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Mysterious New Jersey drone sightings prompt call for 'state of emergency'

theguardian.com

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Re: Mysterious New Jersey drone sightings prompt call for 'state of emergency'

#521

Post by jahnu »

The_Colonel wrote: post #497
iepathos wrote: post #487

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For real, with everyone having a smartphone with high quality cameras on them there really is zero excuse for there to not be highly detailed accurate videos of this if they are legit especially with people describing them as "low and slow".

The article suggests the drones appear during nighttime with which cameras will struggle. "low" is relative and can mean 200 meters which would be very difficult even for regular cameras (without a tripod), let alone a smartphone.

Even taking a picture of the moon with a typical phone results in a white mushy blob.

Re: Mysterious New Jersey drone sightings prompt call for 'state of emergency'

#522

Post by j_timberlake »

keepamovin wrote: post #514
j_timberlake wrote: post #501

Quick summary after following this for a few days: FBI says they're rotary and fixed-wing drones, White House says they aren't foreign adversaries, Pentagon says they aren't USA military, all 3 insist that there's no indication of a real threat despite the drones being bigger and higher tech than retail drones. Politicians are PO'd that something about this doesn't add up: How can anyone know these aren't a threat wi…

Why do the theories not fit? And where's the link to the FBI statement? I believe they said " include rotary and fixed-wing" not exclusively, but this is based on reports received. They haven't actually captured one. included sightings of both fixed-wing and rotary drones, Robert Wheeler, the assistant director of the FBI’s Critical Incident Response Group, said during a Homeland Security subcommittee hearing on secu…

No point quoting articles, just watch him say it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTotPeiMjlc&t=6767s

Up to you how you want to interpret his exact words.

Re: Mysterious New Jersey drone sightings prompt call for 'state of emergency'

#523

Post by matsemann »

fer wrote: post #485
topspin wrote: post #472

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Something actually patent-worthy.

How? it's just a UAV, quad version of a V-22 Osprey. Maybe I'm missing something peculiar about it? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_Boeing_V-22_Osprey

"just" is doing a lot of work there. Everything is "just" an evolution of something else. Doesn't mean it's not novel or clever.

Re: Mysterious New Jersey drone sightings prompt call for 'state of emergency'

#524

Post by matsemann »

coliveira wrote: post #322
DebtDeflation wrote: post #272

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been following the story and this has been discussed on the local Reddit subs. They are almost certainly PteroDynamics XP-4 drones flying from and to the military bases in question for testing purposes. There literally was a public demo of them on the USNS Burlington in Philadelphia a year ago.

[flagged]

> People should've already learned this, if they were not so stupid.

You're falling in the same trap as conspiracy theorists, though: Putting out almost non-falsifiable statements, and then claiming you know better and are smarter. Either it will be revealed that it was USAF and you can feel smug about being correct, or it will not come out and you can still feel smug about being correct because no one can prove you wrong.

Re: Mysterious New Jersey drone sightings prompt call for 'state of emergency'

#525

Post by _djo_ »

carabiner wrote: post #109
apcragg wrote: post #13

The photos I've seen posted look very obviously like commercial airliners and helicopters with their navigation lights on. You can even make out the American Airlines livery on the tail! https://www.app.com/story/news/local/new-jersey/2024/12/11/d...

People are claiming that these show "mimics," some type of drone designed to look like commercial aircraft.

Such people are idiots, to be blunt.

Re: Mysterious New Jersey drone sightings prompt call for 'state of emergency'

#526

Post by selfmodruntime »

j_timberlake wrote: post #501

Quick summary after following this for a few days: FBI says they're rotary and fixed-wing drones, White House says they aren't foreign adversaries, Pentagon says they aren't USA military, all 3 insist that there's no indication of a real threat despite the drones being bigger and higher tech than retail drones. Politicians are PO'd that something about this doesn't add up: How can anyone know these aren't a threat wi…

> How can anyone know these aren't a threat without knowing whose they are

They are - obviously - lying. This screams secrecy to me. All 3 know that these drones are not a threat. They aren't US military because they are a 3 letter agency program. They know there's nothing to worry about it, but they won't tell you any more details. Which has been the modus operandi for secret services for decades, so I'm surprised it's such an issue?

Re: Mysterious New Jersey drone sightings prompt call for 'state of emergency'

#527

Post by selfmodruntime »

DebtDeflation wrote: post #272
gradus_ad wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I live in NJ. I've seen these drones. They are not commercial airliners or helicopters. They are loud, fly low and slow, and make abrupt turns unlike any planes I've seen. Their lights are also very different from other aircraft. I can see how it's tempting to chalk this up to hysteria, but they are absolutely large drones of some kind.

I've been following the story and this has been discussed on the local Reddit subs. They are almost certainly PteroDynamics XP-4 drones flying from and to the military bases in question for testing purposes. There literally was a public demo of them on the USNS Burlington in Philadelphia a year ago.

HN is yet again amazed that military technology is in fact used to carry out secret operations.

Re: Mysterious New Jersey drone sightings prompt call for 'state of emergency'

#529

Post by ycombinete »

The_Colonel wrote: post #498
karamanolev wrote: post #475

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably not with a phone, but "affordable" full-frame MILC/DSLR cameras with 100-400mm or 600mm lenses exist and people have them. Much better chances.

This article links photos from a Sony full frame camera and 600mm lens but it clearly struggles: https://eu.app.com/picture-gallery/news/2024/12/10/drones-in...

These photos look very much like a helicopter. Especially the fifth photo.

Re: Mysterious New Jersey drone sightings prompt call for 'state of emergency'

#530

Post by selfmodruntime »

matsemann wrote: post #524
coliveira wrote: post #322

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

> People should've already learned this, if they were not so stupid. You're falling in the same trap as conspiracy theorists, though: Putting out almost non-falsifiable statements, and then claiming you know better and are smarter. Either it will be revealed that it was USAF and you can feel smug about being correct, or it will not come out and you can still feel smug about being correct because no one can prove you…

Third option: You can draw conclusions from past projects made public where this exact thing happened dozens of times.
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