who owns them, why they’re being flown, and if it’s a coordinated effort.

Instead, people are coming up with their own set of answers, and the air is filled with a wide range of rumors, some simple explanations and some bordering on strange.

However, with the various scattered reports that have come in, what one can gleam is:
 

• These sightings date back to November.

• Drones have been spotted mainly in New Jersey, especially in Hunterdon and Morris counties.

• Sightings extend to other states in the north-east of the US such as Pennsylvania and New York.

• They include fixed-wing and rotor drones, with some as loud as lawnmowers.

• Some are small ones sized four feet wide while some are as large as cars and SUVs.

• They have been recorded over houses, apartment buildings, highways, railroads, reservoirs, power lines, and military sites.

• Some were seen following a US Coast Guard rescue boat, along with New Jersey police reporting 50 drones entering the mainland from the ocean.

• These sightings have caused panic among residents, US citizens, and government officials.

Of course, this prompted various government personnel to voice their concerns, with US Senator Cory Booker (of New Jersey) penning a letter to Christopher Wray (FBI Director), Pete Buttigieg (Transportation Secretary) and Alejandro Mayorkas (the Secretary of the US Department of Homeland Security).

“Over the past several weeks, there have been multiple confirmed sightings of unexplained drone activity over New Jersey communities and military installations. These sightings have been confirmed by local and state authorities,” read an excerpt from the letter.

In his letter, Booker requested the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to provide a briefing to New Jersey’s municipal and county officials regarding the current situation.

It also calls for the FAA to impose flight restrictions over Picatinny Arsenal in Morris County (a 6,400-square-acre military research and manufacturing facility) and Trump National Golf Club Bedminster in Somerset County, areas that are said to have witnessed mysterious drone activity.


In New York, Staten Island’s Howland Hook Marine Terminal container port facility and the West Shore were also targeted areas, according to Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella.

“It is odd and quite bizarre that nobody can figure out who is flying these drones, where they are coming from, and their purpose,” wrote Fossella in his own letter to the FAA and FBI.

"It was recently reported that, during a medical emergency resulting from a crash in Branchburg, New Jersey, the presence of these drones prevented a medevac helicopter from being able to transport a seriously injured patient to the hospital.”

On the other hand, New Jersey Representative Jeff Van Drew claimed that these mysterious drones were coming from a foreign country’s mothership off the East Coast, hinting at Iran or China.

This was his stance before and after a clarification came from Pentagon officials, including Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh and White House spokesperson John Kirby, which dismissed the possibility of it being an Iranian “mothership” or any foreign-based involvement at all.

"We aren't being told the truth. They are dealing with the American public like we're stupid," said Van Drew.

However, a joint statement by the FBI and DHS revealed sentiments similar to Kirby’s, while also addressing national security concerns.

"We have no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a national security or public safety threat or have a foreign nexus," read the statement. "To the contrary, upon review of available imagery, it appears that many of the reported sightings are actually manned aircraft, operating lawfully. There are no reported or confirmed drone sightings in any restricted air space."


Whether or not the drones hold any foreign interest or threat to the United States, the country isn’t backing down from the adoption of the technology.

As such, the Pentagon announced a new office that will focus on accelerating and adopting artificial intelligence (AI) and generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) technology for military use, as it builds on an aim to deploy thousands of drones powered by AI as autonomous weapons.

“It’s important to recognize that AI adoption by adversaries like China, Russia, Iran and North Korea is accelerating and poses significant national security risks,” said Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Officer Radha Plumb. “We are taking an all-hands-on-deck approach to ensuring the US continues to lead the way.”

This adds to the recently reported partnership between OpenAI and Anduril Industries which aims at developing and deploying advanced AI solutions for national security missions, including its counter-unmanned aircraft systems (CUAS), that thwart attacks by unmanned drones and other aerial devices.

This approach is also being taken by the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), which has successfully destroyed flying drones using a high-energy laser mounted on an armored vehicle, for the first time, in an attempt to build effective countermeasures against drone attacks.

This involved “tracking and neutralizing” moving (the word used was “hovering”) aerial targets using its High-Energy Laser Weapon System (HELWS).

Stephen Waller, Directed Energy Weapons Team Leader for the MoD's Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) agency, said, “This is still an emerging technology, but the world has changed and we are seeing more use of drones in the battlespace. This requires a more cost-effective solution to protect our troops.”

Do you think drones will form the basis for modern warfare? What do you think about the mysterious drone scenario?

Let us know in the comments below!