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The FAA has placed temporary flight restrictions on the operation of drones over parts of New Jersey, according to a notice published on the agency’s website. The ban on drone activity is likely related to the recent bout of mass hysteria over supposed “drone” sightings, though the agency hasn’t said so explicitly. The FAA told the New York Times the ban was enacted at the request of “federal security partners,” without elaborating further.
The drone ban covers 22 different New Jersey communities and is set to expire on Jan. 17, 2025. It’s not immediately clear why that end date was chosen. The FAA didn’t address Gizmodo’s questions about the specific timing of the flight restrictions and their relation to drone sightings in an email Thursday morning and directed us to the Department of Homeland Security. DHS didn’t immediately respond to questions.
People in New Jersey started reporting odd “drones” in the sky to police around Nov. 18, according to NBC News, and there have reportedly been sightings every day since, aside from a conspicuous pause on Thanksgiving. The so-called drones have caused more and more people to post videos taken of what they believe to be unmanned aerial vehicles. And while some of the videos are difficult to explain, the vast majority appear to be regular commercial aircraft.
While it’s not unusual for internet cranks to get worked up about nothing, this drone panic has spread to areas that are unexpected. Several elected leaders have called for action by the federal government, including president-elect Donald Trump who’s both claimed the government is trying to hide something and said they should be shot down.
But the concern has been bipartisan. Sen. Chuck Schumer, the Democratic majority leader in the Senate, has called for more action and played up the hype.
“Some of the drones are small. Some of the drones’ flight patterns are erratic,” Schumer said on Sunday, according to NBC News. “Multiple drones flying together can confuse a traditional radar system and that’s why, again, this new technology can really get us the answers that we need.”
People are also pointing lasers at commercial flights, an incredibly dangerous activity that can light up the inside of a cockpit and blind pilots. Laser strikes were already a serious problem, but have become so common during the current drone hysteria that the FAA was forced to issue a statement warning the public not to do it. Shining a laser at planes is a federal crime that can bring jail time and hefty fines.
Some of the most difficult-to-believe theories about the drones are coming from elected leaders, including claims by a Republican congressman that they’re actually being deployed by an Iranian mothership off the east coast of the U.S.
“Know that Iran made a deal with China to purchase drones, motherships, and technology in order to go forward,” said Rep. Jeff Van Drew from New Jersey on Fox News Dec. 11. “The sources I have are good. They can’t reveal who they are because they are speaking to me in confidentiality. These drones should be shot down.”
There’s no evidence that Iran has deployed a drone mothership, despite the fact that Van Drew has access to real power and should know things. Van Drew is a member of the U.S. House Transportation Subcommittee on Aviation. But nothing would surprise us at this point when it comes to weird sightings. With Trump taking power again in a month, things are shaping up to get so much weirder in the months and years ahead, drones or no drones.
