If you’ve been following recent national news throughout the past couple of months, you may have seen some familiar sights (and some strange, bleary images) on major news networks such as CNN, the New York Times, and USA Today. Maybe you’ve even just looked out into your backyard and supposedly seen the subject of national scrutiny in person: drones. Confused, you might’ve sought answers online and started reading articles and blog posts theorizing about the end of the world, chem trails, international spies, and possibly…aliens? Here at The Patriot, we want to clear up the enigma of the New Jersey drones and assure you that the sky isn’t falling.
The first drone sighting occurred at Picattyiny Arsenal, a military facility, on November 13th, 2024; it’s been a minute. More recently, finally on the 28th of January, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt read a statement from President Trump regarding the issue, solidifying the theory that the drones had originated as probable research devices for the federal government, and explaining the widespread confusion as more began to take to the air: “Many of these drones were also hobbyist, recreational and private individuals that enjoy flying drones. In time it got worse due to curiosity. This was not the enemy.”
As a testament to the unanswered questions raised by the undeniably vague statement from the White House, it was evident that the drones still had a vice-like grip on the minds of the residents from Mendham and Chester. Chris Neff, a Mendham Drone Task Force member, recently shed light on these questions during a presentation this past Wednesday (2/26/25) at the Mendham Boro public library. The presentation’s attendees were primarily older Mendham residents, with many articulating their fears about foreign invasion and extraterrestrial influence. In addition to answering their queries, Mr. Neff shared the ultimate and surprising conclusion to Mendham’s local investigation: “And we never saw a drone. Yes, some of the members reported them, but we never verified one. That’s important to understand. We all thought we saw one, but we never actually got to verify them.”
As the presentation continued and the conversation shifted towards the media, the concern surrounding what was real or fake online prevailed. Mr. Neff addressed this: “People on the big Facebook groups were taking pictures of stuff. They just saw others throwing it up there and saying, ‘It’s drones!’ People just jump on that really quick.” Reflective of Wednesday’s older audience members who had been misinformed via platforms like X, Facebook, and Reddit, many social media platforms purposefully target their elderly users who are less equipped to filter out misinformation or whose perspectives are far more likely to be manipulated. This unfortunate circumstance was seen in action when a local woman in attendance adamantly insisted she continued to see drones, only to present footage from her YouTube that shows what is very obviously a commercial plane, complete with the cerulean JetBlue logo on its body.
While it’s easy to laugh and roll our eyes at the inexperience and susceptibility of older generations to social media, it’s important that we instead do our best to educate one another and those higher at risk to prevent hysterics from occurring again.
To address this and become more knowledgeable on media literacy, I sat down with school librarian and director of media, Ms. Brandt. When asked about her personal experience with the drones and the press surrounding them, she shared several interesting insights about what she believes drove this “perfect storm” on social media: “It was, again, an example of people wanting answers, not always taking the time to really look into what’s in front of them and giving the public something they thought was going to get them to tune in.” The business aspect of news companies is often less talked about during conversations on social media as independent conspiracy theorists or users are; despite many news companies utilizing propaganda and scare tactics to increase their web traffic being a large proponent of the issue.
As a final remark, Ms. Brandt urged students to practice the skills that she has equipped them with from their English classes. “I hope our students here feel like they have the tools and resources to manage the information that is coming at them every day. I hope that when they leave our school, they use the knowledge to help them make good decisions, to feel informed about the world around them.”
Overall, if there’s anything to be gleaned from this national controversy, it’s that the designs of our imaginations and the echo chambers of our social media feeds can often blow slightly uncommon events into doomsday dystopias, and, by doing a little digging, the car-sized and radioactive drone of mass destruction can turn out to be simply, a commercial JetBlue airplane.
