There’s a new theory emerging about the drones over New Jersey that have had the national — and international — media buzzing.
The U.K.’s Daily Mail reported Tuesday that official Army records indicate the military has been developing drones at the Picatinny Arsenal, the Army base that has been at the center of the drone hysteria.
And documents from the Federal Aviation Administration show the FAA issued an air restriction alert near the base that coincided closely with the first sightings of the mysterious nighttime flyers.
“This FAA notice shows U.S. drone testing is happening in the area. It’s a warning for others to stay out of the area during those dates,” retired CIA intelligence officer Rudy Ridolfi told the Daily Mail.
“While the nature of the testing isn’t specified, it’s most likely the testing of payloads related to reconnaissance.”
As the Daily Mail noted, the drone sightings started on Nov. 18 and have continued since. The FAA air restriction took effect Nov. 21, the Daily Mail reported, and is due to end Dec. 26.
So, if the real culprit in the case is a military testing program, residents of areas where the drones have been spotted can expect the night skies to calm down beginning the day after Christmas.
Meanwhile, of course, the government is acknowledging nothing of the kind is taking place.
Is classified military research the source of the NJ drone sightings?
Last week, administration spokesman John Kirby told Washington reporters the drones were “actually manned aircraft that are being operated lawfully.”
In other words, residents of northern New Jersey, neighbors of New York City, and occupants of one of the parts of the globe most heavily trafficked by national and international flights — not to mention law enforcement, military, and media helicopters — are mistaking routine aircraft for mysterious UFOs.
Not many were buying that, including former and soon-to-be President Donald Trump.
“Our military knows, and our president knows, and for some reason they want to keep people in suspense,” he said at a Monday news conference.
“I can’t imagine it’s the enemy because if it was the enemy, they’d blast it out. Even if they were late, they’d blast it.”
One hole in the theory that the drones being sighted are part of a secret government program, of course, is that they’re generating more publicity than the government could be asking for — even for a program it wanted Americans to know about.
The vast continental United States offers plenty of places for secret testing that could remain “secret.”
Matt Sloane, founder of the drone contracting firm AI Skyfire, told the Daily Mail that the drones over New Jersey could be a government program that had “graduated.”
“They could have been testing them in a different place on a military installation, and now it was time to move the testing out to a public area,” Sloane told the news outlet.
“The military has in various places around the country that are out of the way of prying eyes. Maybe it was just time to graduate that testing to the public.”
Of course, it’s only one theory. Another, advanced in early December by New Jersey Republic Rep. Jeff Van Drew, was that the drones were part of an Iranian reconnaissance operation.
But it does have the benefit of an expiration date included.
If the Daily Mail story is correct and the drones are linked to a military operation that the FAA has an awareness of, St. Stephen’s Day should be the end of the drone affair.
At least until the next one.
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