Mysterious drones have been dominating the news recently, and one of the hotspots for sightings has been in New Jersey. On December 6, a witness posted to Facebook claiming that she saw one of the mystery drones land nearby.
The Drone Landed on Heavily Wooded Property in New Jersey
Bonne Wagner-Westbrook shared her experience in the public Facebook group “New Jersey Mystery Drones — let’s solve it.”
First, she posted: “So, it appears a large drone has landed and been stationary on the ground (lights still on) on a neighbor’s property or a property bordering our neighborhood. We have a ravine between us. It could be on Wonderview. Anyone on here from that area? Clinton Twp. Police were here and witnessed it. Photo in comments. This is a heavily wooded area.”
She shared a photo, but unfortunately it was distant and you can only make out some hazy lights through trees.
When explaining the photo, Westwood added: “best shot I could get with branches waving. There are two white lights, one red light and one green light. Sitting in the same spot now over two hours. Lights never visible there before.”
She also added in her original post: “It was difficult to get a good image since I was shooting through dense trees with branches moving in the wind. I did see two white lights, one red light and one green light. They appeared to be blinking (but that could have been branches interrupting my line of sight).”
One person asked if anyone approached it and she replied, “not walkable at night and difficult by day. Maybe that’s why it’s sitting there for so long – pilot may not be able to get to it.”
Westbrook appears to be a reliable source. According to her Facebook bio, she’s a certified missing animal responder and she has a doctorate of education. Many people in the group also vouched for her legitimacy.
Police Walked Down Her Property & Looked At it From Across a Ravine
When someone asked what the police said, she replied: “they were going to try to figure out position. As I mentioned this area is heavily wooded and has a pretty steep ravine. Not drivable and impossible to traverse by foot at night. I think they planned to figure out location from the other side of the ravine.”
Later, she updated her post with more details about the police response.
I called CTPD dispatch twice last night (12/5/24). The first call was at 10:11, to report seeing 20+ drones widely dispersed and at various altitudes looking south and east of my home. A neighbor told me he had seen one hover over my house, then take off quickly. He thought it was probably a small/hobby type drone. My second call was at 10:58 (12/5/24) to report one that I saw land and was stationary and appeared to be down in the heavily wooded area south and east of my home. I watched it for several hours and had to stop to rest after 02:00 12/6/24…
She continued:
Two CT Police officers came to my home and we three walked as far down my property as it was safe to do so. We tried to figure out how to get to it, but this would involve approaching from the other side of the ravine. I cannot tell you what happened after that. I will continue to watch the area. If this is a landed/downed drone, I doubt the batteries are still charged enough to power lights. As I said in comments, the pilot may be unable to get to the drone because of where it is situated.
The Sighting Was Pinpointed on a Map
Further in the discussion, another member shared a map and noted that her son saw lights in that area on the same night. Westbrook confirmed the landing was in the lower right corner of the map.
In an update, she confirmed the landing was in Clinton Twp., Hunterdon County, New Jersey.
Her latest update added: “Update 12/6/24, 14:03: I have looked at owned properties in the direction of what I observed last night on njparcels.com. It appears there are several properties on Stillery Rd. that border our neighborhood on the other side/uphill from the ravine. If anyone on this thread is in that area and can provide some insight or possibly a better explanation of what I observed last night, please weigh in or PM me. I’m just as curious and concerned as folks here. Even more so. TY.”
This Is Just One of Numerous NJ Sightings
This is just one of numerous recent drone sightings in New Jersey. Florham Park’s police chief said drones have been seen over critical infrastructure like electric lines, rail stations, military installations and water reservoirs, CBS News reported.
“Their presence appears nefarious in nature,” he said.
And while people would like to dismiss this as nothing, the FBI is involved in the investigation. If you have information, you can call the FBI at 1-800-CALLFBI, or submit your information online.
Chatham resident Melissa Koscielniak told CBS News that it was flying low, going back and forth “and forwards and backwards.” She saw it in Morris County and said it had flashing red and green lights.
“I think the creepy part is not that it’s just a drone, but that they’re so large,” Koscielniak told CBS News.
Florham Park Mayor Mark Taylor told CBS News they looked like a “small car” and about “six feet across.”
And in Somerset County, an emergency medical helicopter’s transport was canceled because of drones in the landing region.
Walter Ziegler of New Springfield, a former Air Force sergeant, told CBS News they were seen in clusters of six or seven in New Springfield and “had a light in the center and a red light on each end and wasn’t moving” but it was “not a fixed-wing aircraft.” He said the drones’ lights would go off as airplanes approached Newark Liberty International Airport.
On TikTok, @_bucky13 shared one of his sightings.
@_bucky13
Mysterious drones spotted all over New Jersey. 📡✈️
NJ Governor Phil Murphy posted a statement on X.
“We are actively monitoring the situation and in close coordination with our federal and law enforcement partners on this matter,” he wrote in part. “There is no known threat to the public at this time.”
Rep. Mike Sherrill added: “Yesterday, I joined a briefing with state and federal law enforcement regarding the continued reports of drones flying over Morris County. As a member of the House Armed Services Committee, I have reached out to the Department Of Defense for additional information. (1/2) I will continue to remain in close contact with the investigation, and will share updates as they come to protect the safety of our residents. (2/2)”
One of the weirdest reports came from Newsweek, noting a family in Morris County told Fox News that their car’s clock changed its time when a drone was over them, and changed back to normal when the drone flew off. They said the report came from Fox News, but did not actually link to the story.
Stephanie Dwilson is a licensed attorney and has a master's in science in science and technology journalism. She's known for her thorough, accurate reporting and commitment to journalistic integrity in all her work. You can reach her at writerdube@gmail.com.
