Case files / new-jersey-drones-2024
The New Jersey drones
- When
- November to December 2024 · 2024 on the timeline
- Where
- New Jersey, New York and other northeastern states
- Reported by
- Thousands of residents, local officials and police
- Released
- DHS, FBI, FAA and Pentagon joint statement, December 16, 2024
- Status
- Federal agencies: nothing anomalous
Starting in mid November 2024, residents across New Jersey reported large lights and drones moving over towns, reservoirs and military sites at night, and the reports spread to New York and other states. State and local officials asked Washington for answers, and New York's governor said it had "gone too far."
On the night of December 13, Stewart International Airport in New York closed its runways for about an hour after the FAA reported drone activity near the airport; the Port Authority said no flights were affected. The FAA then set temporary flight restrictions over parts of New Jersey and New York, which ended in January.
On December 16, DHS, the FBI, the FAA and the Pentagon said in a joint statement that the FBI had received more than 5,000 tips, that many sightings were manned aircraft, lawful drones, helicopters or stars, and that they had found nothing anomalous and no national security risk. They added that a limited number of sightings over military sites were real but not new. On January 28, 2025, the White House press secretary said the drones had been authorized by the FAA for research and other reasons, with others flown by hobbyists, without giving details. Many residents and local officials said the questions were not fully answered.