2024 United States Drone Sightings

In late 2024, widespread reports of drones emerged across the United States. From November to December, thousands of witnesses described seeing drones—also known as unmanned aerial vehicles—flying at night. The sightings began in New Jersey and subsequently spread to neighboring states, including New York and Pennsylvania.

Reports soon emerged across the Northeast and other parts of the country. While investigators determined the reports mainly consisted of authorized drones and misidentified objects, military officials confirmed a concurrent pattern of unauthorized incursions over sensitive defense installations. Sightings were reported over military installations, such as Picatinny Arsenal and Naval Weapons Station Earle in New Jersey, as well as civilian infrastructure and residential areas. Prominent reports included drones preventing a medical evacuation, following a Coast Guard vessel, and spraying "gray mist".

Source Title

Wikipedia: 2024 United States drone sightings

Source URL

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_United_States_drone_sightings

Source Notes

Imported from Wikipedia REST, MediaWiki, and Wikidata sources on 2026-07-06. Review article citations and edit details before saving. Coordinates inferred from location context using OpenStreetMap Nominatim query: New Jersey, United States. Date note: Only month/year was found; the event date defaults to the first day of that month at 12:00.

1. Occurred Jan 1, 2025 12:00 PM UTC
2. Submitted Jul 6, 2026 8:53 AM Historical Archive created
3. Approved Jul 6, 2026 8:53 AM Moderator reviewed
4. Media Uploaded Jul 6, 2026 8:55 AM 2 media files