What Are The Mystery Drones Flying Over The US?
Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:
Mysterious drones have been swarming the night skies above New Jersey and other nearby states for a month. They have been spotted over several US military sites. They have been videoed over houses and apartment buildings. A swarm was seen following a US Coast Guard rescue boat at the same time that New Jersey police reported 50 drones arriving on land from the ocean. But no one seems to know who is piloting them, or whether it is a coordinated effort.
The incidents have drawn the attention of state governors and legislators, as well as members of the US Congress, and the FBI has launched an investigation, asking for the public to report sightings.
Witnesses describe the drones as being as loud as lawnmowers, with some approaching the size of a small car - significantly larger than a typical quadcopter or multirotor drone that anyone can purchase. These are not necessarily just small, hobbyist unmanned aerial systems that you can buy for $2000," says Daniel Gerstein at the RAND Corporation, a think tank in California. These feel like they have longer range and are more sophisticated than what you can get at a hobby shop."
[...] Meanwhile in the UK, Vernon Coaker, a defence minister, told Parliament last month that authorities are investigating multiple drone incursions that occurred near several UK military bases starting on 20 November. Those bases support US Air Force squadrons that fly fighter jets, bombers and support aircraft.
The common theme across all of these cases is that nobody has fully cracked the code on how to find, track and, if need be, take down small drones," says Arthur Holland Michel, a journalist and author who writes about drones. The second common theme is that if the person flying the drone is actively trying to avoid being identified, the challenges of countering that drone go through the roof."
[...] When it comes to shooting drones down, the most effective measures are often the most dangerous," says Michel. We simply can't have law enforcement departments firing high-powered projectiles into the air, or activating military-grade signal jammers, every time a drone is spotted flying over [New Jersey]."
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