Numerous reports of large drones in the skies above the U.S. have left its citizens panicking and government agencies on the back foot. Ross Jones reports.
THE UNITED STATES has lost control of its domestic airspace. It is powerless to stop whatever is happening above its citizens' heads.
And what is happening is that a multitude of objects, described as being the size of small cars, are flying over parts of North America, including over seriously secret and heavily guarded military bases, seemingly at will and with complete impunity.
According to a report by USA's ABC News:
‘Since mid-November, large drones of uncertain origin have been repeatedly spotted in the sky at night over central and northern New Jersey, including near a military installation.’
They fly only at night, lit up like Christmas trees fitted with driving lights, most notably over New Jersey, Brooklyn and Pennsylvania but there have been sightings as far afield as Florida and Colorado.
For convenience's sake, these objects are being branded as drones.
That’s the official line anyway. “Drone” is a kind of calming description, much less scary than “unknown craft”. But the truth is no person or body, including the FBI, DHS, FAA, USAF or even NASA has any idea what these things are.
The New York Post reports:
‘Authorities – from Governor Phil Murphy to the FBI – continue to insist that there is no danger from the drones, but also claim they have no idea what the drones are.’
According to a Pentagon spokesperson:
‘At this time there is no evidence that the reported drone activities are coming from a foreign entity or the work of an adversary... while the Pentagon continues to monitor the situation, no installations were threatened when this activity occurred.’
The Pentagon might deny any threat, but Americans have seen TV drone footage from Ukraine and understand even a slightly modified lightweight hobby drone from Radio Shack can blow the turret off a Russian tank. They are becoming understandably antsy when something the size of a Honda Jazz hovers over their home.
And it’s not just a few. Scores at a time, 49 counted over one county, Hunterdon, in one night.
No authority has a clue what they are, where they launch from or where they go during the day.
According to an article in AP News:
‘The large mysterious drones reported flying over parts of New Jersey in recent weeks appear to avoid detection by traditional methods such as helicopter and radio, according to a state lawmaker briefed Wednesday by the Department of Homeland Security.’
Underneath all this, in Morris County, is a place called the Picatinny Arsenal. Funny name, but very serious purpose, the hub for the development of conventional weapons to enable U.S. domination of any battlefield.
According to its website:
‘Picatinny Arsenal NJ is the Joint Centre of Excellence for Guns and Ammunition, providing products and services to all branches of the U.S. military. Team Picatinny leads in the research, development, acquisition and lifecycle management of advanced conventional weapon systems and ammunition.’
A report in New Jersey Business states:
‘The U.S. military has confirmed 11 sightings of unauthorised UAS over Picatinny Arsenal airspace since 13 November .’
It seems these things are flying around wherever they like.
Why not just shoot them down?
‘On the evening of 24 February 1942, an anti-aircraft barrage of more than 1,440 rounds is launched at what is initially thought to be a Japanese aerial attack on the City of Angels. Five civilians die — three from traffic accidents spawned by the chaos and two from heart attacks.’
So maybe it's fear for the safety of the civilian population forcing the Government to hold fire. Apart from causing general panic, these things would have an impact if they hit the ground, a fireball of Honda Jazz from 1,500 feet.
The other possibility is because they can’t:
‘New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said the recent drones which have been sighted in the state are “very sophisticated,“ saying, “the minute you get your eyes on them, they go dark”.’
The Pentagon says they’re not theirs:
‘Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said Wednesday that the aircraft are not U.S. military drones.’
Nor, apparently, are they foreign:
‘Pentagon spokesperson Major General Pat Ryder said Thursday that the military’s initial assessment after consulting with the Department of Homeland Security and the National Security Council – that the drones are not of foreign origin – remains unchanged.’
Confusion reigns.
The whole thing is further complicated by a recent rash of unidentified and unintercepted drone incursions over USAF bases in the UK:
‘A number of unidentified drones have been spotted over three airbases in Britain, the United States Air Force (USAF) has confirmed.’
Apparently, these unknowns just tootled around some of the most sensitive and heavily defended real estate in Europe with complete impunity, with nothing anyone could do about it.
Then there was last December at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia:
Top security officials in the U.S. remain stumped after an unknown fleet of drones breached restricted military airspace for 17 straight days last December.
It was such an alarming breach that Langley officials cancelled their nighttime training missions and moved their F-22 fighter jets to another base.
It was an F-22 Raptor from Langley that shot down the supposed Chinese spy balloon in 2023, but it seems the drones got the better of it this time. So much for Sidewinders.
Whatever these things are, they have demonstrated a fundamental weakness in U.S. air defence. It no longer has dominance over its own skies.
Ross Jones is IA's investigations editor and the author of 'Ashbygate: The Plot to Destroy Australia's Speaker'.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Australia License
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