Apparently a lot of you really want to know my opinion on the recent drone mystery in New Jersey, and some of you are getting just a little bit aggressive about it, which is kind of weird but I get it, so here we go.
Initial Thoughts
The first thing I want to say is I’m not going to criticize anyone’s opinions out there – there is a lot of uncertainty here. So whatever you put in the comments, feel like you can say whatever you want. I’m not going to criticize you because there’s just so many questions out there. And I’m really not an expert – like I have a little more knowledge about drones than the average person, but I’m definitely not an expert. So whatever you say in the comments, feel free to say whatever you want. In return, I ask that you give me the same courtesy when I tell you my opinion.
The Need for Critical Thinking
The number one request that I have for anyone interested in this situation is to engage in critical thinking. Don’t know what that is? Look it up. There are several theories about this situation, but the one thing that cannot happen is mass hysteria, which appears to be the case in many of these sightings. Use some critical thinking as you take in all of the information and try to avoid making decisions by emotion.
What’s Really Being Seen
I’ve watched over 30 videos and I don’t know how many news reports to gather as much information as I can, and I can tell you first of all that a very large percentage of the footage that I have seen are undeniably manned aircraft. They sound like planes, they look like planes – they are 100% airplanes. It’s like people are looking up into the sky for the first time ever. It’s weird – like just today I watched a video of someone zooming in with their phone camera (which by the way they all look terrible) on this mysterious glowing orb in the sky, and the guy’s just freaking out. You know what it was? It was Venus.
Now on the other hand, there are also many videos showing these mystery objects moving in ways that unconventional aircraft would move – side to side, circular patterns, and so on. Now those obviously are not manned aircraft. However, every single one of them has FAA-compliant navigation lights and anti-collision lights on them. Like every single one of them. Those are drones – they sound like drones and they move like drones. These are most likely people flying their drones.
Understanding Size and Perception
There are a few reports of people stating that the objects they’re seeing are the size of small cars, and this is what concerns a lot of people because that’s really an unknown – we’ve never seen drones that large before. The explanation, in my opinion? Perspective and parallax. When you look at something in the sky, especially at night (and that’s the other thing you guys – not a single sighting of these mystery drones in the daytime, isn’t that a little bit weird?), it’s almost impossible to tell how high it is above the ground, thereby making it very difficult to assess the size. And it’s also difficult to judge movement due to something called the parallax effect.
Media and Government Response
The press is egregiously misinformed about drones. One news reporter from a major news organization claimed that it is illegal to fly drones at night. Also, I watched one of the representatives from New York State say the same thing. Some may be from hobbyists, but certainly the ones we’re seeing are not – they could be commercial, but if they’re commercial, our government should know about it, and they should also know they’re violating FAA airspace which says you cannot fly between sundown and sunrise. Incredibly ignorant to not get the facts before you go off on national news and get people riled up.
Legal Night Flying
It is perfectly Legal to fly a drone at night when following FAA guidelines. There are close to 1 million registered drones in this country, and there are estimates that barely half of all drone owners actually register their drone with the FAA. This means that there are most likely about 2 million plus drones out there, and people are flying them more than ever. I guarantee you that since this story broke, just about every person that owns a drone in New Jersey has gone out and flown their drone at night.
Military Installation Concerns
What about the reports of sightings near military installations? That’s pretty concerning, right? These are people flying their drones near military installations – is this dangerous and illegal? It’s very, very illegal, yes, but since when has law stopped people from doing things? Most military bases and critical infrastructure around our country have what’s called a geozone around their perimeter. This is basically an invisible wall that prevents some drones from flying into that airspace. The world’s largest drone manufacturer, DJI, is the only company that adheres to these geozones.
Government Transparency Issues
Some legislators are convinced that this is our own government testing out counterterrorism activity and they are not being honest with the American people. The Department of Homeland Security and the FBI have stated that there should be no concern, there’s no risk to public safety. Well, how would they know that and why would they state that? Tell me why you’re saying that.
People want transparency and openness from our government, and it’s pretty obvious that they are not sharing everything they know. They should frankly be scrambling something up here – like figure it out. I’m surprised they haven’t put a plane up just to say “here’s what we’ve done,” but to see no response, no federal response, is truly upsetting.
Local Response
There was a gathering of 200 mayors in New Jersey recently to try to get answers, but no one at the federal level is giving them answers. I can see how frustrating that would be. These are folks that actually have witnessed drones flying over their property, and they are not misidentifying them. These are smart people – you can look up in the sky and see that’s not an airplane, that’s a drone flying over my street.
Chinese Drone Concerns and Government Response
Our government at both the state and federal levels has tried very hard to ban the sale and use of drones from China for a few years now. There has been a combined effort to prevent people from securing and using drones from DJI and Autel, the two largest drone manufacturers in the world, who both happen to be Chinese companies. Our government has been claiming that the use of these drones are a threat to National Security as they may have the ability to capture sensitive data and information.
However, there are two problems with these efforts. First of all, none of the claims of data collection have been verified or confirmed through multiple audits by third parties. There is no proof that DJI has been doing anything that our government says they are doing. Now does that mean it’s not happening? No, I mean I don’t know, most people don’t know, it could be happening, but if you don’t have the proof to show the people, it’s really hard to sell your case.
And another thing that people are really misstating – like a lot of professionals are saying okay, well these drones can do facial recognition. They can’t, you guys. DJI does not have that ability. You could definitely get a payload and put it on a DJI drone that has facial recognition, but super super expensive, nobody’s doing that, and it’s not the drone that’s doing that – it’s the company that makes that facial recognition hardware and then someone’s attaching it to a DJI drone. You could do that with any drone right now.
Secondly, the majority of drones used in this country for commercial use – like Search and Rescue, agriculture inspections, all kinds of commercial uses – are mostly DJI drones, and if you ban them, it would result in a massive financial earthquake and believe it or not, it would affect every single one of you watching this right now.
So the latest effort to include a Chinese drone ban in the National Defense Authorization Act just failed. Although the potential ban got more traction this year, like it’s building every year, it still did not pass for the reasons I just mentioned.
Using Fear as a Tool
So what is the best way to pass legislation that would otherwise face challenges? Fear. You incite fear and uncertainty, you make people afraid of something, and then they will do whatever you want them to do. So how do you get people to fear drones at a higher level? You introduce them to drones in the most uncertain way possible.
Next year when new legislation comes forward, guess what’s going to be all over the news? The great Christmas drone mystery of 2024. The events of the last few weeks is the battering ram that our federal government needs to get the Chinese drone ban that they have had so much trouble trying to get through.
Now do I sound a little bit like a conspiracy theorist? Maybe. But the timing certainly makes it worth consideration.
Bottom Line of the Drone Mystery
The bottom line – you all have nothing to be afraid of with these drones. Please, please do not give in to the panic. The press wants clicks and views, the mischievous drone owners just want to cause trouble, and the government wants you to be afraid so you ask for what they want you to ask for.
My advice? Stop looking up at the sky, go buy yourself a drone – there’s a link in the comments for you to find the best ones for new drone users. Subscribe to this channel and learn how to use it. Thanks for watching the entire video today, have a great day, Merry Christmas, and we’ll see you next time.