• At least 5,000 reported sightings of drones or unidentified aircraft have been reported in New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, Massachusetts, and New York since November. Many of these alleged sightings have been spread on social media along with theories about who’s behind the drones. Though the FBI has received thousands of reports of sightings, the agency noted that only about 100 have resulted in “tips.” [Reuters, 12/16/24; NBC News, 12/16/24; USA Today, 12/17/24] 
• White House spokesperson John Kirby stated in a press conference that many of the drones spotted were “a combination of lawful commercial drones, hobbyist drones and law enforcement drones as well as manned fixed wing aircraft, helicopters, and even stars that were mistakenly reported as drones.” The FBI has warned that people should not take action against drones. Pilots have reportedly been hit in the eyes with lasers and officials are concerned about people shooting down manned aircraft. [WHYY, 12/16/24; USA Today, 12/17/24; 404 Media, 12/18/24]
• Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas stated on December 15 that “there’s no question that people are seeing drones,” but cautioned that sightings may be overreported, and that in some cases manned aircraft could have been falsely identified as drones. Mayorkas additionally noted during an appearance on CNN’s The Situation Room that “we know of no foreign involvement with respect to the sightings in the Northeast, and we are vigilant in investigating this matter.” [Forbes, 12/19/24; CNN, 12/16/24]
• Mayorkas also noted that in 2023 the Federal Aviation Administration changed a rule to allow drones to fly at night. In an interview with ABC News’ This Week on December 15, Mayorkas suggested that the rule change “may be one of the reasons why now people are seeing more drones than they did before." [Newsweek, 12/15/24; Vox, 12/17/24] 

Following claims on social media from Saxon Aerospace CEO John Ferguson — and an X user who picked up the claim and earned millions of views — that the drones could be looking for a “gas leak” or “radioactive material,” right-wing pundits have taken that theory and used it to suggest that the radioactive material stems from a potential nuclear weapon known as a dirty bomb. 

• X user Jersey Futures picked up Ferguson’s theory and speculated that the drones were “american made HPGe nuclear detector drones,” earning 2.7 million views. Jersey Futures, who claimed to have “spent 1/3 of my career as an RF engineer,” speculated that the drones were “collecting information in how public will react (PsyOp) and testing their ability to sweep a port city like NY for dirty bombs.” [X, 12/13/24]
• ZeroHedge, a far-right blog that is known for trafficking in conspiracy theories, picked up Jersey Futures' claim and wrote a post about it. [ZeroHedge, 12/16/24; Vanity Fair, 6/16/20]
• Far-right figure Laura Loomer picked up Jersey Futures' claim, replying, “Interesting thread.” [X, 12/15/24]
• JerseyFutures’ account was allegedly deleted, and later reinstated, after the thread was posted, with users on both X and Reddit noting the account’s supposed removal. [12/14/24, 12/15/24; Reddit, 12/14/24]
• Real America's Voice's Grant Stinchfield posted a podcast in The Gateway Pundit titled “The search for a dirty bomb?” An accompanying blog noted: “There is one plausible explanation. The drones are searching for something, possibly radiation or traces of chemical emissions. The no other theory makes any sense.” [The Gateway Pundit, 12/16/24]
• Right-wing commentator Bill Mitchell shared Jersey Futures' post. Mitchell: “This drone CEO says he thinks the drones are looking for nukes or dirty bombs! This is scary and actually explains why the government wouldn't want to say what they are doing - to prevent a mass panic.” [Twitter/X, 12/16/24]
• Alex Jones questioned, “Are UAVs Across America Looking For Smuggled/Stolen Dirty Nuclear Bomb?” [Twitter/X, 12/16/24]
• On Truth Social, right-wing radio host Wayne Allyn Root claimed, “This is DESPERATE search for radiation because CIA believes a nuclear dirty bomb has been smuggled into USA.” Root added, “this is all because of Biden-Kamala open borders. Terrorist cells & now nuclear device in USA.” [Truth Social, 12/14/24]
• On X, right-wing outlet The Conservative Brief suggested that a U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission notice of missing radioactive material could be “a possible explanation for the mysterious drones seen all over the east coast?!” On December 5, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued an alert that a piece of medical equipment with trace amounts of radioactive material had been lost in transit in New Jersey. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection stated that the material “has been located” and that drones were not used to locate the material. [Twitter/X, 12/16/24; ABC News, 12/17/24]
• Vicki McKenna, a conservative radio host, shared the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission notice, adding, “The hell is going on here?” [Twitter/X, 12/16/24]

