Officials Were Droning On

Media and public speculations regarding unidentified drones spotted in the United States within recent months have ranged from aliens to foreign governments. The story built often on sensationalism was manipulated by some in politics to further incite the matter and present themselves as if they were doing something about it. Yet this was despite that no politician or media personality complaining had portrayed the matter as beyond the control of American officials. Consider that if a foreign government or otherworldly presence desired to infiltrate America they might turn off the lights on a drone to prevent detection. It would make little sense for a military enemy or anyone intent on nefarious deeds to advertise there presence. Yet the many drones, that also include misidentified commercial aircraft, were not seeking to conceal themselves but in several instances were there precisely to be observed. Why did these drones garner significant media attention and what did they distract public attention from?

The sightings reportedly began about two weeks following the Twenty-twenty-four US presidential election and would escalate with commensurate media hype as the Biden presidency came to an end.i Public reports of drones and other strange objects, in some cases the size of trucks, were spotted in multiple regions across the United States. Drone sightings expanded from dozens to estimated thousands of them spotted in the skies over California, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.ii Unknown flying objects were also observed internationally at multiple Royal Air Force bases in England, a US Air Force base in Germany, and both of those foreign governments were at a loss to explain these appearances. Based on several later reports they were a mixture of misidentified local air traffic and private citizen drones. Yet several aerial vehicles reported seemed to possess more advanced technology and used stealthy tactics.

A Common “Quadcopter” Drone Used by The American Public and several Businesses

The Federal Bureau of Investigation stated they were unaware of who controlled these nearly silent drones but also insisted the US military and foreign governments were not responsible. At least one American governor, senator, congressman, mayor, and local emergency management official called for action to be taken by President Biden and federal agencies in December of last year but the unexplained drone wave raged on. Officials were supposedly unaware or unwilling to disclose how our airspace was seemingly not under government control. “The FBI and Department of Homeland Security have said such sightings mostly appear to be not drones at all”.iii The operative word in that sentence is mostly.

Among the early clues which revealed the origin of these vehicles were multiple appearances of “unidentified” drones near US military bases domestically, abroad, or hovering near research facilities. These drones were likely controlled by the American government due to the strict control of its own secured air spaces. It is nearly unthinkable the United States military would allow possible enemy aircraft near their holdings under any circumstances. Yet these potentially dangerous flying vehicles remained a legitimate threat and no official could or would explain who controlled them. Eventually the persistence of aerial sightings “sparked widespread circulation and conspiracy theories, with officials investigation” but provided no “clear answers”.iv

“White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby” believed that everything was likely just people “mistaking manned aircraft for drones”. While that does explain some, perhaps even a majority of the phenomenon, it fails to account for simultaneous domestic and international sightings in the same period that were not manned aircraft. Nor does this dismiss multiple smaller craft observed near restricted government and military airspace. However, local New Jersey officials disagreed and believe their warnings to “the federal government have fallen on deaf ears.” It was almost as if some federal officials were dismissive of those unaware of what these vehicles were actually doing.

Seal of the US Federal Aviation Administration

Problems would arise when multiple emergency lines were overwhelmed by reports and potentially affected emergency services response times in related areas. New York Governor Kathy Hochul said the drone incursions were so pervasive that runways were closed for a short period at one New York airport.v Certainly the drones were causing fear, uncertainty, and anger in citizens that were provided no real answers for months and drove the creation of disinformation and conspiracy theories. The United States Federal Aviation Administration is responsible for enforcing aerospace regulations and they issued temporary flying restrictions on drones within certain counties “due to special security reasons”.vi The FAA order was among the growing factors which support these machines were indeed part of “special security” operations. Threats of the US government using deadly force on those who violated certain airspace would additionally lend credence this was no longer merely attempts to assuage public fears but to lock down airspace in multiple areas for its own reasons.

Perhaps a federal agency had been manipulating things by using the unidentified drones for its own purposes. The very disinformation so many American bureaucrats have deemed a threat were now possibly being inspired by an officials themselves. Military leadership stated they could not “stop them” but further claimed six instances of drones spotted over military bases were “no threat to installation operations and no impact to air and ground operations”.vii However, a former military chief of the US Northern Command and NORAD told one media outlet “who is responsible for coordination across all organizations in the government to address this...everybody’s pointing their fingers at each other saying its not our responsibility.”viii So was the message unconcern or hysteria, that depends on the date of the statement.ix A decided lack of consistent official positions about these unknown objects does not inspire one to believe such repeated claims. That skepticism is warranted.

Prior FAA ADMINistrator Michael Whitaker

The Trump administration during January revealed its predecessor had “authorized” the FAA to use government drones for “research and various other reasons” under the leadership of Michael Whitaker.x For over two months they had done so with an utter disregard for the public good. President Donald Trump had stated prior to assuming office the Biden administration was concealing its full knowledge and wanted to “keep people in suspense”. Consider if the FAA wanted to undertake normal research or even clandestine operations it could have done so in a contained area or provided local governments general information to minimize negative consequences. Conversely, if a group wanted to see all the negative effects and public reactions unknown drones might inspire they could just observe precisely what occurred.

This misuse of government power shrieks of Cold War operations undertaken by some intelligence agencies upon American citizens. Claims of widespread psychological operations are usually the stuff of history, the realm of film, or based on tenuous claims without evidence. Yet this drone hysteria was fueled with reckless abandon by taxpayer dollars and corrupt officials who did not concern themselves with any negative public consequences. They insulted the intelligence of the American people to perhaps distract from years of failure in foreign policy matters, questionable pardons, or perhaps to sow dissension in the period before a new presidency. There is no satisfactory explanation for this deception and I doubt those responsible will face legal justice as regular Americans would. Never trust any theory, official or public, which does not possess sufficient evidence.
Sincerely,
C.A.A. Savastano

References:
i. Jeff Arnold, December 14, 2024, Mystery drones: Where they have been spotted?, The Hill, the hill.com
ii. Bernd Debusmann Jr., December 19, 2024, What we know about mysterious drones over New Jersey and other states, BBC, bbc.com
iii. Jeanine Santucci, December 14, 2024, ‘Drone sightings’ prompt worries, but these theories could explain what’s happening, USA Today, usatoday.com
iv. Adeja Shivonne, December 14, 2024, What we know so far about the alleged drones in NJ, NY: Residents remain skeptical, Fox News, fox5ny.com
v. Anthony Robledo, December 14, 2024, ‘This has gone too far’: Drones temporarily closed runways at NY airport, governor says, USA Today, usatoday.com
vi. ABC Digital Staff, December 19, 2024, FAA bans drones in parts of NJ, notice threatens ‘deadly force’ for ‘imminent security threat’, ABC News, 6abc.com
vii. Haley Britzky, December 21, 2024, Drones continue to buzz over US bases. The military isn’t sure why or how to stop them, CNN, cnn.com
viii. Ibid
ix. Tom Hanson, December 22, 2024, Why drone hysteria has taken off, CBS News, cbsnews.com
x. Stacey Dec, January 28, 2025, Trump says NJ drones were ‘authorized’ after suggesting Biden kept public ‘in suspense’, ABC News, abcnews.com