Aliens. Foreign adversaries. Or, maybe just hobbyists with commercial drones.
These are some of the theories that have been floated to explain mystery drones that have popped up in several places, including over New Jersey, in the last few weeks. But if the Defense Department knows what’s behind them, it’s not letting lawmakers in on it.
And lawmakers are not thrilled about the lack of answers.
“I know we’ve got procedures, but I’m disappointed that we’ve not captured and reviewed them,” Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Sen. Mark Warner said. When NOTUS asked him about the Defense Department’s level of transparency with the public, he said, “Listen, I’m trying to get that information myself.”
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Lawmakers are concerned that foreign adversaries may be piloting the drones — a possibility they haven’t been able to rule out based on the information they have so far.
The drones this week have been spotted near New Jersey’s Picatinny Arsenal, a military research facility, and President-elect Donald Trump’s golf course in Bedminster. Picatinny confirmed they aren’t theirs. But there’s been a wider pattern of unexplained drones that have been seen over states including Virginia, New York and now, Pennsylvania — and both state and federal officials say they don’t know who’s operating the drones, or why.
Sen. Tim Kaine, who represents a state where a series of mystery drones appeared for weeks over a military base in December 2023, told NOTUS that he didn’t think the Defense Department is intentionally withholding information from lawmakers or the public about those sightings, but he said he is surprised the executive branch’s investigations produced so little information.
“I thought I was gonna get an update at a meeting last week, and I was shocked that they knew so little compared to the last time that I talked to them. I thought they should have known more, and I was surprised they didn’t,” Kaine said. “They just need to give us answers, and I’m troubled if, after a year, they don’t have them.”
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said Monday that “it’s really frustrating that we don’t have more answers” to the drones’ origins and called for even more cooperation from the federal government in the investigation. He said the drones don’t pose any risk to public safety.
But two House Homeland Security subcommittees held a joint hearing about the drones Tuesday, where senior FBI official Robert W. Wheeler Jr. told lawmakers that “we just don’t know” whether or not public safety is at risk because federal agencies are still investigating the New Jersey drones. He told lawmakers the FBI is reviewing over 3,000 tips from the public.
“We don’t know the people responsible,” Wheeler said.
On Wednesday, the Pentagon said at a briefing that they are not U.S. military drones, and also said there is “no evidence” they are from a foreign adversary.
“Our initial assessment here is that these are not drones or activities coming from a foreign entity or adversary,” said Sabrina Singh, a spokesperson for the Pentagon.
The FBI and DHS did not respond to requests for comment.
Intelligence Committee senators were similarly clueless about where the drones were coming from.
“We don’t know if it’s a bunch of hobbyists, or somebody up to no good, or maybe a foreign government. So that’s all very concerning, so we need to get to the bottom of it,” said Republican Sen. John Cornyn, a Senate Intelligence Committee member. “It’s all very strange.”
Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, also on the Intelligence Committee, had similar theories about the drones.
“It makes sense that our adversaries would use drone technology on U.S. soil. Also, I think in some cases, it’s hobbyists,” Kelly said. “It’s a challenging thing to figure out, and if you just look at drone sales in the United States, you’ll see more of this.”
Several lawmakers from New Jersey, like Republican Reps. Chris Smith and Tom Kean and Democratic Rep. Josh Gottheimer, have demanded public briefings from multiple federal agencies, like the Federal Aviation Administration and the Department of Homeland Security.
“There has not been enough information disclosed to the public from federal law enforcement and agencies who are chiefly responsible for monitoring drone activity,” Gottheimer, a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said in a statement Tuesday.
The drones have created enough of an issue that some lawmakers are even starting to say they plan to offer legislation to address them. Currently, military bases do not have the authority to shoot down drones unless they are suspected of carrying weapons, and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand announced on X on Monday that she wants to change that.
“Repeated incidents involving unknown drones over American airspace must be addressed,” Gillibrand said. “That is why I am leading a charge to update DOD’s authorities to detect and stop these drones when they are over military facilities.”
The drones’ appearance over Pennsylvania led to Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick calling for federal agencies to give a “thorough public briefing” about the progress of their investigation on Wednesday. He said in a statement that he didn’t believe the drones posed a threat to public safety but that “transparency is not optional.”
Sen. Mike Rounds, a Senate Intelligence Committee member, said that he’s confident the Defense Department would update his committee soon: “We’ll get it. We just don’t have it yet.”
“We may have some outside folks from outside of the United States that are trying to gather data,” Rounds said. “There are commercial drones, but I have not had any other information about these drone sightings at this point.”
Some lawmakers have taken to social media to demand updates on the investigation. Tagging the FAA, the FBI, the DHS and NYPD, New York Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis posted on X Monday that the agencies “should let the public know what’s going on here” and asked, “Why are they flying over sensitive facilities and infrastructure?”
Local police agencies have been involved in tracking the drones and similarly begging the federal government for more information.
“Several drone sightings have been reported above critical infrastructure such as water reservoirs, electric transmission lines, rail stations, police departments and military installations. Members of the local law enforcement community have been pressuring our partners for answers regarding this activity as their presence around our critical infrastructure is concerning,” said Joseph Orlando, chief of police of Florham Park, New Jersey, in a statement last week.
Orlando told NOTUS he’s received no updates from federal agencies about the drones since his statement but that residents still report seeing them nightly.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Tuesday that President Joe Biden was aware of and monitoring the situation but that specific inquiries about the investigation should be directed to the DHS and FBI.
Republican Sen. James Lankford, an Intelligence Committee member, told NOTUS he completely understands why lawmakers are calling for more transparency from the Pentagon.
“Makes no sense,” Lankford said. “100% makes no sense why they wouldn’t be transparent on it.”
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Emily Kennard is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.
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