Drones over NY and NJ
 

Mysterious SUV-sized drones may have blocked medical helicopter

Long article ref numerous drones over NY and NJ, several videos.

Just watching this video about the drones.

Also recently ‘seen’ over the UK:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cly2j54g5j9o

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crk4g3zddexo.amp

The daytime picture in the NBC article shows what looks more like a personal VTOL like a Jeston One. And is there any ADS-b data on these things?

This whole thing is getting blown way out of proportion and the media is creating a mass hysteria. All the footage I have seen so far was either an airplane or a helicopter flying at night. There are also a lot of blurry and grainy videos where it's impossible to tell what it is.
I live and fly here in the NJ/NY area and have lots of friends that do the same and no one has reported any unusual drone sightings. I also have a few friends that work the tower here at Newark and no unusual targets were reported on their watch either.
It's almost like people want to see something that's not there. There is zero footage where an actual drone or other or other mysterious object flying object could actually be identified, yet the news makes it sound like all those reports from concerned citizens are confirmed drone sightings.

If drones caused disruption to one or more medevac copters that is serious.

From the Boston Herald - a firecaptain thought he saw a drone and canceled a medevac request.

The only video is of a planes flying over, not drones.

For most of this the oddity is that most drones don't need navigation lights at all. They can be bypassed or disconnected. If these are drones they are being operated beyond the line of sight of the pilot they will have a video feed to show the pilot what the drone is doing; no need for navigation lights.

There was one such incident here in Jersey. Occasionally people do like to be nosey and fly their drones over accident sites and wild fires. It does happen more than you think. Firefighting operations on the west coast have been shut down multiple times for unauthorized drone operations. That's nothing new.

For a bunch of folks with supposedly nefarious plans they certainly seem scrupulous about the “drones” being highly visible with proper navigation and position lights.

”Honey there is something in the sky I can’t identify! Quick, hand me the worst camera we have. I will now. take grainy, shaky, out of focus video of this mysterious phenomenon ….Call 911, the FAA, Inform the Press and other Social Media!

Humorous clip …

The latest hype now is that the drones are from Iran and the "mothership" is sitting off the coast launching them. I'm not even going to link the news outlet that has been reporting that because I'm sure we all know who it is.

Iranian mothership speculation originally reported here: https://www.insidernj.com/van-drew-p...ery-drones-on/

Leadership
 

With the same leadership team in place that managed the China Balloon fiasco, we shouldn’t be surprised at the current response. Besides, there is a Christmas Pardon List to work on, it seems.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....304c0b4df.jpeg

"We haven't been able to track or identify the craft, or the operators, but they pose no danger to the public."

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....335779d03e.jpg

They have flashing red, green, and yellow lights, so it must be Iran???

At least one “drone” was confirmed to be a small plane, but I’ve never seen a plane with flashing red and green lights…

A flashing strobe yes, but if you want to fly a drone on a stealth mission, why bother with bright lights?

​​​​​​​

Do you expect Biden to be out there 24/7 with a shotgun to take them down?

Your profile implies you have some expertise, what do you suggest the US should do about random sightings?

Are you sure that they are random, vis?

Good point, LW. Let’s see-none of the private owned drone operators are volunteering one sentence worth of information, explanation, or defense. The airspace is federally controlled and our federal government has four groups with substantial low speed, maneuverable assets, two of them with armed machines* and crews who know how to use them. Only problem seems to be a leadership obsessed with making out a Pardon List.
*Actually all four have armed machines, but two have substantially more ships and crews.

There are Federal laws about shooting aircraft out of American airspace, particularly when there is no sign of problems, particularly over residential neighborhoods. Not that it cannot be done, but it certainly should not be done lightly or without sign of an actual threat. Right now this would be like shooting up the place because an acorn hit the roof.

So far people keep saying there are drones and showing pictures of items that are clearly not drones, so it may be that there isn't anything to shoot down.

As Ryan McBeth has pointed out, the dumbest part was the "mothership" off the coast, as if the USCG isn't 100% ready to go out and make a run at anything like that.

It bears pointing out that the Remote ID system requirement that the FAA dumped on hobbyists is a 100% failure as it hasn't done anything to preclude this situation, the exact one that it is purported to preclude, from happening. If it was working every drone sighted would have been broadcasting its own position and the position of the operator on the ground and police could go arrest them. Instead, 100% silence about RID. What about all those drone operator licenses that the FAA demanded were required for safety? No confidence in them either, apparently.

While officials dismissed the mothership claim, the Coast Guard on Wednesday confirmed that “multiple low-altitude aircraft were observed in the vicinity of one of our vessels near Island Beach State Park, New Jersey,” Lt. Luke Pinneo said in a statement. “While no immediate threats or disruptions to operations were identified, the Coast Guard is assisting the FBI and state agencies to understand the type, origin, and intent of these aircraft and address potential risks to safety and security. We take any and all aircraft activity near federal assets seriously and urge the public to report any suspicious activity to local authorities.”

came in response to our questions about claims made by U.S. Rep. Chris Smith on Tuesday that a 47-foot Coast Guard ship “was followed by between 12 and 30 of these drones as they went through the water — followed, right behind them.”