--- title: "Dimwit Americans Are Looking at the Night Sky and Mistaking Stars and Airplanes for “Drones”" description: "After mysterious drones were spotted in the skies of New York and New Jersey, people began calling in tips to the government in droves." date: "2024-12-17" modified: "2024-12-17" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/americans-mistaking-stars-planes-drones" categories: - "Drones" - "Robotics" - "Robots and Machines" tags: - "drones" - "planes" - "stars" - "the digest" --- # Dimwit Americans Are Looking at the Night Sky and Mistaking Stars and Airplanes for “Drones” ![After mysterious drones were spotted in the skies of New York and New Jersey, people began calling in tips to the government in droves.]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* ## Fed Up After mysterious drones were spotted in the skies of [New York]() and [New Jersey](), the public has caught a case of drone fever, calling in "tips" to the government in droves — and the feds seem increasingly annoyed by the hysteria. In a [terse joint statement](), the Defense Department, Department of Homeland Security, FBI, and FAA said that more than 5,000 people had called in "reported drone sighting" over the past few weeks. "Having closely examined the technical data and tips from concerned citizens, we assess that the sightings to date include a combination of lawful commercial drones, hobbyist drones, and law enforcement drones," the statement detailed, "as well as manned fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and stars mistakenly reported as drones." This statement comes after Larry Hogan, the former governor of Maryland, claimed on social media that he had "[personally witnessed (and videoed)]()" strange lights over his house that upon closer inspection seemed very much to be [regular old stars](). While still sifting through its roughly 100 worthwhile leads generated by all those tips, the agencies said that for now, they "have not identified anything anomalous and do not assess the activity to date to present a national security or public safety risk." The statement also pointed out that among the tips received were a "limited number of visual sightings of drones over military facilities" — and said, in short, that "such sightings near or over DoD installations are not new." ## Congressional Concerns Along with those explanations, the statement also included a curiously political carve-out about legislative proposals restricting and tracking drones, which the Pentagon refers to as "unmanned aircraft systems," or UAS for short. "We urge Congress to enact counter-UAS legislation when it reconvenes," the agencies said, "that would extend and expand existing counter-drone authorities to identify and mitigate any threat that may emerge." Reading between the lines, it seems very much that the drone freakout in the tri-state area has been a major pain for the aforementioned agencies — especially the FAA, which over the weekend [called for runway traffic to be paused]() after drone sightings near a small airport north of New York City after yet another reported sighting. "Last night, the runways at Stewart Airfield were shut down for approximately one hour due to drone activity in the airspace," NY Gov. [Kathy Hochul said in a press release]() after the incident. "This has gone too far." On the last part, Hochul is definitely right — and hopefully, this public panic doesn't last too long. **More on known drones:** [*OpenAI Strikes Deal With Military Contractor to Provide AI for Attack Drones*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()