• Fox News guest and former Navy pilot Ryan Graves suggested that the drones are UFOs and are “beyond our state of the art.” Graves: “Well, for a number of years, people have been reporting what is known as unidentified anomalous phenomena, which are unattributed, unknown objects of unknown intent that seem to be exhibiting performance characteristics that are beyond our state of the art. … The whole behavior in general doesn't leave very much room for other options if it is not a foreign adversary.” [Fox News, The Story with Martha MacCallum, 12/12/24]
• Noting that Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) has “better information” than other people, OutKick’s Clay Travis asked, “Based on the information that you’ve seen, what’s a reasonable hypothesis about what’s going on?” Mace argued that it needs to be “on the table” that the drones could be from “outer space” or “outside the universe.” Mace also stated, “I pray that they’re ours, but we should also know why they’re out there. Are they looking for radiation? Are they looking for a missing nuclear warhead?” [Mediaite, 12/17/24] 
• On Newsmax, host Rob Finnerty teased, “Could these be UFOs? Could these be from another planet? Think about it.” He added, describing his own supposed sighting, “It was kind of eerie too. It moved east to west faster than anything I’ve ever seen before, which means one of two things: Either our technology, the U.S. military, is well beyond anything the public is aware of, or this was something not from this planet. It’s that simple.” [Newsmax, Finnerty, 12/16/24]

Right-wing media figures have used a grab bag of conspiracy theories to suggest the drones are deceiving the American people and the government is performing a psychological operation on its citizens, with some saying the goal is to target Trump or gain power. 

Some contend the drones are part of a government plot to fake an alien invasion. This idea mirrors the “Project Blue Beam” conspiracy theory alleging global elites will create an alien invasion to justify authoritarian control.

• The National Desk’s Armstrong Williams suggested that the drones are an attempt by the “deep state” to cancel Trump’s inauguration. Williams claimed intelligence officials have told him that “the government is purposely creating confusion,” adding, “If you have all these drones out of nowhere, some of the drones, definitely from our government, other drones we have no idea where they're coming from. Can you imagine if this continues that there would be an attempt to cancel the inauguration?” [Sinclair Broadcast Group, The National Desk, 12/16/24]
• The Gateway Pundit’s Paul Serran suggested that the drone sightings are “a Psyop to have the country in a bad shape” and to “break the climate of national love story with the incoming Trump administration.” Serran also asserted that “given the fact that the US has not unleashed its assets to deter this phenomenon … the explanation that makes more sense is that it’s American drones.” [The Gateway Pundit, 12/15/24]
• Finnerty speculated on Newsmax that the drones could be “a government psyop to keep forever wars going and double or triple or quadruple the U.S. Defense budget on Joe Biden’s way out the door.” He also suggested that the drones were “probably launched to divert our attention from what else might be happening in the skies.” [Newsmax, Finnerty, 12/17/24]
• Right-wing podcaster Benny Johnson suggested that the government is “gonna stage a fake alien invasion” to “steal Trump's swagger and create a emergency.” He added, “You can't cut government spending, right, if there's — if the aliens invade.” [YouTube, The Benny Show, 12/11/24]
• Far-right blogger Patrick Howley suggested claims of “aliens” may be used to undermine Trump’s inauguration. He wrote: “They're going to do ‘aliens’ before the inauguration, aren't they? That said, UFO's are 100 percent real but I don't believe for a minute that the Feds are clueless about what they are.” [Twitter/X, 12/11/24; Daily Dot, 1/27/24; The Daily Beast, 4/29/22]
• Alex Jones posted a video and wrote, “Researcher Dr. Steven Greer Accurately Predicted Rollout Of Project Blue Beam That's Happening Now.” [Twitter/X, 12/11/24]
• Former Fox News producer Kyle Becker shared a video of Fox News’ Jesse Watters discussing the drone sightings, adding, “The Biden administration started with an illegal alien invasion and is ending with an actual alien invasion.” [Twitter/X, 12/18/24]
• Becker also claimed in a social media post that “the Feds want to use these ‘lawful drone’ sightings as a pretext for new legislation that will undoubtedly empower the government.” He added, “I think we got our answer on why these drones are being allowed to operate instead of being blown to smithereens. Just another government power grab.” [Twitter/X, 12/12/24]
• Far-right podcaster and Trump ally Laura Loomer posted, “Are they drones? Or is this project blue beam?” She added, “What if this is a project blue beam effort to psyop Congress into increasing defense spending?” [Twitter/X, 12/13/24]