It started on a clear September night—ordinary in every way except for what people claimed they saw. Over New Jersey’s Garden State Parkway, witnesses reported luminous, pulsating lights zigzagging across the sky. Within hours, videos and photos flooded social media, showing glowing orbs moving in ways that defied conventional understanding. What were they? A weather balloon? Advanced military technology? Or, as some believed, evidence of extraterrestrial visitation?
This phenomenon has captured public attention and sparked heated debate before inevitably receding as the news cycle moved along.
The Witness Accounts
In recent weeks, numerous residents across New Jersey have reported sightings of mysterious drones exhibiting unusual flight patterns and behaviors. These accounts have sparked widespread curiosity and concern, prompting both public speculation and official investigations.
It wasn't long before the reporters themselves became part of the story
NewsNation's Investigative journalist Rich McHugh wrote, "The experience I had last night, however, changed the way I feel about this story completely. What I saw was more sophisticated than I ever imagined."
McHugh described the objects as:
"u- or v-shaped, fixed-wing aircraft about 8 to 10 feet wide with colorful and white blinking lights."
Similarly, residents in Mendham have observed drones flying over their neighborhoods with the WSJ quoting Bud Murphy, a local volunteer with the Sky Watch Task Force,"We saw three drones flying in a triangular formation, hovering silently above the tree line. They had red and green lights, unlike any commercial drones I've seen."
There were literally hundred of firsthand accounts, often accompanied by video which of course fired up increased public interest and concern, with many questioning the origin and purpose of these drones. Authorities said they continues to investigate, urging anyone with information to come forward.
Joy suckers
Finally, on December 16 the Department of Homeland Security, FBI, FAA and defence department issued a joint statement saying the citings were a "combination of lawful commercial drones, hobbyist drones, and law enforcement drones, as well as manned fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and stars mistakenly reported as drones."
But it was too late. The public was writing its own stories to explain the event. Most commonly these included:
- Military Exercises: New Jersey lies close to McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, a major Air Force base. Could the lights have been advanced aircraft? When asked for comment, military officials neither confirmed nor denied activity in the area
- Human-Made Drones: With drone technology advancing rapidly, coordinated light displays have become common. However, no local event planners or companies reported a drone shows cooinciding with the sightings.
- Mass Psychogenic Illness: There were the usual claims of collective delusion, fueled by social media and suggestion. New Jersey mayor, Ryan Herd of Pequannock Township blamed "hysteria" in comments to NBC News.
The Outliers
Some theories inevitably drift toward the extraordinary. The Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) proposed that the drones might be linked to Iranian activity. Reports out of New Jersey claim that drone swarms have been observed near properties owned by President-elect Donald Trump, where a second alleged assassination attempt was recently thwarted. Iran, having vowed retaliation, has reportedly smuggled surface-to-air missiles into the U.S., according to FBI intelligence, with the intent of targeting Trump’s plane.
In his characteristic fashion, the President-elect suggested the drones—whatever their origin—should simply be shot down if authorities couldn’t identify them.
Meanwhile, a self-styled psychic offered a more unconventional take, speculating that the drones might be super-advanced interstellar visitors, here to engage with humans they perceive as the most 'useful' for communication. Yet, like many such claims, these theories remain unsupported by any verifiable evidence.
Most Likely Explanation
After reviewing the evidence, the most logical conclusion is the official one. It's a nothing-burger. But in the absence of clarity, the lights over New Jersey remain at least an enigma, highlighting our enduring fascination with the unexplained.
At its core, this entire experience likely reveals more about our own nature than it does about extraterrestrials—or Iranians, for that matter.
The truth is, we really wanted them to be strange.
Tagline: Cassandra Drayton covers the extraordinary and unexplained for Unprompted, where she seeks the truth, no matter how elusive. Sources for this story include Newsweek, New Jersey 101.5, AP, CyberNews, The Week, The Independent, Patch, The Hill, Wikipedia.