Interactive map reveals thriller drone hotspots as FBI points warning
An interactive map has revealed hundreds of sightings of mysterious drones and Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) throughout the Northeast.
Since mid-November, the region has been plagued by an ongoing, unexplained drone ‘invasion.’ The unidentified aircraft have been reported in multiple states, prompting a federal investigation that has yet to yield any answers.
‘FBI has received tips of more than 5,000 reported drone sightings in the last few weeks with approximately 100 leads generated,’ according to a joint statement from the agency and several other federal bureaus released Tuesday.
The map, created by the commercial UFO sightings alert network Enigma, compiles reports from residents of New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and other states made during November and December.
US Coast Guard licensed captain and New Jersey resident Paul Sprieser, 56, is one of many whose eyewitness reports were included in the map.
He does not believe all the sightings can be explained by commercial aircraft or other sanctioned activities, as federal officials have suggested.
‘There’s a large percentage of them that are not commercial aircraft, like these stationary objects in the sky that are the size of an SUV that are just hanging out there for five or six hours, or seven hours,’ Sprieser told DailyMail.com.
State and local officials are echoing the concerns of their residents, demanding answers from the federal government as this bizarre phenomenon appears to be spreading into new areas.
Some civilians have already begun taking matters into their own hands, according to officials.
In a stern warning to the public, New Jersey‘s State Police and the FBI‘s Newark office have insisted the public stop trying to take down the state’s mystery drones.
‘We’re seeing an increase in pilots of manned aircraft being hit in the eyes with lasers, because people on the ground think they see a drone,’ Nelson Delgado, the acting special agent-in-charge of the Newark FBI office, said in a video message.
‘We are also concerned that people will take matters into their own hands and fire a weapon at an aircraft,’ acting SAIC Delgado added.
‘Not only is this act against the law,’ the FBI official noted, ‘but it poses an incredible danger to the pilots and the passengers on those aircraft.’
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed the wave of laser incidents this Sunday — the result of citizen-investigators flocking out into the night with laser pointers and other tech hoping to solve NJ’s month-long UFO mystery themselves.
The drone sightings began in mid-November when drones were spotted over the US Army’s Picatinny Arsenal and President-elect Donald Trump‘s golf course in Bedminster — both in New Jersey.
In the weeks that followed, similar drones were reported throughout the state, especially in and around Morris county, and have since spread to other states in the region.
Sprieser first spotted one from his home in North Bergen, New Jersey.
On December 7, Sprieser was alerted a UAP flying near his home in North Bergen, NJ by a device that ‘can detect changes in magnetic fields or electromagnetic radiation’
He was alerted to the object by a device that ‘can detect changes in magnetic fields or electromagnetic radiation’ which he had purchased around the time the sightings started.
On the evening of December 7, ‘All of a sudden, an alarm goes off, and it starts alerting that there’s some kind of event happening,’ Sprieser said.
He stepped out onto his deck and saw an ‘orange orb’ located roughly 500 to 800 feet in the air and ‘ascending at about 55 degrees in an easterly direction.’
Sprieser saw another object — which he identified as a commercial aircraft — flying below the orange orb. While he could hear the sound of the plane, the orb did not make any audible sound, he said.
He filmed the unidentified object until passed over his apartment building and disappeared from view.
‘And then a couple of minutes later, a second one went by,’ he added.
About a week later, on December 13, Sprieser spotted another UAP.
This time, he was visiting his parents’ home in Morris county, where many of the recent drone sightings have taken place.
He just happened to look up at the sky when he saw an object hovering at what he estimated to be a height of 2,000 feet.
‘At one point you could see it descend rapidly. It went from like 2,000 feet to below the tree line, and then back up again,’ Sprieser said, adding that the object remained nearby for three hours.
The UAP was ‘illuminating red and green’ similarly to the port and starboard lights on a commercial plane.
But the lights on this strange aircraft were alternating between green and red on the same side, which is not typical of a commercial plane, Sprieser explained.
He also noted that every time a commercial airliner did fly by, the lights on the UAP would turn off, then turn on again once it had passed.
Later that evening, Sprieser said he also saw ‘a bright white flash faster than a bolt of lightning going horizontally above the tree line, like a blur.’
Since mid-November, the Northeast US has been plagued by an ongoing, unexplained drone ‘invasion.’ The unidentified aircraft have been reported in multiple stated
The FBI and other agencies are investigating the strange activity, but a representative from the Department of Homeland Security said Wednesday, Dec. 11: ‘We have no more information as to where these drones are coming from, where they’re launching from, where they’re landing’
The flying objects (example above) are larger than drones used by hobbyists, witnesses have noted, raising questions about their proximity to critical infrastructure and sensitive sites
At first, he thought it was his imagination, but later saw similar reports on social media from other residents in the area around the time of the incident.
Bizarre, unidentified sightings like Sprieser’s have whipped New Jersey residents and local officials into a frenzy over the last several weeks. And as the federal government has not shared any new information from the investigation, tensions have risen.
In a joint statement released Tuesday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), along with the FBI, FAA and Department of Defense (DOD), doubled down on their assertion that the recent drone sightings are a mix of professional and amateur drones and erroneous reports.
‘Having closely examined the technical data and tips from concerned citizens, we assess that the sightings to date include 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,’ the statement read.
‘We have not identified anything anomalous and do not assess the activity to date to present a national security or public safety risk.’
But many state and local officials are not buying that explanation.
In an interview with Fox News, journalist and author Michael Shellenberger said he had obtained a recording of the White House’s drone briefing for New Jersey mayors which included the FBI, DHS and FAA.
‘The mayors are livid. One of them got up there and said, ‘I had two automobile-sized drones hovering over my house,” Shellenberger told Fox News commentator Jesse Watters.
On Saturday, New York State Governor Kathy Hochul stated: ‘I will do whatever it takes to ensure New Yorkers remain safe,’ in a post on X.
‘New York is investigating these incidents, but the federal government needs to grant us the powers to deal with the drones directly,’ she added.
Other state representatives have called for the US military to shoot the drones down.
‘We have the capability to shoot them now, but to do it in a place where there would not be any threat to anybody on the ground. Just do it,’ said New Jersey representative Chris Smith (R).
‘I think we’re dismissing this very prematurely,’ Smith continued. ‘We need answers, and that was days ago. We still don’t have any answers. Crickets.’
Many members of the public have also grown frustrated with the federal government’s lack of transparency on this issue. Some have even taken action to investigate aircraft they believe to be mystery drones.
One pilot of a small aircraft approaching Alexandria Airport in Hunterdon County this weekend, Ken Dietz, told FAA that he had to abort and reattempt his landing after he was hit in the eye with a ground-based laser. ‘It’s not good,’ Dietz said.
Another pilot preparing to land at Morristown Airport told police and FAA investigators that his craft had been dangerously obstructed by a green laser beam.
Citizens, law enforcement and government officials have all put forward theories as to who or what is behind the wave of drone reports — ranging from mass hysteria to foreign espionage, space aliens to the covert hunt for a loose nuclear bomb.
But regardless of the ultimate answer to this odd wave of unidentified aerial phenomena, the FBI was adamant that locals keep their lasers and guns holstered.
‘Whatever your beliefs are, putting someone else’s life in danger is not the answer,’ acting SAIC Delgado said.
But as an eyewitness to these events, Sprieser is similarly dissatisfied with the federal government’s attempts to explain the UAPs.
‘What they’re saying is contradictory to the facts that are going on around us,’ he said.
